The Rangers’ lineup has been unable to produce runs so far, forcing the pitching staff to be nearly perfect.
Texas Rangers starting pitcher Tyler Mahle throws to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first inning of a baseball game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, April 20, 2025.outfielder Wyatt Langford first thought he was out, but after he got a view of the replay on Globe Life Field’s big ol’ video board, he changed his stance.
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy, from his seat in the dugout, expected the umpires to overturn their on-field ruling after he challenged the initial “out” call. Even Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Miguel Vargas — the one who did or didn’t tag Langford on the game’s final play Sunday — said postgame that he “wasn’t really sure” about the call.They determined after a review that Langford, who attempted to steal second base with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning of Sunday’s 1-0 loss to the Dodgers, was tagged out by Vargas after he popped off the bag during his slide. The review lasted a few minutes before Carapazza announced that Langford, who did not leave second base during the length of the review, was out and that the game — and series — was over. It might have cost the Rangers a shot to win the series vs. the reigning World Series champions and claim a fourth-consecutive home set to start the season. The same could be said aboutwhen Rangers third baseman Josh Jung believed he hit a foul ball and instead grounded into a game-ending double play.“But, still, you know,” Bochy mused after he shared his thoughts on the ‘tough call’ that ended Sunday’s game, “we’ve got to start getting some runs on the board.” The narrow margins that can determine a baseball game — like Jung’s foul-not-foul or Langford’s caught-stealing-not-caught-stealing — are made all the more tight when a team does not function at its highest level. The Rangers, who are 13-9 and atop the American League West standings, have not functioned at their best on the offensive end after three-and-a-half weeks of games and have been carried by a pitching staff that’s been among baseball’s best.Texas out-hit the Dodgers Sunday, five to three, but mustered only a handful of singles and only put multiple runners on just once. The Rangers were 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position Sunday and 1 for 11 on the series. The only hit they did have with a runner at second or third base was “I’m not having concerns right now,” Bochy said. “Sure, you’d like to see more runs, but these guys — I keep saying it — they’ll come out of it, because they’re not going to hit what they’re hitting. Yeah, if this kept going on for a month or something, yeah, I think you’d be concerned. We have a lot of baseball left and guys are still trying to get in their groove.”Guys like second baseman Marcus Semien, whose .401 OPS at the leadoff spot is the worst among all qualified hitters in baseball. Guys like first baseman Jake Burger, who isn’t much further ahead with a .513 OPS. Guys like designated hitter Joc Pederson, whose in a 0 for 38 drought and a .220 OPS that’s the worst among any player with 50 or more at bats this year.. He moved Burger down the lineup into the eight-hole, kept Semien at leadoff and played super utility man Josh Smith in the three-hole because he liked the matchup vs. Dodgers right-hander Tyler Glasnow. “You don’t have a choice,” Bochy said. “They’re your guys and you go with them. Yeah, we changed it up a little bit, even in the order, the back end of the order. It’s what you do, sometimes you change it up and change it up, and I don’t know if a change in the order will change anything because really it’ll take nine guys to get consistent doing things to help us win the ballgame.” It nearly took just one Sunday. Mahle threw seven shutout innings, allowed two hits, three walks and four strikeouts to post. In the eighth, he passed the baton to right-hander Chris Martin, who allowed the game’s lone run on a single-walk-flyout-flyout combination that scored pinch hitter Will Smith.Mahle held the vaunted top third of the Dodgers’ lineup — designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, shortstop Mookie Betts and first baseman Freddie Freeman — to an 0 for 7 line with two strikeouts and two walks. He struck out Ohtani on his splitter with a runner on first base in the third inning and, two batters later, struck out Freeman with his fastball to end the frame and strand two men on. “It’s just making pitches,” Mahle said. “We have a plan, no matter who’s up at the plate, you’ve just got to execute pitches.” Mahle’s 0.68 ERA and .112 batting average against are both the lowest among starting pitchers leaguewide. His ERA is the lowestby a Rangers starting pitcher through their first five games at the start of a season and is five percentage points better than the record Rick Honeycutt set during the 1983 season. It’s helped anchor a rotation that owns an AL-best 2.85 ERA and a collective pitching staff that’s been a top-five unit in baseball. It’s helped the Rangers off to a first-place start while the offense figures itself out. The bats will need to pick up the pace and carry their weight soon, though, for the Rangers to keep their status atop the leaderboard.Texas Rangers hope time off will benefit struggling designated hitter Joc PedersonShawn covers the Texas Rangers and other Dallas-area sports for The News. He joined The Dallas Morning News after covering UConn basketball, football and high school sports for The Hartford Courant. A Boston area native, Shawn graduated from Springfield College in 2018 and previously worked for The Boston Globe and Baseball America.
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