Rangers Rout Cubs in Middle Game

Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images

March 30, 2024

Rangers 11, Cubs 2

ARLINGTON, Tex. (Mar 30) — On the same night they received their 2023 World Series rings, the Texas Rangers trounced the Chicago Cubs, 11–2. The bats came to life on Saturday evening, as home runs by Adolis Garcia and Jared Walsh, plus a four-hit night by Corey Seager, sealed the 2–0 start for the home nine. On Easter Sunday, the Rangers will go for the sweep. It would be the second consecutive year that they open the season with a three-game sweep. They swept the Philadelphia Phillies in three during Opening Week last season. First pitch is scheduled for 1:35 pm Central at Globe Life Field. The Cubs will send left-hander Jordan Wicks to the mound in the series finale, and the Rangers will counter with righty Jon Gray.

Swanson, Not Samsonite, Goes Yard

The Cubs scored first in the top of the second off Rangers starter Cody Bradford. Cubs third baseman Christopher Morel led off the frame with a single to left. On deck was shortstop Dansby Swanson, who hit a line-drive homer to left-center to give the Cubs a 2–0 lead. The Rangers promptly tied it 2–2 in the bottom of the second off Cubs righty Kyle Hendricks. Wyatt Langford got things started with a single to left. Moments later, newcomer Jared Walsh blasted his first homer as a Ranger, sending it to right-center. In the bottom of the third, Corey Seager led off the inning with a single to center.

Then Adolis Garcia joined in on the fun. He hit a two-run dinger of his own to give the Rangers a 4–2 lead. The Rangers scored again in the bottom of the fourth. After a leadoff double to center by Walsh and a walk by Marcus Semien, Seager stepped in the box and plated Walsh with a single to center to stretch their lead to 5–2.

Pouring it On

The score remained 5–2 until the bottom of the eighth. Walsh led off with a single to center off Cubs reliever Ben Brown, who was making his major league debut. Jonah Heim followed up the single with a double to left, and Leody Taveras drew a walk to load the bases. Semien lined a single to left that allowed Walsh to score. Corey Seager plated Heim with a single back to Brown, who couldn’t handle the play. On deck was Evan Carter, whose groundout to second scored Taveras, and then Semien scored on a sacrifice fly by Garcia. The final nail came from the bat of Josh Jung, who launched a two-run homer to left that scored Seager.

What Went Right for the Rangers

The Rangers had everything clicking at the plate. The home runs were great contributions from Walsh, Garcia, and Jung. Seager’s four-hit game went a long way in putting distance between his team and the Cubs, and there was some good pitching as well.

What Went Wrong for the Rangers

The only mishap that the Rangers encountered was the Swanson home run in the top of the second.

Bradford Gets the Win

Left-hander Cody Bradford earned the win in his season debut. His line on the evening was 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R-ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 1 HR, 76 pitches/48 strikes. As previously mentioned, the lone runs he allowed came on the two-run homer surrendered to Swanson. Bradford held the Cubs 0-for-their-last-11 to close his outing. His six strikeouts marked the second-highest whiff total of his career (8 K on 6/29/23 against the Detroit Tigers).

Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks made his first start of 2024. This is his 11th season as a member of the Cubs. Hendricks allowed five runs, all earned, on nine hits. He struck out two and walked two. Hendricks was saddled with the loss after exiting with two outs in the fourth following a 72-pitch outing. The former Rangers farmhand (drafted by the Rangers in the eighth round of the 2011 Draft) permitted a pair of two-run shots. The right-hander yielded multiple long balls in four of his 24 starts in 2023 and averaged 0.85 home runs allowed per nine innings last season, the sixth-best mark in the N.L. (min. 125 IP). The six additional runs that the Rangers scored were given up by reliever Ben Brown.

Postgame Comments

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy was all smiles once again in his postgame press conference. Bochy couldn’t help but praise Cody Bradford’s evening. “Cody, he’s not going to get fazed by [anything],” Bochy said. “He just keeps that focus out there and doesn’t let up on it. He’s well prepared going into the game. He knows what he wants to do. He knows occasionally he’s going to make a mistake here or there, but he doesn’t let it affect his pitches after that. It’s a pitch at a time with him.”

After Bochy retired to his office, Bradford himself gave his thoughts on the game. “I think if there’s one thing I learned last year, especially making starts, it’s that this offense can put up a lot of runs pretty quickly,” Bradford said. “They do a great job of smashing baseballs, so my job after giving up that two-spot in the second is to keep my head on straight and go out there and give the team more innings and turn it over to the guys in the back of the ‘pen. I think it was about learning that progression, whereas last year the game could have sped up a little bit on me.”

Walsh’s Thoughts

In a surprise appearance, Jared Walsh spoke to reporters in the interview room after Bochy and Bradford. He spoke of his night. “It’s amazing,” said Walsh, who was a triple shy of the cycle in his first start with the Rangers. “Obviously Marcus [Semien] sets the tone and then everybody follows after that. I certainly wouldn’t want to pitch to this lineup, and it seems like every guy in the lineup can really slug a little bit, too. It’s one of the deepest lineups in baseball, so the fact that I can contribute, it’s exciting.”