Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager (5) was fielding a ground ball as second baseman Justin Foscue (14) collides with him during the seventh inning against the Chicago Cubs at Globe Life Field in Arlington, May 8, 2026. Chicago Cubs batter Nico Hoerner was safe at second on the fielding error.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
ARLINGTON – The Rangers are playing comical baseball.
It’s just not Savannah Bananas funny.
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In back-to-back losses to teams using the bullpen instead of starters, the Rangers have dropped, kicked and tripped over balls that would be great content on blooper reels, but are painful to watch in real time. More painful given the fact that a currently hapless offense has no way to make mistakes look harmless.
Especially so for first-year manager Skip Schumaker, who was schooled in the detailed fundamentals of “The Cardinal Way” under legendary late instructor George Kissell. He called Kissell one of his “favorite baseball people ever” and a “legend” in a pre-game conversation before the Rangers butchered opportunities in 7-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Friday at Globe Life Field, which often felt more like Wrigley except for, you know, the roof and all. A significant portion of the crowd of 32,394 broke into a “PCA” chant for Cubs’ outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong. More than once. Then it became “Let’s go Cubbies.” Loudly. By game’s end it was almost embarrassing.
“Even before I got here, ‘dominate the fundamentals’ was one of the core values of the organization,” Schumaker said. “We just have not done that lately. There have been some missed fly balls, some lack of communication. If we want to have a chance, we have to play fundamentally sound baseball against good teams. And we’ve been on a stretch where we’re playing really good teams that don’t make mistakes. We’re making mistakes and paying for them.”
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The mistakes were as plentiful as runs are not at Globe Life Field. The Rangers failed to get a hit in four innings off reliever Ben Brown, who was making his first start of the season. Kumar Rocker failed to get ahead of hitters for a second straight start, leading to an 87-pitch, 3 2/3-inning outing, his second straight of less than five innings. He chose to more often than ever got to a cutter, a pitch he’d rarely used.
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The Rangers failed to turn one excellent opportunity into anything more than a token run, largely because Jake Burger swung at a pitch he’d just taken and successfully overturned into a ball. It would have been the 10th ball among the first dozen thrown by reliever Ryan Rolison, who had walked the first two hitters he faced. If you want to pick a most grievous error, it was probably that one. Burger popped up the ball. The rally soon melted.
But, the fielding, man. The fielding was the kicker. No pun intended. Boy, was it the kicker.
By now, you’ve probably already seen the video of Corey Seager getting body-blocked by his second baseman, inexperienced Justin Foscue. He was shaded right behind second base on the shift, approached an in-between grounder up the middle as Seager charged it. Foscue started to back off at the last second, but the players collided, the runner ended up at second and, before the inning was over, the Cubs scored three runs to put it out of reach.
“It wasn’t hit really hard, so we both kind of had to come in,” Foscue said, taking full blame for the play. “I’d be lying if I said I went 100% at it at first, just because I know he’s there and it’s Corey Seager. But I’m used to making that play, and so I’m going at it. I heard him say he had it late and I tried to back away, but it was too late.
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“In hindsight, I either need to go right after that ball or leave it to him and get out of the way. I was [stuck] in the middle.”
Texas Rangers pitcher Jack Leiter (right) gives his mom, Lori Leiter, a high after she throws out the ceremonial first pitch before the Chicago Cubs game at Globe Life Field in Arlington, May 8, 2026. The team celebrated Mother’s Day with the first pitch event.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
Texas Rangers pitcher Kumar Rocker (80) hurls a pitch against the Chicago Cubs during the first inning at Globe Life Field in Arlington, May 8, 2026.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
Texas Rangers left fielder Ezequiel Duran (20) backhands a hard hit ball by Chicago Cubs batter Carson Kelly during the fourth inning at Globe Life Field in Arlington, May 8, 2026. Duran slid, turned and made the force out throw to second.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
Texas Rangers starting pitcher Kumar Rocker (80) hands the ball to manager Skip Schumaker as he’s pulled during the fourth inning against the Chicago Cubs at Globe Life Field in Arlington, May 8, 2026.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager (5) fields a ground ball as second baseman Justin Foscue (14) collides with him during the seventh inning against the Chicago Cubs at Globe Life Field in Arlington, May 8, 2026. Chicago Cubs batter Nico Hoerner was safe at second on the fielding error.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager (5) was fielding a ground ball as second baseman Justin Foscue (14) collides with him during the seventh inning against the Chicago Cubs at Globe Life Field in Arlington, May 8, 2026. Chicago Cubs batter Nico Hoerner was safe at second on the fielding error.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
Chicago Cubs batter Nico Hoerner (2) was safe at second as he slid into Texas Rangers second baseman Justin Foscue (14) during the seventh inning at Globe Life Field in Arlington, May 8, 2026. Hoerner was safe on a fielding error when shortstop Corey Seager (background) collided with Foscue.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
Chicago Cubs batter Nico Hoerner (2) reacts towards the bench after was called safe at second when sliding into Texas Rangers second baseman Justin Foscue (left) during the seventh inning at Globe Life Field in Arlington, May 8, 2026. Hoerner was safe on a fielding error when shortstop Corey Seager (background) collided with Foscue.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
(From right) Texas Rangers quality control coach Rod Barajas, manager Skip Schumaker, pitching coach Jordan Tiegs and outfielder Andrew McCutchen watch the Chicago Cubs pitch during the ninth inning at Globe Life Field in Arlington, May 8, 2026.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
It was the second straight day defensive mistakes led to a big inning for an opponent that held the best record in its respective league. Teams don’t overcome those kinds of mistakes against those kinds of teams. Especially not teams that are averaging 2.6 runs per game at home. That’s the Rangers, who have scored three or fewer in 12 of their 16 games at home.
On Thursday, two pop flies dropped in for hits. The first of them fell in front of Josh Jung, who lost the ball in the sun, though his sunglasses, stashed neatly on the bill of his cap, might have helped. That one only added a few pitches to MacKenzie Gore’s total.
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The second, a short fly ball to left field on which Alejandro Osuna initially broke back before rushing in, ineffectively, led to a six-run inning for the New York Yankees. The Rangers have allowed more pop ups and pop flies to fall for hits or as errors than any team in the majors, according to MLB Statcast.
Schumaker even said before Friday’s game the Rangers had taken the step earlier this season of early pop-up work, which is not something many teams practice.
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Because, quite frankly, most teams don’t need to practice it.
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“It has cost us,” Schumaker had said before the game. “Good teams end up scoring when that happens. It’s something we’ve got to clean up.”
Lately, there are a lot of messes that require cleaning.