The Texas Rangers took down the New York Mets 3-1 at Globe Life Field on Thursday afternoon as they reclaimed first place.
ARLINGTON, Texas -- In each of the past two seasons, the Texas Rangers' final home game hasn’t meant very much.
This year, that couldn’t be more different.
With so much on the line, the Rangers took down the New York Mets 3-1 on Thursday afternoon at Globe Life Field to close out their 2026 regular-season home slate.
After the win, Texas moved back into first place in the American League West with three games to go in the season.
Kumar Rocker got the start for the Rangers in what was the biggest start of his MLB career so far.
Rocker delivered, going five innings, allowing just one run, which came in the first inning, while punching out four.
“It was a very important game; that was a playoff-type game,” Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said when discussing the magnitude of Rocker’s performance.
“For him [Rocker] to go out there and give us five innings with one run allowed against a very good lineup that has put up seven runs in back-to-back nights, so that lineup is good with young and veteran hitters that can do some damage, so for him to give up a run in the first and shut it down, that’s a real sign of growth on a big stage," Schumaker continued.
“This is not May; it’s late September, with now three games left, and for him to do that for us, especially with where we’re at in our bullpen, was fantastic,” the Rangers' manager said.
Even though the Rangers bullpen has been taxed of late, they came up huge on Thursday to seal the win. Robert Garcia, Tyler Alexander, Chase Silseth, and Jordan Montgomery combined to pitch four scoreless innings in relief of Rocker.
“Sometimes the matchup isn’t always there for them, but they figure out a way to get the out, and they did that today,” Schumaker said when talking about his bullpen. "Up and down that bullpen, every guy I called upon was fantastic and just really fun to watch”
All three of the Texas runs came via the long ball as Josh Jung smashed a two-run blast in the first and Corey Seager provided a huge insurance run with a solo shot in the sixth.
“We need our dudes to be dudes,” Schumaker said. “Today was a perfect example of that; going into the top of the ninth with their top of the order with a one-run lead would have been a different feeling, but having a two-run lead with Monty going in the ninth, we felt pretty good about it, but it’s because of Seager’s add-on… that was huge for us.”
