Texas Rangers designated hitter Joc Pederson shouts and flips his bat after connecting on a home run.

Texas Rangers designated hitter Joc Pederson flips his bat after a two-run home run against the Baltimore Orioles in the sixth inning at Globe Life Field on Aug. 7, 2026. Pederson drove Shane Baz's first pitch 414 feet around the right field foul pole to score Elias Díaz and account for both Texas runs in a 2-1 win, his 21st homer of the season and his eighth go-ahead home run of the year. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

Texas Rangers Shake Up Lineup Amid Four-Game Skid, Move Joc Pederson To Leadoff

Grant AfsethAugust 15, 2026August 15, 2026

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Texas Rangers changed three position-player starters and seven spots in the batting order for Saturday night’s game against the Athletics at Sutter Health Park.

Joc Pederson, who was not in Friday’s starting lineup, leads off as the designated hitter. Wyatt Langford moves from first to fourth, and Jake Burger drops from fifth to seventh.

Only Brandon Nimmo and Corey Seager remain in the same batting-order spots from Friday. Nimmo hits second and plays right field, with Seager third at shortstop.

Burger hit a three-run home run for all of Texas’ scoring in Friday’s 8-3 loss. The defeat was the Rangers’ fourth in a row.

Texas Rangers Change Lineup After Friday’s Loss

Ezequiel Durán moves from cleanup to fifth and starts again at third base. Evan Carter moves from ninth to sixth and starts in center field.

Austin Wynns catches and bats eighth. Nicky Lopez starts at second base and hits ninth.

Justin Foscue, Cody Freeman, and Elias Díaz started Friday but are out of Saturday’s lineup.

The full order:

Five hitters in the lineup bat left-handed: Pederson, Nimmo, Seager, Carter, and Lopez.

Wynns starts behind the plate with Kyle Higashioka on the 10-day injured list. Durán remains at third with Josh Jung on the 10-day injured list with a left calf strain.

MacKenzie Gore Starts Against J.T. Ginn

MacKenzie Gore starts Saturday for Texas. The left-hander is 6-9 with a 4.43 ERA through 25 starts. Gore has thrown 134 innings and allowed 117 hits and 66 earned runs. He has 149 strikeouts and 49 walks.

The Athletics are scheduled to start right-hander J.T. Ginn, who is 8-6 with a 3.41 ERA and 107 strikeouts.

The Rangers enter Saturday at 60-63, three games behind the Houston Astros in the AL West. Texas has lost four straight.

Friday’s loss came after Texas dropped the last three games of a four-game series with the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim. The Rangers won the opener 4-1 on Aug. 10, then lost 3-2, 5-2, and 7-0 before scoring 3 runs Friday.

First pitch Saturday is scheduled for 8:40 p.m. CT.

Cody Bradford is listed as the Texas starter for Sunday’s 3:05 p.m. CT series finale at Sutter Health Park.