Texas Rangers’ Ezequiel Duran (20) and Jake Burger, right, celebrate the team’s win during a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays Sunday, Sept. 6, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Tony Gutierrez/AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez
That’s not all. Justin Foscue is so hot, Schumaker batted him third in Sunday’s 8-6 face-saving win over Tampa Bay, and Foscue justified the faith by doubling in a couple of runs. Heck, Jake Burger walloped not one but two homers, meaning the club’s streakiest hitter may be riding a good one at just the right time.
Considering the good vibes circulating among the 33,285 at the Globe on Sunday, it might have been enough to persuade you this could yet be a September to remember.
Article continues below this ad
Pardon me for popping any balloons, but this is pretty much what the Rangers do. I’ve seen it too many times since the parade ended. Win a couple, then lose a couple.
A glass-half-full kind of guy would note the Rangers are two games behind the Astros and the same amount out of the wild card with three weeks to go, meaning there’s still time.
Article continues below this ad
But a smart aleck might note the Rangers are in the same place they were when this seven-game homestand started, which isn’t good. Treading water is no way to make a push for the playoffs.
Going into the homestand, the Rangers needed to sweep the A’s and take three out of four from the Rays. Sure, it was a lot to ask. But the Rangers have been good at home. Only posted two losing homestands all season and none in the second half. After losing four of six on the road to the White Sox and Brewers, they needed to prove they not only could hang with the big boys at home, they could best them while eating into the Astros’ lead.
Bounced back in the Sunday matinee.
Article continues below this ad
Makes it hard to know which way you’re headed.
“That was really a tough loss last night,” Schumaker said of Saturday’s game. “And then the next day’s a day game, and you get your teeth kicked in the first couple of innings. If you don’t have belief, that game gets out of hand, you’re staring at a 10-1 game, and you’re trying to get to Seattle as quick as you can.
“Instead, that team, those guys in that clubhouse, believed that they could come back because there’s so much game left.”
Frankly, if you didn’t have a dog in the hunt, it was good theater. Especially Sunday. Tampa Bay, the best team in the league, did what it always does. The Rays “manufactured runs,” as the Rangers’ starter and Rays’ victim, MacKenzie Gore, said of the five runs he gave up in three innings. The Rays scored three runs on singles, two on sacrifice flies and another on a squeeze. They’ve perfected the art of small ball under Kevin Cash, who, by the way, once interviewed for the Rangers’ job on his way to Tampa. The Rays have yet to translate their winning style into playoff success, but it plays well over the course of a 162-game season.
Article continues below this ad
For the record, Schumaker, a National League guy by upbringing, is a fan of their style. He’d like to employ it more often here, but he doesn’t exactly have the proper material. Even in recounting the elements of Sunday’s stirring win, he couldn’t resist noting a fundamental mistake such as Evan Carter hopelessly throwing home in the seventh, allowing the baserunner to take second. It was more of the same conversation that the skipper and yours truly had for last week’s column on fundamentals. Or the lack thereof in today’s game.
Texas Rangers’ Jake Burger rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run during the second inning of a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays Sunday, Sept. 6, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Tony Gutierrez/AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez
As much as he aspires to the level of the Rays’ and Brewers’ attention to detail, Schumaker conceded last week that you still need an aircraft carrier or two. Small ball is fun, but three-run homers win playoff games.
The Rangers’ power was the difference Sunday. On the heels of Burger’s bashes, Corey Seager provided a little cushion with an opposite-field blast in the eighth. He’s looked more like his old self at the plate since his last return from the injured list. Hasn’t changed a bit in front of his locker.
“Obviously you can build off a win like this,” he deadpanned Sunday. “We know where we’re at.”
Article continues below this ad
Here’s where they are: Same place they were when the homestand started.
If they’d gone 6-1 — more wins than they’ve had in any homestand this year but not an unthinkable feat, especially if you’re serious about contending — they’d be in first place, a game ahead of the Astros. As it is, they’re still hanging around. They may yet prove me wrong, but they’d better hurry.
Like this old sportswriter, they’re running out of time.
On Twitter/X: @KSherringtonDMN
Article continues below this ad