Rangers Sweep White Sox on Father's Day

Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images

June 15, 2025

Rangers 2, White Sox 1

ARLINGTON, Texas (June 15) — The Texas Rangers edged the Chicago White Sox, 2–1, Sunday afternoon, earning a well-deserved sweep. A two-hit day for Ezequiel Duran propelled the Rangers to their seventh win in their last eight games. With the pale-hosers leaving town the Rangers will welcome the Kansas City Royals for a three game set, which will begin Tuesday. First pitch will be 7:05 pm Central at Globe Life Field. Right-hander Seth Lugo (3–5, 3.18 ERA) will take the mound for the Royals, and the Rangers will counter with righty Jack Leiter (4–3, 3.88 ERA).

The White Sox, meanwhile, will head back to the Windy City to face the St. Louis Cardinals for three. That series will get underway Tuesday with first pitch scheduled for 6:40 pm Central at Rate Field. Lefty Matthew Liberatore (3–6, 4.17 ERA) will get the start for the Cardinals, and righty Shane Smith (3–3, 2.37 ERA) will take the mound for the White Sox.

Dad Said Sweep, So They Swept

Sunday got off to a dramatic start when White Sox manager Will Venable was ejected in the bottom of the first. Corey Seager was at the plate for the Rangers and righty Aaron Civale was on the mound for the White Sox. Civale threw a pitch to Seager and Venable took exception to home plate umpire Marvin Hudson’s strike zone. He lost his temper and got in an animated shouting match with Hudson before disappearing into the tunnel to make the early trip back to his office. It was the second ejection of Venable’s managerial career.

The Rangers scored first in the bottom of the second on Father’s Day. After Jake Burger opened the inning with strikeout on a foul tip, Adolis Garcia drew a walk. Two batters later, Duran stepped in and scored Garcia with a double to right, his second of the year.

The Rangers added to their lead in the bottom of the fifth. Josh Smith led off with an infield single that gave Miguel Vargas fits at third. Later in the inning, Seager singled to left. A fielding error by Andrew Benintendi in left enabled Smith to scurry to third.

On deck was Marcus Semien, who drove in Smith with a sacrifice fly to center.

The White Sox sliced the lead in half in the top of the sixth against Rangers reliever Jacob Webb on a one-out Vargas solo homer to left.

What Went Right for the Rangers

Duran and Semien both had good days at the plate. It’s always nice when you have production coming from multiple areas of your lineup. There isn’t a manager in the majors who would say any different.

The pitching staff did a great job as well, holding the White Sox to only one run.

What Went Wrong for the Rangers

The home run by Vargas in the sixth proved to be the only speed bump for the Rangers. An insurance run would have helped their cause, but it wasn’t to be.

Quite a Pickle

Rangers right-hander Kumar Rocker was recalled to the active roster prior to Sunday’s game, replacing right-hander Tyler Mahle, who landed on the IL with shoulder soreness. In Mahle’s stead, Rocker picked up his second career victory, logging five scoreless on a career-high 82 pitches. His final line was 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K, 82 pitches/53 strikes. He has a 2-0 record with a 2.11 ERA over three at Globe Life Field this season. His overall record is 2–4 with an ERA of 7.31.

Reliever Luke Jackson jokingly called it the “pickle juice game” with reporters after Rocker downed five bottles of pickle juice while suffering through cramps in the fifth inning.

Speaking of Jackson, he earned his ninth save after tossing a spotless ninth inning with one strikeout.

Civale’s Effort

White Sox starter Aaron Civale labored through five frames and took the loss in his White Sox debut after being acquired via trade from the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday. His line was 6 H, 2 R-ER, 4 BB, 4 K, 104 pitches/65 strikes. His record now sits at 1–3 with an ERA of 4.67. Sunday signaled his highest pitch count in a single start since June 7, 2024 against the Baltimore Orioles and his most walks since August 23, 2024 against the then-Oakland Athletics.

He issued four walks in his first two innings, his highest total through two frames in his 123 career starts. Civale became the first White Sox hurler to toss 100 or more pitches in his first start with the club since Dylan Cease in 2019.

Bochy’s Postgame Comments

After the game, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy gave his take on Rocker’s day. “Kumar had good stuff, but the cramping thing, he just couldn’t get rid of it,” Bochy said. “I think he broke the record on how much pickle juice you can drink. … I just thought he really was under control today and calm out there. He’s determined. When he’s throwing strikes with the weapons that he has, he’s going to be tough. He made pitches when he had to. It was a really nice bounce back.”