Rangers Lose Second Straight to Royals

Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images

June 18, 2025

Royals 6, Rangers 3

ARLINGTON, Texas (June 18) — Despite tallying a season-high six extra-base hits, the Texas Rangers fell limp against the Kansas City Royals, 6–3, Wednesday evening. On the visitor’s side, a three-run home run by Maikel Garcia propelled the Royals to the series victory. The Rangers will try to salvage the series finale on their upcoming getaway day on Thursday with first pitch scheduled for 1:35 pm Central at Globe Life Field. Right-hander Michael Wacha (3–6, 3.38 ERA) will take the hill for the Royals, while the Rangers have yet to announce their starting pitcher as of press time.

Haggerty’s Strong Start

The Rangers got an early 1–0 lead in the top of the first against Royals lefty Kris Bubic. Sam Haggerty led off with a screaming triple down the right-field line, already his third of the year. Wyatt Langford promptly brought him home with a single to left.

Later in the frame, Adolis Garcia plated Langford with a two-out single to center.

The Royals cut the lead in half in the top of the third against Rangers lefty Patrick Corbin. Freddy Fermin opened the inning by drawing a walk. Up next was Kyle Isbel, who grounded into a 4–6 force play and stole second moments later. On deck was Jonathan India, who drove in Isbel with a single up the middle to make it 2–1 Rangers.

Both runners moved up a base on a single to left by Bobby Witt Jr. There was a close play at third when Haggerty made a throw from left to nail Witt Jr. at third. He was ruled safe by third base umpire Gabe Morales. The Rangers challenged but the call stood.

That brought up Garcia, who blasted a three-run homer to left-center to give the Royals a 4–2 lead.

The Rangers trimmed the lead to 4–3 in the bottom of the fourth. Josh Jung opened things with a double to center. On deck was Jake Burger, who traded places with Jung with a double to right.

Royals Add On

The Royals tacked on a couple of insurance runs in the top of the eighth off Rangers reliever Hoby Milner. He started the inning by issuing a free pass to Witt Jr. With Garcia at the dish, Witt Jr. raced to second on a passed ball by catcher Kyle Higashioka. He scored on the next play thanks to a triple to right by Garcia.

After Vinnie Pasquantino lined to second, Milner intentionally walked Salvador Perez. Up next was John Rave, who reached on a sacrifice bunt fielded awkwardly by Milner. Milner threw home to try and get Garcia, who slid in safely.

What Went Right for the Royals

Garcia’s homer went a long way for the Royals on Wednesday, as did the other runs they scored. Corbin has been a very good pitcher for the Rangers this year, but the Royals were able to find a hole in his armor en route to spoiling the evening for the 26,520 spectators on hand.

The Royals did a great job in the field as well, limiting the Rangers to three runs despite giving up the aforementioned six extra-base hits.

What Went Wrong for the Royals

The Royals faced a decent amount of challenges in this contest as well. The main hurdles were the RBI singles by Garcia and Burger.

Rough Night for Corbin

Rangers starter Patrick Corbin yielded four runs across five innings and took the loss, ending his career-long 12-start streak of allowing three runs or fewer. Corbin’s record now sits at 4–6 with an ERA of 3.91. His final line was 6 H, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 HR, 86 pitches/53 strikes. All four runs against him came in the top of the third. It marked the most runs surrendered by Corbin in a single frame this year.

The last time he gave up four or more runs in an inning was September 8, 2024 against the Pittsburgh Pirates as a member of the Washington Nationals. He allowed four runs in the first inning in that start. Corbin has still tossed five or more innings in nine straight outings since May 3, his longest such streak since May 3 through July 25, 2024.

Bubic’s Evening

Royals starter Kris Bubic earned the win in his second career start against the Rangers despite allowing season highs in hits and extra-base hits, improving to 6–4 with a 2.12 ERA this season. His final line was 5 1/3 IP, 3 R-ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 0 HR, 101 pitches/68 strikes. Bubic yielded back-to-back extra-base hits to Haggerty and Langford, followed by the RBI single by Garcia in the first.

Wednesday was the first time he has surrendered multiple runs in the first inning. It marked his fifth start out of fourteen with three or more runs of support this season, as the Royals’ offense provided no runs in his last two starts.

Bubic has not allowed a homer since May 13, tossing 30 2/3 homer-less innings across five starts. He owned the fourth-lowest road ERA (1.48) in baseball entering Wednesday.

After hurling a spotless ninth, Carlos Estévez notched his 20th save of the season.

Bochy’s Postgame Comments

After the game, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy explained what happened with his offense on Wednesday. “I thought we had some good at-bats,” he said. “We hit some balls hard. They had chances to tack on runs. We tried to find ways to break through, and we needed that one hit, but it didn’t go our way. This game can baffle the best minds that money can buy. Sometimes things don’t pan out.”