ARLINGTON, Texas — Marcus Semien hit a two-out solo homer off Jacob Latz in the eighth inning Wednesday night to break a 2-2 tie against his former team. Brett Baty added a pinch-hit grand slam in the ninth, and the New York Mets beat the Texas Rangers 7-2 at Globe Life Field.
The loss was the Rangers’ third straight and dropped them to 78-80. Texas remains tied with the Houston Astros atop the American League West after Houston lost 6-5 in 10 innings at Seattle, but the Astros won the season series 9-4 and hold the tiebreaker. Both teams have four games left, and the Rangers need to finish with a better record than Houston to win the division.
New York (73-85) took the series after a 6-3 win Tuesday, handing Texas its first home series loss since July 20-22 against the Chicago White Sox. The Mets were eliminated from postseason contention Sept. 14. They have won both games in Arlington since the club removed the interim tag from Mets manager Andy Green on Tuesday.
Semien’s 15th homer of the season was a 388-foot drive to left field. It was his first since Aug. 7 and snapped an 0-for-13 slump. Texas traded him to New York last November for Brandon Nimmo. Semien spent four seasons with the Rangers and was part of the franchise’s only World Series title in 2023.
Latz (3-4), an All-Star closer this season, entered with two on and one out in the seventh. It was the first time he had pitched before the eighth inning since April 12. Texas intentionally walked Juan Soto to load the bases, and Latz got out of the inning. He then retired the first two batters of the eighth before Semien’s homer.
Rangers manager Skip Schumaker went to his bullpen after 4 1/3 innings from starter Cody Bradford. He used Tyler Alexander, Chase Silseth, and Latz, with Robert Garcia unavailable. Schumaker said the plan with that group was to keep the game tied long enough for his lineup to score.
“I don’t think it was different,” Schumaker said. “I think Alexander did fantastic. He came in a tough spot, gave us a really good inning and change. We went to Latz earlier than ever and got out of a bases-loaded jam and sent him back out and 2-0 pitch to Marcus, and he hit it out.”
“But I would have done it all over again. We used our guys to keep us in the game in a tie game and to give our offense a chance,” Schumaker continued. “We just couldn’t get anything going against their bullpen and their starting pitcher. But you’re trying to do everything you could to keep it there to give our lineup a chance to score some runs. We just didn’t do it tonight.”
With Alexander, Silseth, and Latz spent, Schumaker turned to Jordan Montgomery and Trevor Williams in the ninth. Soto was walked intentionally for the third time with first base open and two outs. Bo Bichette then drew a walk against Williams to load the bases, and Baty followed with the slam.
Soto put New York ahead 2-0 in the third. Francisco Lindor singled with two outs, and Soto followed with his 27th homer of the season, his sixth this year against a left-handed pitcher. Bradford pitched 4 1/3 innings and allowed 4 hits and 2 runs, did not walk a batter, and struck out 1.
Nolan McLean Holds Rangers To 3 Hits Over 7 Innings
Rookie right-hander Nolan McLean (12-10) retired the first 12 Rangers he faced. Nimmo, who spent 10 seasons with the Mets, broke it up with a leadoff single to right field in the fifth.
Nimmo moved to second on a groundout by Ezequiel Durán and scored on a single by Jake Burger. Three batters later, Evan Carter drove in the tying run when he beat out the back end of a potential double-play grounder. McLean allowed 5 baserunners in the inning and retired the Rangers in order in every other inning he pitched.
In his final start of the season, McLean pitched 7 innings and allowed 3 hits and 2 runs, walked 1, and struck out 5. He finished his rookie year with a 3.16 ERA and 194 strikeouts over 31 starts and 179 2/3 innings. Schumaker said McLean can spin the ball as well as anybody in the league.
“It was a good fight back in the fifth inning to tie it up, but you’re right, we had a tough time on the offensive side,” Schumaker explained. “Just couldn’t catch up to the fastball. Again, kind of two nights in a row where the fastball has beat us. And he’s a really good young pitcher. He’s going to be really good for a long time. Fastball is really good. He can spin the ball as good as anybody in the league.”
“We had our chances a couple times, but for the most part, it was, we just couldn’t catch up to the fastball kind of back-to-back nights,” Schumaker added.
Devin Williams was activated from the injured list Tuesday after missing seven weeks with a strained right shoulder. He pitched a perfect eighth for New York. The Rangers’ fourth and final hit came in the ninth.
Texas had 3 hits Tuesday and 4 on Wednesday, the third time this season it finished with 4 or fewer hits in consecutive games. The Rangers did not get a hit from the fifth inning Tuesday until Nimmo’s single Wednesday. Schumaker said there were good at-bats from the bottom of the order.
“Unfortunately the last couple games have been tough on them with some punch outs,” Schumaker said. “I think that’s the biggest thing for me is the strikeouts are kind of adding up a little bit. And we’ve got to do the best we can to move the ball forward, and we just haven’t done it. But you’re right. I do feel like there’s guys at the bottom of the order that had some good at-bats, but the top of the order has to carry us. That’s just the reality of it.”
“They’re frustrated. You can sense it. You can feel it in the dugout because there’s some guys on base with them up and unfortunately we just couldn’t get any runs across,” Schumaker noted. “It’s not lack of work or fight. They just didn’t produce the last couple of days.”
Houston Astros Hold Tiebreaker As Rangers Enter Final Four Games
Burger’s single in the fifth drove in the first Texas run. Afterward, he described the team’s mood with one word before expanding on it while speaking with reporters, MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry reported.
“Frustration,” Burger said. “Again, it sucks. We have to play perfectly the rest of the way. Obviously, we don’t want to be in this situation where we’re at now. But we have to go out there and try and get four wins and start tomorrow.”
Shortstop Corey Seager went 0-for-4 and is 0-for-13 during the losing streak. For Seager, the approach he wants for himself is the same one he wants for the team.
“Obviously, [I haven’t been] as productive as [I’d] like to be right now,” Seager said. “As a team, you just have to have short-term memory. You got to move on. We can’t dwell on the last couple days. Got to come ready to play tomorrow. Personally, the same. You’d like to be better down the stretch in these important games. Just gotta come back tomorrow and keep plugging.”
Houston closes the regular season with four road games against the Athletics. Texas hosts New York again Thursday and then plays three games at the Minnesota Twins. Schumaker said the Rangers cannot just watch the scoreboard.
“They know what’s at stake,” Schumaker said. “All 162 are big games, but obviously right now with where we’re at in the race, we have to win games. We can’t just scoreboard watch. We have to win our games to give ourselves a real shot at this.”
“These are must-win games. That’s just the reality of it. It’s not anything short of that. It is must-win time,” Schumaker continued. “We have to stay as positive as we can, as frustrating as it is tonight, and as frustrating as it was last night. We have to come back quickly tomorrow and do whatever we can to win and to give ourselves a shot. That’s just the reality.”
The Rangers also trail the White Sox (81-77) by three games for the final AL wild-card spot, and Chicago holds that tiebreaker. Texas has not finished first in the AL West since 2016. The Rangers won the 2023 World Series as a wild card.
Kumar Rocker (5-11, 4.47 ERA) starts Thursday’s series finale for Texas, with first pitch set for 1:35 p.m. CT. The Mets drafted Rocker 10th overall in 2021 but did not sign him, and the Rangers took him third overall in 2022. New York will start rookie left-hander Zac Thornton (5-5, 3.40 ERA) as it goes for a three-game sweep.
