ARLINGTON, Texas — Denzer Guzman‘s throw sailed wide of second base with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning Friday night. Wyatt Langford scored from second on the play, and the Texas Rangers beat the Los Angeles Angels 2-1 at Globe Life Field.
Guzman had opened the top of the 10th with an RBI double off Tyler Alexander to score the automatic runner, the first run of a game that stayed scoreless through nine innings. It was the eighth game in the majors this season that reached extra innings without a run.
Langford was down to the Rangers’ last strike in the bottom half before he doubled down the right-field line to score automatic runner Evan Carter. Brandon Nimmo was walked intentionally to set up a force play, and Ezequiel Duran followed with a 100.8 mph grounder to Guzman at third base. Guzman fielded it and threw toward second, the ball skipped past the bag, and Langford came all the way around. Duran was credited with a single on the play.
Rangers manager Skip Schumaker traced the winning run to the way Nimmo ran out of the intentional walk rather than to the throw itself.
“Duran, he had a great game, but the reason why that play happened, in my opinion, was because Nimmo took the baserunning serious,” Schumaker said, via MLB.com. “He was running as hard as he could. The secondary was fantastic. It could have very easily been just a jog into second base. Instead, Nimmo gave everything he could to try to beat the throw, and an errant throw happened, and we ended up winning the game. So I think it’s the little things that we talked about a couple days ago that make the difference.”
Alexander (4-2) struck out 2 in the 10th for the win. Ben Joyce (0-1) took the loss, and both runs charged to him were unearned. It was the Rangers’ sixth walk-off win of 2026.
Ezequiel Duran Finishes With 4 Of Texas’ 11 Hits
Duran went 4-for-5 with a double, four of the 11 hits Texas collected. In seven games on the Rangers’ most recent road trip, he had gone 4-for-29. Over the past two games he has reached base in eight of his last nine plate appearances.
“We’ve been working the last couple days to be more simple and be straight to the ball and just don’t think too much,” Duran said.
His leadoff double in the ninth put the go-ahead run at second base, and a wild pitch moved him to third. Ryan Watson, the third Angels reliever of the night, struck out the side to strand him there.
MacKenzie Gore’s Challenge And 6 Scoreless Innings
MacKenzie Gore worked 6 scoreless innings, allowing 2 hits and 1 walk while striking out 7 on 100 pitches. Only six Rangers pitchers had attempted to use the automated ball-strike challenge system this season, and only Kumar Rocker and Cal Quantrill had won one.
Gore challenged for just the second time all season in the first inning, facing Angels first baseman Vaughn Grissom on a full count with a runner on first. The curveball clipped the top of the zone and was called ball four. Gore tapped the top of his cap to signal the challenge, and Grissom had started toward first base by the time the call was overturned.
Rangers pitching coach Jordan Tiegs had told Schumaker that Gore has been trying to land his curveball at the top of the zone because the pitch was getting hit at the bottom.
“Just so you know, we don’t encourage it,” Schumaker explained with a laugh. “What’s crazy is [pitching coach Jordan Tiegs] told me he’s been trying to land the curveball at the top of the zone because he feels like the curveball at the bottom of the zone has been getting hit a little bit. He’s been trying to land it at the top. He felt like he did it, and he wasn’t going to just let it go as a ball.
“Do I want him to challenge it? Sure, if it’s right,” Schumaker continued. “But no, I typically rather have the catcher and the hitters challenge it. But it was a big play at the time.”
Jacob Latz, Chase Silseth, and Cole Winn each worked a scoreless inning behind Gore, and none of the three allowed a hit. Texas acquired Silseth and catcher Logan O’Hoppe from the Angels in a July trade.
Texas Comes Up Empty With Runners In Scoring Position
Reid Detmers matched Gore with 6 scoreless innings, giving up 6 hits and 1 walk while striking out 5 on 89 pitches. All six of the hits were singles. Detmers carries a 1.56 ERA over seven starts since the All-Star break.
In the first inning, Justin Foscue drew a leadoff walk, Mike Trout leapt at the wall in center field to rob Corey Seager of extra bases, and Guzman made a diving stop at third base to start an inning-ending double play.
Texas second baseman Cody Freeman made a diving stop of his own in the second, with Jose Siri on second base and one out, and threw out Josh Lowe at first to keep the run from scoring. Gore then got Travis d’Arnaud to fly out to center field with Siri standing at third.
The fifth inning brought the Rangers their best chance against Detmers. One-out singles by Freeman, Elias Díaz, and Carter loaded the bases. Guzman forced Freeman at home on a fielder’s choice grounder by Foscue, and Seager struck out looking at a 93 mph fastball.
Carter’s ground-rule double with two outs in the seventh was the first extra-base hit by either team. Foscue flied out to center field to end the inning.
Excluding the two hits that decided the game in the 10th, Texas went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. The one hit was Carter’s bunt single in the fifth, which did not score a run. The Rangers stranded 11 on base and outhit the Angels 11-3.
Schumaker has been asking for his rotation to set the tone, and he got that Friday from Gore.
“MacKenzie Gore was just fantastic tonight,” Schumaker said. “The starting pitching has set the tone, which I’ve talked about. We needed good starting pitching, and they provided it. Our offense with runners in scoring position needs to get going. That is the truth. We had a lot of chances tonight.
“I love this game,” Schumaker added. “This game just does not make sense sometimes. We’ll take that win though.”
Los Angeles has allowed two runs or fewer in eight of 10 games since Angels pitching coach Mike Maddux and two of his assistants were fired on Aug. 11. The staff has a 1.81 ERA over that stretch.
Texas Rangers Host Los Angeles Angels Again Saturday
Texas improved to 64-65 and holds the final American League wild card spot, a game ahead of the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Guardians. The Rangers are one game behind the Houston Astros in the American League West. The Angels fell to 51-78 and lost three of four to Texas at Angel Stadium earlier this month before this series.
Left-hander Cody Bradford starts Saturday for Texas against Angels right-hander Ryan Johnson. Bradford is 0-1 with a 2.93 ERA and made his season debut Aug. 5 against the San Francisco Giants after elbow surgery. Johnson is 2-7 with a 6.41 ERA.
Johnson was born in Dallas and was drafted out of Dallas Baptist with the 74th pick in the 2024 draft. He took a no-decision against Texas on Aug. 11, allowing 1 run on 3 hits and 2 walks over 4 1/3 innings with 5 strikeouts.
First pitch is at 6:05 p.m. CT at Globe Life Field on Rangers Sports Network.
