When the Texas Rangers jumped on a plane to head to the City of Brotherly Love for an Opening Weekend series against the Philadelphia Phillies, no one thought it would be an easy trip.

The Phillies roster has them shaping up to be one of the best teams in all of baseball, and there’s no denying how well they play at Citizens Bank Park.

Additionally, Philadelphia’s starting pitching rotation of Cristopher Sanchez, Aaron Nola, and Jesús Luzardo made the Rangers lineup have their hands full.

Still, despite all of those factors, the Rangers wound up taking two of three from Philadelphia on the road, marking a very strong opening to the season and the Skip Schumaker era.

Following Thursday’s tough 5-3 Opening Day loss, the Rangers bounced back with a wild 5-4 extra-innings victory on Saturday afternoon.

Texas dominated the game pretty much throughout with strong pitching performances from Jacob Latz, Cole Winn, Jalen Beeks, and Jakob Junis. The Rangers also got home runs from Corey Seager and Jake Burger, which were part of a 3-0 ninth-inning lead.

Although that lead would not be enough as Texas blew the save and the Phillies tied the game down to their final out in the ninth.

However, the Rangers used a two-run 10th inning to help secure the crazy 5-4 victory, marking their first win of 2026.

On Sunday, it was a domination by the Rangers, who grabbed an 8-3 victory, claiming the opening weekend series.

Texas scored runs in four different innings and used a strong Rangers debut from MacKenzie Gore to grab the win.

Undeniably, the Rangers taking two out of three on the road in Philadelphia to open the 2026 season is an ideal start and will give the team momentum right out of the gate.

Following the game on Sunday, the Rangers hopped on a bus and traveled to Maryland, where a road series with the Baltimore Orioles awaits them.

After being scratched from his scheduled start on Saturday, Jacob deGrom is likely to start one of the Rangers' contests against the Orioles, with Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker also getting starts.

Baltimore is a team that figures to be in the playoff conversation this season after a disappointing year in 2025, so this series figures to pose another early-season challenge for the Rangers.

If Texas can even just take two of three again, the team will be sitting pretty with a 4-2 record as they come back to the metoplex for their home opener later this week.

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