SEATTLE — Every run Cody Bradford gave up Wednesday afternoon at T-Mobile Park scored with two outs. The Texas Rangers lost to the Seattle Mariners 3-2, a day after winning the series opener 10-5.
Bradford (0-5) worked 4 innings on 63 pitches. He gave up 4 hits and 3 earned runs, walked 2, and struck out 1. He has not won a major league game since Sept. 18, 2024. Texas is 1-6 in his seven starts this season.
Cody Bradford Falls To 0-5 In Seventh Start Back From Elbow Surgery
Jake Burger put Texas ahead when he led off the second inning with his 26th home run. Burger drove a 92.4 mph fastball from Mariners rookie left-hander Kade Anderson in a 2-1 count into the second row of seats in right-center field. Texas started seven right-handed hitters against Anderson.
Seattle answered in the bottom half. Cal Raleigh drew a leadoff walk against Bradford, and Julio Rodríguez struck out. Raleigh took second after Rangers catcher Elías Díaz made a diving catch against the brick wall behind the plate on a foul pop from Josh Naylor. With two outs, Taylor Ward lined a single to center that tied the game at 1.
Two innings later, Bradford retired the first two hitters of the fourth. After Naylor grounded a single to center, Ward walked. Cole Young then doubled off the wall in right field, and both runners scored when the ball got past Brandon Nimmo. Seattle led 3-1.
Bradford entered the start 0-4 with a 4.45 ERA. Before the game, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said the setbacks in Bradford’s rehab have made the comeback harder, in comments reported by MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry.
“He’s coming off surgery, and it’s been almost two years, so he’s going to have peaks and valleys,” Schumaker said. “It’s not easy coming off Tommy John and then having setbacks. … But I feel like there are times where he’s not completely back to where he wants to be.”
“With what he’s doing right now, I’ll take my chance with Cody, just because of how much he prepares and how he knows his pitchability,” Schumaker continued. “All that stuff is real. But there’s going to be some times where just because of Tommy John, you don’t have the pitch execution that you’re used to having.”
Bradford had internal brace surgery on his left elbow in June 2025 and missed that season. He was shut down for three weeks with elbow tightness after his first Triple-A rehab start on April 2. The Rangers reinstated him from the 60-day injured list Aug. 5.
In that Sept. 18, 2024, start at Globe Life Field, Bradford held the Toronto Blue Jays scoreless over 7 innings. His most recent outing before Wednesday came Sept. 2 against the Athletics, when he worked 4 innings and gave up 3 home runs and 5 earned runs in a 9-2 loss.
Raleigh’s leadoff walk in the second came around as the tying run. At 0-5, Bradford is trying to take small wins.
“I try not to beat myself up week to week because I’m pretty hard on myself, and in the past that hasn’t been so great,” Bradford said. “I’m trying to take small wins. The first time through the lineup was pretty efficient outside of the [Cal] Raleigh walk. I liked our game plan, and we executed well. So just trying to build off of that for the next going up.”
Tyler Alexander replaced Bradford to start the fifth. Alexander pitched the fifth and sixth, Trevor Williams pitched the seventh, and Robby Ahlstrom pitched the eighth. The three relievers combined for 4 scoreless innings and allowed 2 hits and 1 walk. With Texas down 3-1 after four innings, Schumaker said he went to relievers who were available to chase the game.
“You have to make a decision if you want to start chasing or not at that point,” Schumaker explained. “Watching it, we felt it was time to kind of make the move and go to some guys that were available to go ahead and chase. They kept it at three runs, so I think they did a heck of a job. We only got one run after the second inning, so that’s tough.”
Skip Schumaker Points To Rangers’ 0-for-5 With Runners In Scoring Position
Corey Seager led off the eighth by hitting a first-pitch sinker from left-hander Gabe Speier just over the left-field fence. The homer was his 17th of the season and pulled Texas within 3-2. Seager went 2-for-4.
Burger’s and Seager’s solo homers were the only Texas runs. The Rangers finished with 7 hits and went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
Anderson (1-1) worked 6 innings on 81 pitches. He allowed 6 hits and 1 earned run, walked 1, and struck out 5. It was the first time in his four major league starts that he finished the sixth inning. Seattle drafted Anderson third overall in 2025 out of LSU, where he helped the Tigers win the College World Series.
In the fifth, Seager grounded into an inning-ending double play. Justin Foscue lined out to open the sixth, and Nimmo followed with a one-out single. Anderson struck out Wyatt Langford, then got Burger to swing over a changeup with the tying run on first. His fastball reached 95 mph against his final hitters.
Andrés Muñoz pitched a hitless ninth, walked 1, and struck out 2 for his 26th save. Bradford had recorded 12 outs, and Schumaker had no complaint about the bullpen that covered the rest.
“I think Cody had a good day,” Schumaker said. “Typically, it takes good starting pitching with length. Went to our bullpen early. Bullpen did an excellent job. The runners in scoring position, we had trouble with today. We didn’t have any hits with any guys on base, and that was ultimately the reason why we lost the game.”
The Houston Astros lost 11-7 at Philadelphia on Wednesday night, so Texas (72-74) remains two games behind them in the American League West with 16 games left. The Cleveland Guardians and Toronto also lost Wednesday. The Rangers are 1 1/2 games behind Cleveland for the third American League wild card and a half-game behind Toronto. They are 32-42 away from Globe Life Field this season and 8-4 against Seattle, with one game left in the season series.
Jacob deGrom (10-9, 3.96 ERA) starts Thursday’s series finale, with first pitch at 3:10 p.m. CT on Rangers Sports Network. Seattle has listed right-hander Logan Gilbert (11-9, 3.71 ERA). In his last start, Sept. 5 against the Tampa Bay Rays, deGrom worked 6 innings and allowed 4 hits and 2 runs, walked 1, and struck out 7 in a 6-3 loss in 10 innings. The Rangers open a three-game series at the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday.
