ANAHEIM — The Rangers did not have a hit in the first three innings of Tuesday night’s matchup with Angels starting pitcher José Soriano. They looked well on their way to yet another subpar offensive performance.
But by the seventh inning, the Angels were using infielder Kevin Newman on the mound, virtually punting the game with nine outs to go. The Rangers sent all nine batters to the plate in the fourth and fifth innings, bulldozing over the Angels en route to a 13-1 victory at Angel Stadium.
“I’ve said a big hit can get things going,” said manager Bruce Bochy. “It gets contagious. I felt like that’s what happened. Their guy [Soriano] has been throwing the ball very well, we knew that coming into this game. We knew we had our hands full. … [Wyatt] Langford got the big hit to get us going, and it just got contagious after that. The boys did a good job. We really needed a game like this.”
By the end of the night, the Rangers had collected 12 hits and nine walks, while using a position player of their own — Ezequiel Duran — on the mound to give an overtaxed bullpen a breather. It was a much-needed night all around for Texas.
In a rare explosive night for the Rangers’ offense, here are three key plate appearances in the win:
Langford’s bases-loaded single
Though the Rangers had no hits entering Langford’s at-bat in the fourth inning, the bases were loaded thanks to walks to Corey Seager, Marcus Semien and Jonah Heim. Langford, fresh off an oblique strain, had gone just 1-for-10 since his return from the injured list.
He then sliced a double down the third-base line, just out of reach of Angels third baseman Yoán Moncada for the Rangers’ first hit of the game. Two runs scored, giving Texas a lead it never relinquished.
“That’s huge,” said first baseman Jake Burger, who collected four RBIs. “It feels like it’s kind of been the M.O. all year, of us not coming up in big situations like that. Not coming through. Having Wyatt do that was huge. There were a lot of quality at-bats before that. I think that’s the biggest thing, putting the pressure on them, on the pitcher, and coming through when we need it. Wyatt did that.”
Carter’s bases-loaded walk
In 52 big league plate appearances, Evan Carter had five total hits against left-handed pitchers entering Tuesday, good for a .106/.192/.106 slash line. So when he came up to the plate to face Angels rookie Sam Aldegheri with the bases loaded once again in the fifth inning, it could have gone poorly.
Carter took three balls, well outside the zone, before taking a strike on the outside corner. But Aldegheri could not consistently find the strike zone, issuing a bases-loaded walk to a hitter with a .299 career OPS against southpaws.
The Rangers rattled off two more hits behind him, scoring four in the frame.
“It’s good that he got to see the lefty,” Bochy said. “He got a couple at-bats off lefties. That’s big for him, I think, because the more he sees them, the more comfortable he’s going to be. And when the guy in front of you strikes out, you’re hoping to tack on. Evan picks him up with a walk. Then, of course, Burger, and then Higgy added on there. It was big for us.”
Seager vs. Angels
The Rangers had a sizable lead by the time Seager came to the plate in the sixth inning. But Seager is inevitable, especially in Anaheim. It wasn’t much of a shock when he homered to lead off the frame, giving Texas double-digit runs for just the seventh time this season.
Seager typically rakes against the Angels. Entering the day, he had multiple hits in all four games against the Halos in 2025, good for a .643 average with a pair of homers, five RBIs and three walks to no strikeouts. In his last 12 games vs. Angels dating back to Sept. 26, 2023, he had slashed .432/.537/.750.
His homer on Tuesday was his second of the four-game set in Anaheim.
“You’ve got to play good baseball these next seven days before the [All-Star] break,” Seager said entering the series. “You can’t look towards the break. You gotta be in the moment right now and try to win every game you can.”