Rangers Rout Cardinals in Series Opener

Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images

May 30, 2025

Rangers 11, Cardinals 1

ARLINGTON, Texas (May 30) — The Texas Rangers took out their recent hitting frustrations on the St. Louis Cardinals Friday, in an 11–1 laugher on a picture perfect evening with the roof open at Globe Life Field. Wyatt Langford and Marcus Semien treated the crowd of 28,679 to a home run apiece en route to the blowout. With a quick turnaround, the Rangers will aim for the series victory on Saturday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 3:05 pm Central. Right-hander Sonny Gray (5–1, 4.06 ERA) will toe the slab for the Cardinals, while lefty Patrick Corbin (3–3, 3.75 ERA) will take the hill for the Rangers.

Four-Run Inning for Rangers

The Rangers opened the scoring in the bottom of the first with Matthew Liberatore on the mound for the Cardinals. Sam Haggerty reached on a throwing error by Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn. After Langford popped out to first, Haggerty raced to second on a wild pitch to Corey Seager, who struck out swinging. Up next was Josh Jung, who plated Haggerty with a single to left.

The Rangers added four more in the bottom of the second. Kyle Higashioka and Semien set the table with back-to-back singles. After Ezequiel Duran lined to center, Higashioka and Semien scored on a triple to right by Haggerty.

On deck was Langford, who made it 5–0 Rangers with a two-run dinger to left-center.

The Rangers scored four more in the bottom of the sixth off Cardinals reliever Gordon Graceffo. Jake Burger led off with a single to center and he advanced to second on a free pass drawn by Higashioka. Semien scored Burger with a single to left. Two batters later, Haggerty brought Higashioka home with a single to right.

Langford nudged Haggerty to second with a walk, bringing up Seager, who struck out swinging for the second time. Moments later, Jung plated Semien and Haggerty with a single to left.

The Rangers extended their lead to 11–0 in the bottom of the seventh off Cardinals reliever Matt Svanson. Higashioka reached on a one-out infield single that was out of the reach of Nolan Gorman at third.

On deck was Semien, who cracked a two-run homer to left-center.

The Cardinals scored their only run of the evening in the top of the eighth against Rangers reliever Caleb Boushley. Victor Scott II led off with a single to left. Lars Nootbaar plated Scott with a double up the middle, denying the Rangers the shutout.

What Went Right for the Rangers

The Rangers owe this win largely to Haggerty and Semien. Haggerty reached base five times with four hits and a walk. Semien, meanwhile, had four hits and three runs scored. That marked a season high for him and tied his career high. It seemed like everyone in the lineup made a contribution, and that’s always great to see, especially when that same lineup was held to one hit the night before.

Haggerty and Semien were the first Rangers with a four-hit game since Josh Smith on May 4 of this season against the Seattle Mariners. This was the first time two or more Rangers had four hits in the same game since July 7, 2024, when Jonah Heim and Wyatt Langford did so against the Tampa Bay Rays. Haggerty was the first Ranger with four hits and a walk since Nathaniel Lowe on July 14, 2023 against the Cleveland Guardians.

What Went Wrong for the Rangers

The Cardinals are a tough team to keep silent and Friday was no different. The Rangers hoped to walk away with a well-deserved shutout, but it wasn’t to be. Nootbaar’s RBI single in the eighth broke it up.

Fourth Win for Leiter

Rangers righty Jack Leiter logged the longest scoreless appearance of his career, posting 5 2/3 scoreless innings to earn his fourth win of the season. His record is now 4–2 with a 3.66 ERA. His final line was 3 H, 2 BB, 6 K, 1 HBP, 1 WP, 96 pitches/59 strikes.

Leiter allowed three singles and held the Cardinals hitless in four at-bats with runners in scoring position. He exited after plunking Willson Contreras with two outs in the sixth. Shawn Armstrong stranded the inherited runner. Leiter has fashioned a 2.28 ERA in his last four outings since May 13 to drop his season ERA from 5.09 to 3.66.

After tossing three innings, allowing two hits and an earned run, Rangers reliever Caleb Boushley earned his first career save, becoming the seventh Ranger to register a save this year, which is the most in the AL.

Liberatore’s Evening

Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore took his team-high fourth loss of the season. His line was 5 R-4 ER over 5 IP (7 H, 1 BB, 5 K, 1 HR, 91 pitches/55 strikes. All four earned runs came on the back-to-back RBI hits by Haggerty and Langford in the second inning. After the four-run second, Liberatore retired eight of his final eleven batters faced, holding the Rangers off the board over the third through fifth frames.

The southpaw’s five runs surrendered snapped a streak of eight consecutive starts allowing two or fewer runs, dating back to April 13. Liberatore is now 0–4 with an ERA of 4.45 in six road starts compared to a 3–0 record with an ERA of 1.69 in five home starts.

Bochy’s Postgame Comments

After the game, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy gave his thoughts on Semien’s night. “He had a great game,” he said. “Everybody had a great game, but we don’t win this game without Marcus. He was the Marcus we all know. He had some great at-bats, and we really did a lot of good things throughout the lineup. We kept the rallies going, and it was needed on our side. More than that, the off-day on Thursday really served our guys well. They were able to check out and come back today ready to go. We hope to see more of it.”