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Texas Rangers players cheer Josh Smith’s (8) solo home run from the bench during the sixth inning at Globe Life Field in Arlington, July 2, 2026. (Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News)
ARLINGTON — The Rangers, for the first time in two-plus weeks, can sleep in Friday morning.
They've earned that much.
The Rangers won 10-4 vs. the Detroit Tigers at Globe Life Field Thursday night to punctuate one of their most arduous stretches of this year with a certified bang. They played a season-long 15 games in 15 days, won 10 of them, lifted themselves atop the American League West standings and possibly altered the club's trajectory as trade season approaches. They did so despite injuries to their two best position players, despite a shorthanded rotation and despite a bullpen that was exhausted en masse.
The patchwork process that led to Thursday's win exemplified it all. The Rangers scored three runs in the second inning on a solo home run from catcher Elias Díaz (who joined the organization less than a month ago as an injury replacement), a single from shortstop Nicky Lopez (who joined the organization slightly more than a month ago to shore up a leaky middle infield), a walk from second baseman Justin Foscue (who was a mid-season call-up), a walk from third baseman Josh Jung (who has turned a prove-it year into a proved-it year) and a flyout from right fielder Ezequiel Duran (who's gone from fringe roster candidate to irreplaceable utility player) in a span of five consecutive at-bats.
They scored twice in the fourth inning on hits from Lopez (single), Jung (double) and Duran (single) and chased Tigers left-handed pitcher Framber Valdez from the game. They scored again in the sixth when once-presumed every day second baseman Josh Smith obliterated his first home run of the season. They scored three more times in the seventh on singles from Smith (who was recalled after shortstop Corey Seager landed on the injured list with lower back inflammation), Lopez (who started at shortstop with Seager sidelined) and left fielder Alejandro Osuna (who started there because left fielder Wyatt Langford is on the injured list with a hamstring strain.) Carter, who returned from the injured list last weekend, clobbered a home run in the eighth inning.
It wasn't much different on the other side of the ball, either, because after right-handed pitcher Nathan Eovaldi threw five-plus frames of three-run ball, the Rangers used a hodgepodge of five different relievers to navigate the rest of the game.
The Rangers used 34 different players — five of whom had not played in the big leagues prior to this season — and made 21 roster transactions during their span of consecutive games. They played exactly one in that stretch with both Seager and Langford in the lineup and needed the likes of outfielder Jarred Kelenic (who is no longer employed by the organization) to clinch a sweep because of it. They were without a full five-man rotation for nearly all of it after right-handed pitcher Jack Leiter underwent ankle surgery and needed meaningful innings from right-handed pitcher Chris Paddack (who spent all of one day with the team) to maintain a season-long win streak.
They can now rest.
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