ARLINGTON, Texas — If the Texas Rangers aren’t careful, they might mess around and give their fanbase some last minute hope.
Going into a series against the New York Yankees – the American League’s top team – they were largely expected to have no shot at winning, but Texas dug deep into their reserves, rode a rookie rocket, and finally maintained some offensive production to claim a third series in a row while gaining a couple of games in the AL West.
Despite Wyatt Langford’s heroics, and with Corey Seager’s injury dampening the mood, it’s probably too late to even entertain hope, but for one series, the Rangers looked like there was still a little magic left in them.
Game 138: New York 8, Texas 4 (W: Cole, 6-3, L: Leiter, 0-2)
Game 139: New York 4, Texas 7 (W: Pennington, 1-0, L: Holmes, 2-5)
Game 140: New York 6, Texas 10 (W: Eovaldi, 11-7, L: Stroman, 10-7, Sv: Yates, 26)
Another Wyatt walk-off
The Rangers certainly aren’t the offensive juggernaut they were last year. In fact, they're actually in the bottom third in baseball in home runs; this after being tied for the American League lead in home runs last season.
Texas also hit eight grand slams last season. This season, they only managed to hit one going into this series with the Yankees. That slam belonged to rookie Wyatt Langford. Langford’s first grand slam came against the Royals on June 22.
A little over two months later, on Tuesday night with Texas down 4-3 in the bottom of the nine and with the bases loaded with one out, Langford came to bat again. The rookie worked the count to 3-2, already demonstrating discipline and poise in a big moment, before ripping an inside pitch deep into the night down the left field line.
The ball didn’t land until he had hit the second deck, Chuck Morgan played the theme from The Natural, and Langford had his and the Rangers’ second grand slam of the season, this one a walk-off winner. In an uninspiring year overall for the reigning champs, Langford’s stock rose again to even the series, adding to an already impressive season’s resume of accomplishments for the rookie.
Offensive explosion
If you take away the Langford grand slam winner, the Rangers were held to three runs on Tuesday night. The night before, they managed to score four, most after the game was out of reach. On Wednesday, however, against Marcus Stroman and the New York bullpen, Texas burst out for an all-around performance from the lineup.
Spreading out their attack with 14 hits, including three RBI from Adolis Garcia, two each from Langford and Ezequiel Duran and one apiece from Josh Smith and Nathaniel Lowe, the Rangers, interestingly enough, needed zero home runs to score 10 runs and claim the series.
Overall, Langford again proved to be a thorn in New York’s side as the former No. 4 overall pick went 3-for-4 with a double, walk, three runs scored, and the two runs driven in. In addition, a leaping grab at the wall by Langford ended a Yankees rally for the final out of the finale victory for Texas.
An encouraging effort
The box score didn’t look pretty for Jack Leiter, but the rookie ultimately gave the best performance of his young big league career against the AL’s top lineup in Monday’s opener.
Leiter was able to go five innings, deeper than he had gone in any previous game, and did so efficiently, needing only 80 pitches before entering the sixth inning; previously, he threw 85 in his debut and 83 last time out against the White Sox.
Leiter allowed two runs in the third inning, but kept the game at 2-1 through five frames. In trying to get through a sixth inning for the first time in his career, Leiter allowed the first three Yankees to reach base, prompting a pitching change. With Chase Anderson allowing two more inherited runners to score, Leiter’s line of giving up five runs didn’t tell the whole story.
Shutting down
During the series, the Rangers announced that Jon Gray and Tyler Mahle would both be shut down for the remainder of the season. Gray suffered a foot injury, listed as neuroma. Coupled with his season-long recurring groin injuries, the Rangers thought it best to just shut him down and hope for a healthier season next year.
Mahle, who had come back briefly after recovering from Tommy John surgery, was a welcome sight to see pitch this season at all. However, with a stiff shoulder sidelining him again, and not much time for him to ramp back up in rehab stints, Mahle, who is signed with Texas through next season, should be ready for a full season year.
The other loss that could linger until the season ends is shortstop Seager. General Manager Chris Young would not rule out a return for Seager in the last couple weeks of the season, but with hip discomfort, the club put him on the 10-day IL.
The franchise shortstop doesn’t want to miss another large part of the offseason, like he did when he underwent surgery for a sports hernia after leading the team to the World Series title and claiming the only World Series MVP in franchise history, so the club will take it easy with him as the season wraps up.
In the meantime, with a surprising series win against the Yankees, the Rangers can crow about dropping New York from their perch atop the AL East as they next welcome the AL West cellar-dwelling Los Angeles Angels to Arlington.
Do you think Wyatt Langford can parlay the breakout series against New York into a successful final month in his first big league season? Share your thoughts with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.
