ARLINGTON, Texas — Ezequiel Durán led off the bottom of the first inning with a home run Wednesday afternoon, the 11th leadoff homer of the season for the Texas Rangers and the most in franchise history. The Athletics hit five home runs after that. Texas lost 9-2 at Globe Life Field, gave up the season series, and came up a win short of a sweep after taking the first two games.
Durán turned on a 1-1 slider from Jacob Lopez and drove it a Statcast-projected 406 feet over the left-field wall. It was the 16th home run of his season and the first leadoff homer of his career. Three days earlier in Milwaukee, Durán had hit his 15th to pass the career high of 14 he set in 2023.
Justin Foscue opened the second by sending an 86.5 mph cutter from Lopez over the wall in left-center. Texas led 2-0.
The Rangers did not score again. Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said the at-bats against Lopez turned after the second inning.
“I thought we were just going to keep continuing to add on,” Schumaker said. “Then we just had trouble with the cutter and the slider after that with Lopez. Overall, just kind of a tough game.”
Cody Bradford Allows Three Home Runs In Four Innings
Henry Bolte tied the game in the third with a two-run homer off Cody Bradford, and Zack Gelof followed with a solo shot that put the Athletics ahead 3-2. Bolte hit another two-run homer in the fourth, this one with two outs, for a 5-2 lead. It was his eighth home run of the season, and the afternoon was the first multihomer game of his career.
Bradford’s day ended there. He allowed a season-high 5 runs on 7 hits with 1 walk and 3 strikeouts over four innings, and the 3 home runs matched his career high. He also gave up three in a start at the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sept. 11, 2024.
Bradford is 0-4 in his first season back from an internal brace procedure on his left elbow, and he put the Athletics in hitters’ counts.
“I think fastball command and changeup command were kind of hit and miss today at times,” Bradford said. “I think the inconsistency, falling behind in counts, putting them in hitters’ counts … they made some good damage swings.”
Jonah Heim Homers In His Return To Globe Life Field
Robby Ahlstrom relieved Bradford and gave up two more home runs in the fifth. Jonah Heim hit his 13th of the season with one out. Alika Williams followed with a two-run shot with two outs, and the Athletics led 8-2.
Heim caught for Texas from 2021 through 2025. He made the 2023 All-Star team, won a Gold Glove that year, and was on the roster for the Rangers’ World Series title. Texas non-tendered him in December. Heim opened this season with the Atlanta Braves, who designated him for assignment on May 4, and the Athletics acquired him the same day for cash considerations. The Rangers played a video tribute for him during the game.
Williams doubled home a run in the seventh for the final margin. The 5 home runs were the most Texas has allowed since the Athletics hit five at Globe Life Field on April 24.
Texas Rangers Go 0-for-5 With Runners In Scoring Position
Lopez allowed 2 runs on 6 hits with 2 walks and 7 strikeouts over six innings and improved to 6-4. He got 9 whiffs on his slider and used the pitch for the final strike of all 7 of his strikeouts. Over his last 10 starts, Lopez has a 2.28 ERA with 61 strikeouts in 51 1/3 innings.
Texas went 1-for-14 with runners on base and 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position. The Rangers were held scoreless over the final seven innings.
The loss dropped Texas to 69-71 and moved the Athletics to 54-86. Entering Wednesday, the Rangers were one game behind the Houston Astros in the American League West and 1 1/2 games behind the Cleveland Guardians for the last wild card. Texas is 26-35 against teams at .500 or better and 30-41 on the road.
Twenty-two games remain, four of them at home against the Tampa Bay Rays before the final 18 split evenly between Globe Life Field and the road. First baseman Jake Burger‘s read is that the Rangers will be in a good spot if they win the rest of their series.
“We would have loved to sweep, but we won the series,” Burger said. “As far as our clubhouse is concerned, if we win the rest of our series, you don’t have to sweep them, but if you win the rest of them, we’re going to be in a pretty good spot.”
Tampa Bay entered Wednesday with the best record in the American League. Burger dated the shift to a playoff mentality to Thursday’s opener against them.
“There are no throwaway games in the big leagues, but a middle of June game, you’re not really thinking about September and October at that point,” Burger explained. “That’s probably the mentality that we need to have and I think it starts tomorrow against the Rays.”
What’s Next For The Texas Rangers
Texas won the finale of a three-game series at the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday. Schumaker said the Rays play small ball with speed and have an MVP candidate at third base.
“Very similar,” Schumaker explained. “I think they have really good starting pitching, a very good back-end bullpen, bullpen in general. And they have an MVP candidate at third base. Then they play some small ball with some speed.”
“I think their run prevention is what makes them really good as well,” Schumaker continued. “They’re flying around the outfield and catching everything. So the record is the record for a reason.”
Cal Quantrill starts for the Rangers on Thursday. He is 6-5 with a 3.01 ERA. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. CT at Globe Life Field, with the game airing on Rangers Sports Network.
