ARLINGTON, Texas — Cody Bradford threw 4 1/3 scoreless innings behind opener Tyler Alexander on Thursday night and left the Texas Rangers with a 3-0 lead in the sixth inning. The Boston Red Sox came back to win, 4-3, at Globe Life Field.
Bradford struck out the side in the second. He entered 0-5 with a 4.72 ERA and is still seeking his first major league win since Sept. 18, 2024.
Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said Bradford’s outing is what gets lost in the loss.
“I think early on with Robby walking those couple guys, we had to use Junis to get out of it,” Schumaker said. “And then asking him to go back out there, just because of where we were at in our kind of bullpen day type of deal. Cody Bradford, I think what gets lost in this, was outstanding. He provided exactly what we’re hoping he’d do. Silseth came in, got a couple big outs in a big spot.”
“We’re hoping that Robby could get the bottom of the order, and a couple walks hurt us,” Schumaker continued. “It forced us to kind of use Junis there and then send him back out. And then we had to use Latz to clean them up. But I think you’re right. I think that the walks ended up hurting us towards the middle innings, ended up scoring some runs.”
Skip Schumaker Explains Tyler Alexander, Cody Bradford Plan
Right after Wednesday’s 7-3 win, Schumaker said Bradford would start Thursday, Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports reported. The club later announced Alexander as its starter. Before the game, Schumaker explained the plan on The Skip Schumaker Show, the pregame segment Rangers Sports Network posts. Bradford has pitched out of the bullpen before in a very effective way.
“Alexander has been very good at opening and trying to match up the best we can against a really good lineup,” Schumaker explained. “So it’s going to be a chess match today, back and forth, and hopefully we’re on the right side of it.”
Alexander, a Southlake Carroll product in his eighth major league season, entered 5-2 with a 3.38 ERA. He had opened for Texas on May 19 at Colorado, June 22 at Miami, and July 22 against the Chicago White Sox. Boston did not score until the seventh.
Cody Bradford Moved Into Rangers Rotation In August After Elbow Surgery
Bradford missed all of last season after elbow surgery. He made his first start since the end of the 2024 season on Aug. 5 and took Cal Quantrill’s spot in the rotation. His last outing came Sept. 9 at Seattle, where he allowed 3 runs on 4 hits over 4 innings with 2 walks and 1 strikeout in a 3-2 loss.
Bradford grew up in Aledo and pitched at Baylor. Texas drafted him in the sixth round in 2019. During the Rangers’ run to the 2023 World Series title, he went 1-0 with a 1.17 ERA in five postseason relief appearances.
Chase Silseth got the last two outs of the sixth after Bradford left. In the seventh, rookie Robby Ahlstrom walked the first two batters he faced, and Boston scored on a forceout. Trevor Story hit a three-run homer off Jacob Latz in the eighth.
Texas is one game behind the Houston Astros in the AL West. The Rangers host the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday at 7:05 p.m. CT on Rangers Sports Network.
