ARLINGTON, Texas — Texas Rangers infielder Justin Foscue said the offense needs to score four to six runs a game for Texas to win the American League West over the final week of the regular season.
Foscue made the comments in a video interview with Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports, which posted it Wednesday afternoon. At the time of the conversation, the Rangers were one game ahead of the Houston Astros with six games to play.
Texas lost 6-3 to the New York Mets on Tuesday night at Globe Life Field, its second straight loss. Houston beat the Seattle Mariners 7-0 later that night. Both teams are 78-79 with five games left.
The Astros own the head-to-head tiebreaker. The Rangers have to finish the season ahead of Houston to win the division.
Justin Foscue Puts The Texas Rangers’ Target At Four To Six Runs A Game
Texas scored three runs Tuesday, two of them on sacrifice flies in the fourth inning. The Rangers did not score again.
Foscue answered as a hitter and left the pitchers to do their thing. Coming through in the big spots is where he sees the odds changing.
“I think it takes us to hit collectively as a group, number one, I think pitching,” Foscue said. “I’m a hitter, so I think from an offensive standpoint, if we can put up four to six runs a game, I think we’re going to be in a good spot to win each and every game. And then pitchers, pitchers are going to do their thing. Some nights they might give up more than five. Some nights they might, they’re going to give up less than three. And that’s baseball.”
“But I think we just need to hit in the big spots, come through in the big spots,” Foscue continued. “And, I mean, that’s the game. That’s the name of the game, right? When you’re hitting in those big situations, the odds of us to win the game goes up tremendously. So I think we just got to hit collectively as a group, come together and have a good approach against each pitcher and see where it takes us.”
The Rangers had held the division lead alone for three days before Tuesday, after gaining four games on the Astros since Sept. 12.
Foscue took the standings as they were when he sat down with Wilson, one game up with six to play. He kept the focus on that night’s game.
“We’ll take it, right? We’ll take it,” Foscue explained. “We’re not going to be greedy. Look, we just need to finish one game ahead of Houston, and then we’re in. And it starts with tonight. Tonight’s our only focus right now. And then once tomorrow comes, we’ll focus on tomorrow. But one pitch at a time, and we’ll see where it takes us.”
Justin Foscue’s Road From Triple-A Round Rock To The AL West Race
Foscue opened the season at Triple-A Round Rock. The Rangers optioned him there March 16, after a strained right hamstring kept him out of spring training games for just under three weeks.
Texas drafted him 14th overall in 2020 out of Mississippi State. Before this season, he had 3 hits in 51 major league at-bats across 2024 and 2025. His pinch-hit, two-run double against the Baltimore Orioles on July 1, 2025, snapped an 0-for-44 skid that dated to 2024. It was the longest hitless span in club history.
Foscue hit his first career home run May 9 at Globe Life Field. He is batting .269 with 11 home runs and 34 RBIs this season. Most of his starts have come against left-handed pitching, and through Sept. 16 he was hitting .326/.397/.607 against lefties with 8 home runs and 27 RBIs.
The games at the end of the season are the fun part for Foscue.
“It feels really cool, right?” Foscue said. “It’s what you work so hard for in the offseason. And it’s coming down to the wire and that’s what’s… all these games are fun, and that’s, again, that’s what you play for, and we’ll see what happens here.”
Foscue batted leadoff in three straight games against left-handed starters from Sept. 14 to 16. He went 2-for-5 with a double, an RBI, and a run in a 7-3 win over the Boston Red Sox on Sept. 16.
The first Mets run Tuesday scored on an RBI single up the middle by Juan Soto in the third inning. The ball got past Foscue. Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said after the game that he thought the run would have scored even if Foscue had kept the ball in the infield.
The Rangers won two of three from the Toronto Blue Jays at Globe Life Field last weekend. The Atlanta Braves swept a three-game series from Houston at Daikin Park that same weekend.
Foscue said everybody is coming to the ballpark with a good attitude.
“It’s funny how that works, right?” Foscue said. “I wish we could have done that all year long and it wouldn’t have been close at the end. But, yeah, I think we’ve got a good group here. And when we’re playing good baseball around it, it’s really, what’s the word, everybody catches on to everybody. It’s contagious.”
“And so I think everybody knows where we’re at and we’re fighting for the same thing,” Foscue continued. “So I think everybody’s coming to the ballpark with a good attitude and we’re having fun at the same time.”
The Rangers and Mets play again Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. CT at Globe Life Field. Rookie right-hander Nolan McLean (11-10, 3.18 ERA) is scheduled to start for New York. Texas finishes the regular season with three games at the Minnesota Twins from Friday through Sunday.
