ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers have won their last six home series, the longest such run in Globe Life Field history. The Tampa Bay Rays open a four-game series Thursday with the best record in the American League.
Texas is 69-71 after losing 9-2 to the Athletics on Wednesday. The Rangers won the first two games of that series. Entering Wednesday they sat 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.
Tampa Bay comes to Arlington at 83-55 after winning seven of its last 10. The Rays are 4 1/2 games up on the New York Yankees in the American League East. If they stay there, they would have home field throughout the American League playoffs. Tampa Bay won two of three when the Rangers visited St. Petersburg in July.
Cal Quantrill, Jacob deGrom And MacKenzie Gore Line Up For Texas
Texas has its rotation lined up for all four games. Three of the four starters enter the series on strong stretches.
Cal Quantrill gets the first turn Thursday, opposite Shane McClanahan. Quantrill comes in at 6-5 with a 3.01 ERA. The Rangers’ beat reporters voted him the club’s player of the month for August. In seven recent appearances, Quantrill is 3-2 with a 1.49 ERA. Two wins have come in his last three starts, each of which lasted at least six innings. Quantrill also won his last two starts in Arlington. McClanahan comes in at 10-6 with a 3.19 ERA.
Friday matches Kumar Rocker with right-hander Nick Martinez. Rocker is 5-10 with a 4.44 ERA. In his last seven starts, he is 2-2 with a 5.35 ERA, 38 strikeouts and 19 walks. Against the Milwaukee Brewers his last time out, Rocker worked three innings, allowing 4 hits and 2 earned runs. He walked 4 and struck out 7. Martinez enters Friday at 13-4 with a 2.99 ERA.
Jacob deGrom is next, taking the ball Saturday opposite Drew Rasmussen. Monday against the Athletics, deGrom worked seven innings, gave up 1 hit and struck out 8. deGrom is 10-9 with a 4.00 ERA for the season. Over his last seven starts, he has gone 3-3 with a 4.78 ERA while striking out 39 and walking 13. His last two outings at Globe Life Field have yielded just 2 hits combined. Rasmussen brings a 14-5 record and 2.95 ERA into Saturday.
MacKenzie Gore is lined up for Sunday. Tampa Bay had not announced its starter for the finale. Gore picked up the win Tuesday against the Athletics after giving up 5 hits and 4 walks with 4 strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings. He is 8-10 with a 4.31 ERA. Across his last seven appearances, Gore is 2-2 with a 2.77 ERA, 42 strikeouts and 16 walks. His last two home starts have included just 1 earned run allowed.
Gore came to Texas in a Jan. 22 trade with the Washington Nationals. The Rangers sent shortstop Gavin Fien, infielder Devin Fitz-Gerald, right-hander Alejandro Rosario, first baseman Abimelec Ortiz, and outfielder Yeremy Cabrera to Washington. Gore made the National League All-Star team in 2025 after originally entering professional baseball as the third overall pick in the 2017 draft.
First pitch Thursday and Friday is 7:05 p.m. CT. Saturday’s game starts at 6:05 p.m. CT and Sunday’s at 1:35 p.m. CT. All four are on Rangers Sports Network.
Where The Texas Rangers Stand With 22 Games Left
Only 22 games remain on the Rangers’ schedule, and 13 will be played at Globe Life Field. Texas is 36-29 there. Its 30-41 road record guarantees a losing mark away from home for the 10th straight season.
Texas is 26-35 against teams at .500 or better. Tampa Bay is one of those teams, and so are the Astros, whom the Rangers have finished playing this season.
Rangers manager Skip Schumaker brought up Milwaukee when discussing Tampa Bay after Wednesday’s loss to the Athletics. Texas had just seen the Brewers on the road last weekend.
The Rangers last played postseason baseball in 2023.
