ARLINGTON, Texas — Josh Jung’s two-run home run in the first inning put the Texas Rangers ahead to stay Thursday afternoon at Globe Life Field. Corey Seager added a solo homer in the sixth, and Texas beat the New York Mets 3-1 in its final home game of the regular season.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak and lifted the Rangers to 79-80, a half-game ahead of the Houston Astros in the American League West. Houston (78-80) opens a four-game series at the Athletics at 8:40 p.m. CT at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, Calif. The Astros won the season series 9-4 and hold the head-to-head tiebreaker, and a Houston win Thursday night would put them back in first place.
The two teams entered Wednesday tied atop the division. New York beat Texas 7-2 that night, scoring once in the eighth inning and four times in the ninth to break a 2-2 tie. Later that night, Houston scored four runs in the third inning at T-Mobile Park before the Seattle Mariners won 6-5 in 10 innings on a walk-off single, leaving the Rangers and Astros tied at 78-80 overnight.
Rangers manager Skip Schumaker spoke with reporters before Thursday’s 1:35 p.m. CT first pitch. Texas had scored 5 runs across the first two games of the series.
“I think everybody was pretty locked into that game last night,” Schumaker said. “We still have a shot. That’s all you wanted. We went to bed feeling a little bit different than we did after a tough loss [earlier in the] night.”
“We’re grateful to be in the spot to be able to watch a game last night and to feel good about coming into the ballpark the next day after a loss,” Schumaker continued. “That doesn’t always happen. Not every team is in that position. I feel like today is going to be a good day.”
Jung spoke with reporters in the home clubhouse after the win, Kennedi Landry of MLB.com reported. He went 3-for-3 with a walk and finished a triple shy of the cycle.
“It just gave us life,” Jung said. “If you go down a game, that’s tough. So Seattle coming back and winning that game, everybody was just like, ‘Deep breath. We can still do this thing.’”
Josh Jung Falls A Triple Shy Of The Cycle
Francisco Lindor led off the game with a double against Kumar Rocker and scored on Carson Benge’s two-out single to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. The hit was Benge’s 160th of the season, a Mets rookie record.
In the bottom half, Jung pulled a two-run homer into the left-field seats off rookie left-hander Zac Thornton. It was his 12th homer of the season. Jung added a single and a double, and he raised his average to .299.
Thornton (5-6) went 5 innings and allowed 4 hits and 2 runs, with 1 walk and 4 strikeouts. The runs on Jung’s homer were the only ones he gave up.
Jung came off the injured list Sept. 12 after missing 47 games with a left calf strain. Since his return, he is hitting .341 (15-for-44) across 11 games. He spoke in a postgame interview on Rangers Sports Network after the final out.
“It’s just staying prepared as much as we can,” Jung explained. “Coming in, preparing the right way every day, and then we step on the field, play one pitch at a time. Whatever happens, happens. Luckily, I got one that I could handle.”
Players declined to share what was said in the team group chat during Wednesday’s game in Seattle, Landry reported. Houston’s loss left the teams tied at 78-80 going into Thursday.
“For us, the first two games didn’t go the way we wanted them to,” Jung said. “And we were all, I mean, all of our heads were turned towards Seattle last night. And then them coming back and winning that game, I think it just gave us all like a little boost coming into today. And you felt it in the clubhouse. Everybody was pretty joyful this morning.”
Kumar Rocker, Rangers Bullpen Hold Mets To One Run
Rocker (6-11) went 5 innings and allowed 3 hits and 1 run, with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts. New York had 1 hit against him after the first inning. His ERA dropped to 4.38.
The Mets drafted Rocker 10th overall in 2021 but did not sign him. Texas took him third overall a year later.
“I think we’re all watching the game last night,” Rocker said. “You go to sleep knowing what you’re up against. And the guys came in today, and we’re all ready to go to battle.”
Schumaker pulled Rocker after 74 pitches and went to his bullpen for the final four innings. Last Saturday, Texas relievers covered 7 2/3 innings after starter Cal Quantrill left in the second inning with right lat tightness.
“Leadoff double to Lindor and then two-out hit. [That was] to start the first inning,” Schumaker explained. “You’re trying to figure out what this is going to look like, quite honestly. And then for him to go four scoreless after that was huge for us, because the way I’ve been deploying the bullpen, these guys are on fumes.”
“They’re just going on guts right now,” Schumaker continued. “And I couldn’t appreciate them more the way they’re going about it. So for him to get five and not four today was huge. And then the bullpen did a fantastic job keeping it at one run.”
Left-hander Robert Garcia retired the top of the Mets’ lineup in order in the sixth. Tyler Alexander worked around a one-out single in the seventh, and Chase Silseth struck out 2 of the 3 batters he faced in the eighth. Jordan Montgomery pitched a perfect ninth for the second save of his career. The left-hander has made 161 starts and 17 relief appearances in nine major league seasons.
The four relievers faced 13 batters and allowed 1 hit. A day earlier, Jacob Latz gave up a go-ahead homer in the eighth, and Trevor Williams allowed a pinch-hit grand slam in the ninth.
“You always game plan before the game exactly what pockets you want, but it changes throughout the game,” Schumaker said. “And sometimes you’re right, sometimes you’re wrong, but you try to give them the best chance possible to succeed. And I definitely have not been right all the time, but you definitely are focusing on who’s available and what their strengths are compared to what the other side’s weaknesses are, and you try to match up the best you can and give our guys the best chance.”
“And sometimes the matchup isn’t always there for them, but they figure out a way to get the out, and they did that today,” Schumaker continued. “And up and down that bullpen, every guy I called upon was fantastic and just, again, just really fun to watch.”
Seager led off the sixth with his 19th homer, a solo shot to right field off rookie reliever Jefry Yan. It ended an 0-for-15 stretch.
“We need him. We need our dudes to be dudes,” Schumaker said. “I’ve said that before, and they are. Today was a perfect example of that. Going into the top of the ninth with their top of the order with a one-run lead would have been a little bit different feeling, quite honestly, but having a two-run lead there with Monty going in the ninth, we felt pretty good about it.”
“But it’s because of Seager’s add-on home run and that hit,” Schumaker continued. “That was huge for us, because you always want a crooked-number lead going into the eighth and ninth inning, and Seager provided that.”
Texas finished 45-36 at Globe Life Field this season. Schumaker spoke after the game with the Astros still hours from first pitch in West Sacramento.
“There’s still a pulse,” Schumaker said. “As long as we still have a pulse, we’re good to go. We have that. That’s the fun part about where we’re at right now. … But we have to win. That’s the other part of this thing. I said that last night, if we don’t win, it doesn’t matter. The scoreboard watching is more fun when you win.”
The Rangers are 34-44 on the road this season. They close the regular season with three games at Target Field against the Minnesota Twins (75-84).
“Again, we still have a heartbeat, still have a pulse,” Schumaker said. “I felt like we’ve come out to play the game with our chest out and our chin up, and we’re letting it fly. That’s the main thing. We gotta play loose and play our style of baseball … if we play our brand of baseball with the way that they feel right now collectively, we’re going to be OK.”
Jacob deGrom (11-10, 3.86 ERA) starts Friday’s opener against Twins right-hander Joe Ryan (6-10, 3.83) at 7:10 p.m. CT. Texas has not named starters for Saturday or Sunday.
“Just play one game at a time,” Jung said. “They’re going to have good pitchers on the mound. They’re a good ball club. It’s just win one pitch at a time.”
New York fell to 73-86 and heads to Washington for its final series. Saturday’s game at Target Field starts at 3:10 p.m. CT, and Sunday’s finale is set for 2:10 p.m. CT.
