WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Jakob Junis left a 2-2 pitch over the middle of the plate with one out in the seventh inning Sunday. Zack Gelof hit it 403 feet into the right-center-field bullpen for a two-run home run. The Athletics went on to a 5-2 win over the Texas Rangers at Sutter Health Park.
Texas closed a seven-game West Coast trip at 2-5. The Rangers fell to 61-64 and stayed second in the American League West. They lost three in a row in Anaheim after taking the opener against the Angels, then dropped Friday’s series opener here 8-3. The Athletics lead the season series 6-4.
Jakob Junis Gives Up The Go-Ahead Homer In His Second Game Back
Before Saturday’s 5-3 win, the Rangers activated Junis from the 15-day injured list and designated left-hander Marco Gonzales for assignment to open the roster spot. Junis had not pitched since July 28. He faced 3 hitters in a scoreless inning that night.
On Sunday he came back out for the seventh with the game tied 2-2. Henry Bolte singled to center with one out, and Gelof followed with his 14th home run. Junis gave up 2 hits and 2 earned runs in 1 inning, with 1 strikeout, and took the loss to fall to 1-2. His ERA went from 2.63 to 3.00 across 38 appearances. The homer was the third he has allowed in 2026.
Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said the Rangers’ recoveries this season have started with their starting pitching.
“I think Junis is a really, really good reliever, and so grateful to have him back,” Schumaker told Rangers Sports Network. “He just left a pitch over the middle of the plate, you know, and it happens and it happened and took a good swing on it, went to the opposite way for a home run.”
“But we’re going to depend on Junis the next month and change,” Schumaker continued. “And if we want to get to where we want to get to, he’s going to pitch in high-leverage spots. He just came off the IL, had a really good outing yesterday, made one mistake and paid for it. And it happened a couple times with our relievers tonight, today I should say, and unfortunately we couldn’t get anything going on the offensive side to come back.”
Cody Bradford Capped At 81 Pitches
Cody Bradford worked 4 innings on 81 pitches, 58 of them strikes. The Athletics got 8 hits off him and scored 2 earned runs. He walked 1 and struck out 4. Schumaker said the Rangers are keeping Bradford in the 80-to-85-pitch range and did not want to go past it Sunday. The outing left him at 2.93 for the season.
Lawrence Butler got the A’s even in the second inning with a 394-foot drive to right field that scored Tommy White. It was Butler’s 11th home run.
Jake Burger had put Texas ahead an inning earlier with his 21st home run, a 396-foot shot to right-center off Jacob Lopez. Burger drove in the tying run in the third on a forceout that scored Wyatt Langford. He finished 3-for-4 and has 73 RBIs.
Texas did not score after the third. The Rangers finished 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left 6 on base, and Lopez and four relievers struck them out 12 times. Evan Carter doubled off Luis Medina in the seventh, his 11th double of the season. Lopez went 6 innings and gave up 2 runs on 5 hits, with 2 walks and 6 strikeouts.
Schumaker said the offense has to get going to give the pitching staff some breathing room.
“Jake Burger had a great day today, hit the ball hard a bunch of times,” Schumaker explained. “We just couldn’t figure out the cutter-slider combination from Lopez. I think the biggest thing for us, we got into some hitter’s counts, and for whatever reason, we just couldn’t get the barrel on it. A lot of off-speed pitches kind of out in front, you know, ground balls.”
“And, you know, Díaz hit the ball hard a couple times,” Schumaker added. “Nimmo had a couple good at-bats. You know, Carter with the double opposite way, but just couldn’t string him along and kind of get that crooked number that we were kind of hoping for, and that’s why you only get two runs.”
Chase Silseth and Tyler Alexander each worked a scoreless inning ahead of Junis. Peyton Gray recorded one out in the eighth and gave up 3 hits and 1 run, including White’s first major league home run, a 413-foot drive to center field. Cole Winn stranded all 3 runners he inherited. Elias Díaz was charged with catcher interference for the only Texas error.
Medina picked up the win in relief of Lopez. Hogan Harris struck out 2 in the ninth for his 12th save. The A’s finished with 13 hits and improved to 49-75.
Texas Rangers Open A Homestand Against The Washington Nationals
Schumaker said the Rangers need Monday’s off day to reset before the homestand. Texas returns to Globe Life Field on Tuesday to open three games against the Washington Nationals, and Cal Quantrill is scheduled to start against Nationals left-hander Jackson Kent.
The Rangers have not ruled Jacob deGrom out of Wednesday’s start.
