5-5 – Burger feeds Rangers first home win with 2-1 victory over M’s
· Yahoo Sports
The Texas Rangers scored two runs while the Seattle Mariners scored one run.
In a battle between the league’s two best starters from Stetson University who happen to also be two of the best starters in the American League, Jacob deGrom out-dueled Logan Gilbert as the Rangers finally won a home game even if they were again embroiled in low scoring affair at The Shed.
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The reigning AL West champion Mariners got on the board first when 2025 AL MVP runner-up Cal Raleigh worked a 12-pitch at-bat against deGrom with pitch No. 12 parked deep into the right field seats for his first home run of the year. The solo shot gave the M’s a 1-0 lead a couple of batters into the game.
With deGrom on a shorter leash in the early going, and with Raleigh kind of stinking up the joint throughout the spring months following his 60 homer campaign last year, it was a frustrating way to start the game with Texas trailing before the had even gotten the opportunity to bat.
When they did bat, however, they returned the favor to Gilbert with Wyatt Langford doubling and Corey Seager driving him in. Tied 1-1 after an inning, deGrom and Gilbert traded zeros until the bottom of the 6th when the Rangers finally broke through for a run-scoring rally.
Seager singled following two quick outs and then scampered into scoring position on a wild pitch before Jake Burger doubled over the head of Randy Arozarena to produce the go-ahead and eventual game-winning run.
Of course, with the Rangers having issues figuring out the right combination for their high leverage relief so far, and in a one run game with deGrom already out, it wasn’t a foregone conclusion that Burger’s RBI would stand up.
Against one of the AL’s top contenders, a relief combo of Jalen Beeks, Tyler Alexander, Cole Winn, Robert Garcia, and Jakob Junis worked together to toss four scoreless innings and the Rangers had their first home win of the year.
It hasn’t been easy for Texas to beat the Mariners in recent seasons so it was nice to see them claim the first one of the year, even as they still await impactful production from their bats. Ah well, we all know this is a pitching org anyway.
Player of the Game: Burger and Seager did the heavy lifting at the plate but other than the Dumper at-bat, deGrom seemed untouchable for the fairly truncated amount of time he was in the game. deGrom finished allowing just the dinger to Raleigh while walking one and striking out six Mariners. Overall, the Rangers allowed just two Seattle hits on the night.
The downside to deGrom’s outing was that he was only good for five innings on 78 pitches as he continues to build up from starting slow in spring training and seeing his first start of the year delayed a few days last week.
Also, let the record show that Danny Jansen was the first Ranger to successfully challenge a ball/strike call while in the field. Before tonight, the Rangers were the only team in the league that hadn’t had an offering from their pitchers successfully reversed.
Up Next: More Rangers and Mariners with RHP Nathan Eovaldi next up for Texas opposite RHP George Kirby for Seattle.
The Tuesday evening first pitch from The Shed is set for 7:05 pm CDT and you can catch it on the Rangers Sports Network.