CHICAGO — MacKenzie Gore allowed 4 runs on 8 hits and 4 walks across 3 2/3 innings Wednesday night at Rate Field. The Texas Rangers lost 10-4 to the Chicago White Sox in the rubber match of a three-game series.
Texas won the opener Monday and had Jacob deGrom and Gore lined up behind it. A night before Gore’s start, deGrom allowed 8 runs, tying a career high. Neither starter finished four innings.
The result was the Rangers’ sixth consecutive road series loss. Texas had not dropped that many in a row away from home since it lost eight straight in 2021. The club has lost 12 of its last 15 road games.
Rangers manager Skip Schumaker and Gore met with reporters at Rate Field afterward, in an availability reported by MLB.com.
Schumaker said the last two starts were not what deGrom and Gore wanted out of them.
“It starts with starting pitching,” Schumaker said. “I’ve said since day one that the health and production of our starting pitching was going to carry us. We acquired Gore and we knew we had deGrom and [Nathan Eovaldi]. We felt pretty good about it. These last two starts were not what they wanted; not what we were thinking was going to happen after winning the first game here. That’s not what we thought we’re going to get. I don’t think they would tell you [they expected] that either.”
Gore is in his first season with Texas. Eovaldi has been on the 15-day injured list since last week. Gore fell to 7-10 on the year. Entering Wednesday he was 2-1 with a 3.32 ERA over his previous eight games dating back to July 12, and Texas had won nine straight games he started. Wednesday was his first career start against Chicago. His velocity was down across all of his pitches, per MLB.com.
Gore is tired of saying the Rangers have to be better.
“Obviously I did not pitch well today,” Gore said. “It just kind of seemed like we all just didn’t play well. Not a good time for it. We just didn’t play well as a group. I didn’t pitch well at all. The good thing is it was only a day, but I’m tired of saying it. I’m sure y’all are tired of hearing it, and we just have to be better.”
Texas Rangers Leave 12 On Base At Rate Field
The Rangers drew 8 walks in the first four innings against White Sox starter Sean Burke and scored 2 runs in that stretch. Joc Pederson hit a two-run home run in the third, his 23rd of the season. Burke walked 8 and allowed 2 runs in three-plus innings.
Texas finished 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position and left 12 on base. Chicago went 7-for-11 in the same situations and stranded 7. The Rangers left at least 10 on base in each game of the series, 33 across the three games. Ezequiel Duran added a two-run single in the seventh.
Entering Wednesday, Texas was tied for the 10th-best batting average with runners in scoring position at .259. The club was tied for 13th in OPS in those situations at .751.
Schumaker is not frustrated with the offense.
“As far as the offense, we had 10 walks tonight and 8 hits,” Schumaker explained. “There were a lot of guys on base, a lot of guys on base last night, a lot of guys on base the night before. So I feel pretty good about where the offense is going and starting to click. I know that there were runners [left] in scoring position, but we had 18 guys on base. That’s going to translate generally. I’m not frustrated with the offense at all. It was just tough to put up zeros after we scored.”
Tristan Peters Homers In Fifth Straight Game
Tristan Peters homered for the fifth consecutive game, matching the White Sox franchise record. The streak also matched the MLB rookie record. Peters and Munetaka Murakami are the first rookies in franchise history to homer in five straight games in the same season.
Peters finished with 3 hits and 3 RBI. His two-run shot in the fifth put Chicago ahead 6-2. Brenton Doyle hit a three-run home run and added a run-scoring single. Sam Antonacci hit 2 RBI singles, and Miguel Vargas went 2-for-2 with an RBI.
Sean Newcomb pitched 3 scoreless innings and improved to 2-3. Jonathan Cannon allowed 2 runs over the final three innings for his first save since 2024.
Rangers Open Series At Milwaukee On Friday
Texas sits a half-game behind the Houston Astros in the American League West. Houston lost 9-3 to the New York Yankees in New York earlier Wednesday. The Rangers are two games behind the Cleveland Guardians for the final American League Wild Card spot. Twenty-eight games remain on the schedule.
For Schumaker, the division is where the race sits right now.
“There’s leadership in that room,” Schumaker said. “There’s a lot of season left. We’ve put ourselves in a little bit of a hole to start this road trip, but the division is where it’s at right now. We still have a chance. A lot of guys are fighting and frustrated. You can feel it and you can sense it, and I get it. I totally understand it. We have an off-day to regroup, and try to win the first game in Milwaukee.”
Texas is off Thursday. Cody Bradford (0-2, 3.05 ERA) starts Friday at American Family Field against Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Logan Henderson (8-2, 2.60 ERA). First pitch is 6:40 p.m. CT on Rangers Sports Network.
