NEW YORK — One thing can be said about the 2025 Rangers. They don’t give up easily.
Take Saturday: They didn’t do anything offensively until the late innings, but they still found a way to edge the Mets, 3-2, at Citi Field. Texas is now on a six-game winning streak, and it is two games behind the Astros in the American League West race and 1 1/2 games behind the Mariners in the Wild Card chase. It helps that the Rangers have the best record in the Major Leagues in the last three weeks, dating back to Aug. 22 (16-4).
This is a team that has been winning without its double-play combination of Corey Seager and Marcus Semien. The Rangers have been winning with a crew called the “Little Rascals,” a name coined by TV analyst David Murphy, referencing Cody Freeman, Michael Helman, Alejandro Osuna and Dustin Harris.
“We just battle. We are not giving up at all,” said Rangers left fielder Wyatt Langford. “It doesn’t matter who is in there or who is on the mound or whatever. We are doing whatever we can to score a couple of runs, just make it a ballgame and go from there.”
It was Langford and Rowdy Tellez who steered Texas to victory. With the score tied at 2 in the top of the ninth inning, Texas was able to make closer Edwin Díaz lose his third game of the season. Freeman led off and singled off the glove of shortstop Francisco Lindor. Harris entered the game as a pinch-runner before he scored on a Langford single. It was Langford’s second go-ahead RBI in the ninth inning or later this season.
“I got a good fastball to hit and just put a good swing on it,” Langford said.
New York had a chance to tie the score in the bottom of the ninth inning. With Juan Soto on first and one out, Rangers right-hander Shawn Armstrong struck out Pete Alonso, but Ronny Mauricio singled to right field to put runners on first and third.
Brandon Nimmo then came to the plate for New York and struck out to end the game.
The Rangers were down 2-0 going into the top of the eighth inning, but were able to get to New York’s bullpen. With Tyler Rogers on the mound, Josh Smith led off and reached base on catcher’s interference by Francisco Alvarez.
After Langford doubled down the left-field line to put runners on second and third, Joc Pederson hit a sacrifice fly to score Smith. Three batters later, with Díaz on the mound, Tellez entered the game as a pinch-hitter and doubled down the right-field line, scoring Langford to tie the score at 2.
Tellez may not have been successful at the plate if not for the live batting practice session he took with Adolis García before the game. Tellez realizes he is going to be on the bench for the foreseeable future. He simply wants to be ready to hit whenever manager Bruce Bochy calls on him during the late innings.
“I want to stay sharp. When my number is called, I come in there and contribute,” Tellez said. “For me, who hasn’t received many live at-bats, I want to stay as ready as I can. When the opportunity came, I asked Boch if I could do it. I know it was for Doli [García]. I felt good about what I was going to do. Obviously, we are really playing some good ball. I want to contribute. I want to be as close to ready as I can. If a live session comes up, I want to be a part of it.”
It was a hard-fought victory for the Rangers. They didn’t do anything offensively during the first seven innings. Mets right-hander Brandon Sproat shut them down in six of those innings. But the bats came back to life, and the Rangers won their 79th game of the season.
“We are in September playing important games. We are doing a good job,” Bochy said. “… They are playing with a lot of confidence, and they are having a lot of fun out there. They are loose, and that’s the way you want them to be.”
