Rangers Sweep Angels on Seager’s Big Homer

Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images

April 17, 2025

Rangers 5, Angels 3

ARLINGTON, Texas (Apr 17) — The Texas Rangers completed their second three-game sweep of the season on Thursday, beating the Los Angeles Angels, 5–3. Adolis Garcia and Corey Seager guided the Rangers to the win with one home run apiece. With this series in the books, the Rangers welcome the 2024 World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers to Arlington for a three-game set. The opener will be on Friday evening with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 pm Central at Globe Life Field. It will be a marquee matchup as Yoshinobu Yamamoto (2–1, 1.23 ERA) will get the ball for the Dodgers, while Jacob deGrom (0–0, 4.30 ERA) will take the mound for the Rangers.

The Angels, meanwhile, will fly back to Anaheim to begin a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants, which will begin on Friday with first pitch scheduled for 6:38 pm Pacific at Angel Stadium. Right-hander Logan Webb (2–0, 2.63 ERA) will take the hill for the Giants, and lefty Tyler Anderson (1–0, 2.87 ERA) will toe the rubber for the Giants.

Garcia Goes Yard

The Angels got on the board quickly in the bottom of the first with Kumar Rocker on the mound for the Rangers. Taylor Ward led off with a ground-rule double to right. He scored two batters later on a sharp single to left by Jorge Soler.

The Rangers knotted it at one run apiece in the bottom half of the inning off Angels righty Jack Kochanowicz.

Marcus Semien set the table with an infield single that was out of reach for J.D. Davis at third.

Seager moved Semien to third with a single to right. After Joc Peterson popped out to third, Garcia drove Semien home with a sacrifice fly to center.

100 for Seager

The Rangers took a 3–1 lead in the bottom of the second. Dustin Harris led off with a single to right. He advanced to second when Jake Burger was hit by a pitch. Both runners moved up a base on a single to left by Kyle Higashioka. Up next was Leody Taveras, who plated Harris and Burger with an impressive double to right.

They extended their lead to 4–1 thanks to a leadoff solo blast to left by Garcia, his third of the season.

The Angels crept to within one run in the top of the fifth. Nolan Schanuel led off with a single to right. He advanced to second with two outs in the frame on a single to short by Tim Anderson that was deflected off the glove of Josh Jung at third.

Ward reached on a fielder’s choice, moving both runners 90 feet. Schanuel and Anderson scored on a single to left by Luis Rengifo.

Seager’s big moment came in the bottom of the seventh off Angels reliever Ryan Zeferjahn. He launched one over the wall in center, giving the Rangers a 5–3 lead. It was his fourth of the season, and his 100th homer as a Ranger.

What Went Right for the Rangers

The Rangers rode the momentum they had bottled up from the previous two games on Thursday. The homers from Garcia and Seager certainly helped, but this reporter observed that they were having fun out there. It’s much easier to win when you’re enjoying yourself. After all, this is essentially a kids’ game that they’re playing. People tend to forget that sometimes.

What Went Wrong for the Rangers

The Rangers had some trouble in the first inning on Thursday. Soler’s RBI single had the 26,279 fans in attendance rolling their eyes in unison as they were trying to decide what to make of Rocker. There was also the two runs the Angels scored in the fifth that almost came back to bite the Rangers.

Offensively, they need to find a solution for Joc Pederson. He went 0-for-4 with one strikeout in this one, and is batting .050 in 50 at-bats thus far in 2025. Manager Bruce Bochy must see something that he likes with Pederson, however, as he keeps penciling him in the No. 3 spot in the lineup.

A Pair of Firsts for Rocker and Jackson

Rangers righty Kumar Rocker worked a quality start to earn his first career major league win on Thursday. His final line was 7.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R-ER, 0 BB, 8 SO, 78 pitches/58 strikes. It is the fifth Quality Start by a Rangers pitcher in 2025. This was also his longest career outing by innings among his seven career starts, besting his five-inning start on April 6, 2025 against the Tampa Bay Rays. At 25 years, 146 days old, Rocker became the second-youngest pitcher in club history with an outing of seven or more innings pitched, no walks, and eight or more strikeouts.

Lefty reliever Robert Garcia tossed a perfect ninth with one strikeout to notch his first career save.

Kochanowicz’ Evening

Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz made his fourth start of the season Thursday, third on the road, taking the loss. His line was 4 2/3 IP, 8 H, 4 R-ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, 1 HR, 72 pitches/45 strikes after failing to complete five innings for the second consecutive start. Kochanowicz has allowed 10 runs, all earned, in in 9 2/3 innings over his last two starts after opening the season with a 3.27 ERA in his first 2 starts of 2025.

He allowed the Rangers to score in the first, second, and third frames, but settled in to retire nine of his final 11 batters faced after Garcia’s solo homer leading off the third. Three of Kochanowicz’s 15 career starts have come against the Rangers, and are now tied with the Chicago White Sox as his most common opponent over his brief career. He dropped to 0–3 with a 5.09 ERA in his three career starts against the Rangers.

Bochy’s Postgame Comments

After tallying his 2,183rd career managerial victory, tying Dusty Baker for seventh on the all-time list, Bochy praised Rocker’s efforts. “He’s shown he can do it at this level,” Bochy said. “He can do it again, too. That’s a great way to get your first win, to go seven innings. We were all happy for him with how he threw the ball. He’s got the stuff to be a really nice major league pitcher.”

“He knows how important it is to stay away from the walks and attack the zone, which he did with all his pitches tonight,” Bochy added. “You know the stuff is there. You don’t want to beat yourself. I think that’s what has hurt him at times. Those seven innings and no walks, it’s there, and he knows it. That should do a lot for his confidence.”