Texas Rangers’ Corey Seager watches his RBI double to score teammate Evan Carter (32) during the second inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Julio Cortez/AP Photo/Julio Cortez
ARLINGTON — Here’s the thing about zombies. They may not move fast, but they never stop walking. Even when you think they are dead, they shuffle forward with such hunger that it forces mistakes. There’s a reason why they named the show The Walking Dead.
Welcome to the Zombie Rangers, still trying to march their way into the playoffs.
Maybe into your hearts, too.
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On Friday, in a necessary 7-1 win over Toronto, the Rangers stomped to first base 10 times, matching their season high, and four of them played major roles in run-scoring rallies. The majority of the walks came against Cy Young co-favorite Dylan Cease, chasing him from the game after just four innings. The Jays, who entered the game tied with the Rangers in the wild card hunt, also made three errors that contributed to Zombie Ranger runs.
And reliever Trevor Williams, unseen around these parts for the last week and presumably left for dead, proved he’s still got a beating heart, pitching four scoreless innings on a night when Kumar Rocker stumbled again and the bullpen was perilously thin from overwork.
The win moved the Rangers back to even with Houston, a 6-2 loser to Atlanta, in the AL West, though the Astros control the tiebreaker. The Rangers need to play one game better than Houston over the final eight to win the division and host a playoff series.
At 77-77, they are also one game back of the Chicago White Sox, who also lost to Detroit, though that picture is not as rosy. The Rangers have rooting interest in the White Sox winning the central because Chicago owns the tiebreaker with them, but the Rangers own the tiebreaker with AL Central leader Cleveland.
The Rangers showed a patient approach against Cease with Corey Seager and Josh Jung taking first-inning walks. Though runs did not materialize from that opportunity, the second inning was a different story.
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Wyatt Langford and Jake Burger started the inning with consecutive walks and Cease could be seen shaking his head on the mound in frustration. After a soft Nicky Lopez single loaded the bases, Evan Carter’s soft liner up the middle somehow hit the back slope of the mound and spun a little. When Jays’ shortstop Ernie Clement tried to adjust and get an out at third, he threw wildly, turning it into a two-run play. The Rangers also got a sacrifice fly from Ezequiel Duran and a run-scoring double from Corey Seager to make it 4-0.
In the fifth, Brandon Nimmo’s leadoff walk also evolved into a run when Langford singled and Jake Burger lifted a sacrifice fly. In the sixth, a leadoff error by third baseman Kazuma Okamoto turned into yet another run when Langford took a bases-loaded walk.
The Rangers needed the charity. Rocker was sharp through four innings, allowing only a pair of singles, both in the second, and deftly escaping the jam. But, as has been the story for much of the second half of this season, he couldn’t carry that over into a quality start.
Rocker, whose 143 innings are now 79 more than his 2025 season total, walked the first two batters of the fifth, allowed a run-scoring double to No. 9 hitter Myles Straw to bring the tying run to the plate in a three-run game. It left Schumaker no choice but to turn to the bullpen, marking the fourth straight game he’d ask for at least four innings from his beleaguered relievers. But Tyler Alexander escaped trouble.
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It put the bullpen in a tough spot. But Williams, signed on Sept. 1, pitched the final four innings to give the Rangers some peace.
The Zombie Rangers. They are still marching.