ARLINGTON, Texas — Texas Rangers outfielder Travis Jankowski, who hit one home run all of last season, clubbed a game-tying pinch-hit homer in the bottom of the ninth inning, and then the Rangers won in extras, 4-3, on opening night Thursday against the Chicago Cubs.
The Rangers' Jonah Heim drove in Josh Jung for the game-winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning, lacing a hit into the right-center gap in front of 42,130 fans at Globe Life Field in Arlington.
The raucous crowd was the largest to ever watch a regular season game in the stadium's four-year history.
And in a span of about 30 minutes, they saw the highs and lows that mirrored the Rangers' rollercoaster ride to the World Series last fall.
Jankowski's game-saving homer came after a controversial no-call by the home plate umpire led to the Cubs taking a lead in the top half of the inning.
The Rangers and Cubs were tied 2-2 when Chicago hitter Miles Mastrobuoni foul tipped a pitch that scurried past the catcher Heim. But the home plate umpire didn't call the ball a foul, instead treating it as if it were a wild pitch.
Chicago baserunner Michael Busch ran from second base to home to score and put the Cubs ahead. The call was not reviewable per league rules.
But Texas, as it did all of last postseason, found a way to respond.
Jankowski's homer in the ninth was followed by reliever David Robertson wiggling out of a jam in the 10th inning.
The Rangers loaded the bases in the bottom half, setting up Heim's two-out winner.
Eovaldi solid in start
Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi threw six innings of two-run ball, giving up an RBI sac fly in the second inning and an RBI double in the sixth. Eovaldi got hit hard by the Cubs early in the game, but only surrendered four hits, striking out three batters while walking one.
While the Rangers trailed 1-0 after the second, rookie designated hitter Wyatt Langford tied up the game in the fourth with an RBI sac fly, plating Josh Jung, who had doubled to get on base. The Cubs pulled ahead on Cody Bellinger's two-out double in the sixth, but Adolis Garcia responded with a towering solo homer in the bottom half of the inning, tying the game at 2-2.
Cubs starter Justin Steele kept the Rangers in check in the early innings, fanning six batters through 4.2 innings. But his diving play to throw out Leody Taveras in the fifth forced him to exit with a hamstring injury.
Before the game, the Rangers unveiled their World Series championship banner, unfurling it from the rafters above right field.
