PHOENIX — Wyatt Langford opened a six-run fifth inning with a 435-foot home run Saturday night at Chase Field. The Texas Rangers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-2 to even the three-game series.
Texas had lost three in a row and five of seven. Arizona had won five of six.
Wyatt Langford And The Six-Run Fifth Inning
The Rangers collected 6 hits in the fifth. After Langford homered, Jake Burger singled, stole second, and scored on a single by Elias Díaz.
Joc Pederson was hit by a pitch. Corey Seager hit a grounder to first that forced Pederson at second. Brandon Pfaadt took the throw at first for what would have been an inning-ending double play, but a replay review showed him off the bag.
Josh Jung followed with a two-out RBI single. Brandon Nimmo added an RBI double. Ezequiel Durán capped the inning with a two-run single.
Langford was asked afterward on Rangers Sports Network about watching the rest of the inning from the dugout.
“It was awesome. A lot of two-out hits, you know, stringing hits together,” Langford said. “That’s always fun. It’s hard to do. So you don’t see it often, but when you do do it, I mean, it’s huge. It’s a lot of momentum.”
Rangers manager Skip Schumaker was asked about the at-bats in the top half of the inning.
“A lot of good at-bats. Again, JJ with another two-out RBI, which is huge,” Schumaker said, using Jung’s clubhouse name. “But just up and down the lineup, Wyatt Langford, it’s good to see him getting going because he is playing so hard and playing the right way, working the right way, preparing the right way. Just hasn’t got any luck on his side lately. So it’s good to get a couple hits, damage too, which is obviously great to see.”
Schumaker had dropped Langford to sixth in Saturday’s lineup, three spots below Jung.
Jung was in his first game since July 21, when a left calf strain ended a stretch that would cost him 47 games. Texas activated him off the injured list hours before the game. He hit .294 with an .802 OPS across 92 games before the injury, and he ranks second on the club in multi-hit games with 32, third in doubles with 23, and fourth in hits with 104. Round Rock had him on a rehab assignment for four games, where he went 3-for-15 with a home run, a double, and 2 RBIs.
“I’m trying to keep my goals small,” Jung said. “I tell myself just move the ball forward and don’t try to do too much because the adrenaline is probably going to be the highest that I’ve had in a while. So, I do everything I can to stay in control. But I’m good. I feel good.”
Arizona had led 1-0 since the third, when Tim Tawa tripled and scored on a single by Pavin Smith. Corbin Carroll hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth for the final margin. Texas finished with 13 hits. Arizona had 6.
Nathan Eovaldi Returns As Kumar Rocker Exits Early
Kumar Rocker threw 4 innings on 65 pitches, allowing 2 hits and 1 earned run with 2 walks and 5 strikeouts. He walked the first two hitters of the fifth with a 6-1 lead and came out.
Robert Garcia recorded the next three outs and picked up his first win of the season. Garcia is also pitching off an injured list stint.
“Garcia has been huge every time he’s been out there since coming off the IL,” Schumaker explained. “Really good job from our medical team to get him back and ready to go. Really good job from the medical team to get back JJ and Evo. And all these guys contributed tonight in a huge way.”
Nathan Eovaldi entered in the sixth with a 6-1 lead. He worked 2 2/3 innings, gave up 4 hits and 1 earned run, and struck out 2 on 45 pitches. It was his first appearance since Aug. 7 and his first regular-season relief outing since 2019 with Boston, when he was also coming back from injury. Elbow inflammation cost him the previous 31 games, and he skipped a rehab assignment to come straight back.
Schumaker was asked for his read on the outing.
“Evo had 45 pitches to work with, and I was going to use every one of them,” Schumaker said. “And I actually thought he actually got better as he was going. I mean, it was a lot sharper the second inning and third inning. I wanted to keep going against Arenado but felt like where we’re at in the game, and his health is always on the back of my mind as well.”
Eovaldi went 10-9 with a 4.21 ERA and 137 strikeouts over 22 starts and 132 2/3 innings before the injury. He is tied for the club lead in wins, ranks third in strikeouts, and is fourth in both innings and starts. His live batting practice sessions ran two simulated innings apiece.
“I’m just [doing] whatever they need,” Eovaldi said. “Just be ready to go. I feel like anytime you come out of the bullpen, it’s to get as many fast outs as possible. That’s the plan. They have a pitch count, so just be ready to go the next day if that’s what they want. But I don’t want to have limits.”
Jacob Latz got the last four outs without allowing a hit and struck out 2.
Pfaadt allowed 6 runs and 10 hits over 6 2/3 innings, with 7 strikeouts and no walks on 99 pitches. He entered Saturday 7-2 with a 3.53 ERA, and Arizona had won 11 of his last 13 starts.
Langford finished 2-for-4 with the home run and a double. Jung went 2-for-5 with the RBI. Díaz went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run. Nimmo had 2 doubles and an RBI. Seager doubled, walked, and scored.
Pederson was hit on the left hand by a Pfaadt four-seamer in the fifth and came out later in the game. Schumaker said afterward that X-rays were negative and that Pederson will see a hand specialist for additional scans.
At 73-76, Texas sits 2 games behind the Houston Astros in the American League West. The Rangers are also 2 games behind the Cleveland Guardians for the third American League wild card, with 13 games left. Arizona is 79-70 and 1 1/2 games behind the San Diego Padres for the third National League wild card.
The series finishes Sunday at 3:10 p.m. CT on Rangers Sports Network, with Eduardo Rodríguez starting for Arizona. Texas returns home Tuesday to open a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox at 7:05 p.m. CT.
