Rangers’ 3-1 Win Still Carried Too Much Baserunning Waste

Jake Burger was caught trying to take third in the sixth inning, and a promising Rangers chance vanished with him. The out came after Corey Seager’s home run, Josh Jung’s walk, a force play that retired Jung, Nimmo’s strikeout and Wyatt Langford’s single.

Texas had moved runners around the bases without producing another run, then lost one on the bases before Ezequiel Duran could finish his plate appearance.

That was the slightly untidy shape of Texas’ 3-1 victory over the New York Mets on Thursday at Globe Life Field. Texas earned the win. They also squandered enough baserunning opportunities to make the final margin feel unnecessarily delicate.

The criticism is specific. Texas lost two runners on individual caught-stealing plays: Langford in the second inning and Burger in the sixth. In the eighth, an inning that included an Evan Carter walk and Josh Jung single, the Rangers lost two more outs on Burger’s ground-ball double play.

A team can win while leaving those opportunities on the table. It should not pretend the table was empty.

The sixth inning shows both sides of the afternoon. Seager’s solo homer against Jefry Yan gave Texas a 3-1 lead, and Jung walked behind him. Burger’s grounder forced Jung at second.

After Nimmo struck out, Langford singled. Burger was then picked off and caught stealing third during Duran’s plate appearance, with Mets catcher Luis Torrens throwing to Marcus Semien. The inning ended there, without another run.

That sequence is a fair target because the Rangers already had the lead and a runner in scoring position. Whatever led to the attempt, its cost was immediate: Texas lost the opportunity to let Duran finish his plate appearance. The Mets executed the play cleanly, which matters as much as the Rangers’ mistake.

The earlier lost runner was Langford. He singled in the second inning, Duran struck out, and Langford was caught stealing second during Elias Díaz’s plate appearance. Díaz then grounded out. Langford’s attempt came while Díaz was batting. One out disappeared on the bases, and the inning ended with no run.

New York deserves genuine credit for making those outs happen. Torrens and Semien combined on Langford’s caught stealing, while Torrens and Semien were again involved in Burger’s sixth-inning pickoff play. The Mets also turned the eighth-inning opportunity neatly.

Carter walked, Seager struck out, Jung singled, and Nicky Lopez entered as the pinch-runner. Burger’s grounder became a 6-4-3 double play, with Francisco Lindor, Semien and Brett Baty completing it. Two outs disappeared on one ball in play, and Texas’ lead stayed at two.

That fielding mattered because New York kept the game within reach. The Mets collected four hits, including doubles by Lindor and Nick Morabito, and scored first when Lindor doubled and came home on Carson Benge’s single. Their pitchers also held Texas scoreless in the seventh and eighth.

Jefry Yan, Austin Warren and Jack Weisenburger combined for three relief innings, allowing one run while preventing the Rangers from converting later traffic into insurance.

Texas’ answer was concentrated power. Justin Foscue singled in the first inning. After Seager struck out, Jung hit a two-run homer.

Seager supplied the final run with his sixth-inning drive. Jung was the offensive standout, going 3-for-3 with a walk, a double, a home run and seven total bases. Foscue, Seager and Jung combined for five hits, one walk, all three runs and all three RBIs.

The Rangers did not need a parade of rallies when their biggest swings arrived with the right runners aboard.

The pitching made that efficiency hold. Kumar Rocker allowed one run in five innings, giving up three hits and two walks. Robert Garcia, Tyler Alexander, Chase Silseth and Jordan Montgomery then delivered four scoreless innings, allowing one hit, no walks and three strikeouts.

Montgomery needed eight pitches to retire Juan Soto, Bo Bichette and Benge in the ninth, closing the door before the Mets could test the fragile-looking margin.

So the Rangers won because the decisive contact counted and the bullpen protected it. They also made a two-run lead thinner than necessary through two caught-stealing outs and a double play. The Mets’ defense earned its share of the afternoon; Texas’ power and relief work simply left less for that waste to damage.

Sources

Official game data

Official game box score