Rangers Take Series Opener over Braves

Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images

July 25, 2025

Rangers 8, Braves 3

ARLINGTON, Texas (Jul 25) — The Texas Rangers continued their strong homestand by beating the Atlanta Braves, 8–3, Friday evening. This win marks their sixth in their first seven games coming out of the All–Star Break. One of their many highlights was a solo blast by Jonah Heim in second.

They’ll have the chance to win this three-game set Saturday evening, with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 pm Central at Globe Life Field. Righty Grant Holmes (4–9, 3.81 ERA) will toe the rubber for the Braves, while right-hander Kumar Rocker (4–4, 5.66 ERA) will take the hill for the Rangers.

Heim Time

The Rangers grabbed an early 1–0 lead in the bottom of the first with Joey Wentz on the mound. Sam Haggerty led off with a single to right on a 1–2 pitch. He stole second after Corey Seager flied to left, his 10th stolen base of the year.

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

They extended the lead to 2–0 in the bottom of the second. Heim stepped in with two outs in the frame and blasted a 2–2 pitch to left for his ninth homer of the year.

The Rangers added on in the bottom of the fourth. Semien led off by drawing a walk. After Adolis Garcia and Josh Jung both struck out, Semien scored thanks to a double to left by Wyatt Langford.

They stretched the lead to 4–0 in the last of the fifth. A one-out single by Michael Helman got things started. This brought Braves manager Brian Snitker to the mound to bring in reliever Aaron Bummer.

Helman scored moments later on a double to left by Haggerty.

In the top of the seventh, the Braves got one back off reliever Jacob Webb. It came from a leadoff home run to right-center by Michael Harris II.

Rangers Add On

The Rangers stretched the lead to 8–1 in the bottom of the eighth off reliever and former Ranger Rafael Montero. Back-to-back one-out singles by Garcia and Jung set things in motion. Montero issued a walk to Langford to load the bases. Moments later, Heim plated Garcia with a bases-loaded walk.

Snitker brought in reliever Hunter Stratton to pitch to Josh Smith. That didn’t seem to help matters as Stratton plunked Smith to bring Jung home.

Moments later, Langford scored on a single to right by Evan Carter, who was brought in to play center in the top of the eighth.

On deck was Rowdy Tellez, who entered the game as a pinch-hitter for Haggerty. Tellez drove in Heim with a sacrifice fly to center.

The Braves scored two more in the top of the ninth with Caleb Boushley on the mound for the Rangers.

Sean Murphy reached on a one–out ground–rule double to to left. Harris and Marcell Ozuna, who entered the game to pitch–hit for Nick Allen, both drew walks to load the bases.

Luke Williams came in to pinch–run for Ozuna.

On deck was former Ranger Jurickson Profar, who scored Murphy with a single to right.

This prompted Rangers manager Bruce Bochy to bring in reliever Robert Garcia.

That brought up Matt Olson. He grounded into a 3–6 force play that plated Harris.

What Went Right for the Rangers

The Rangers had a little bit of everything go right Friday night. They had power with Heim’s long ball. Haggerty came through with an RBI double and you they also had the bases-loaded walk to Heim and the sacrifice fly to Tellez.

What Went Wrong for the Rangers

The Rangers were cruising up until the ninth when Robert Garcia came in and gave up those two runs.

Eovaldi Goes Five

Rangers righty Nathan Eovaldi earned his eighth win of the season after holding the Braves scoreless over his five innings Friday. He improves to 8–3 with an ERA of 1.50. His line was 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 7 K, 86 pitches/53 strikes. Eovaldi’s seven strikeouts signified his most in an outing of five frames or less since August 4, 2024 against the Boston Red Sox.

He issued a season-high four walks, his most since April 20, 2024 against the Braves. Eovaldi held Braves hitters 0-for-7 with RISP, his most hitless RISP opp. AB in a single game since April 18, 2023 against the Kansas City Royals (0-for-8).

Wentz’ Outing

Braves starter Joey Wentz recorded season highs in innings pitched (4 1/3) and pitches (81) but absorbed the loss in his second start of 2025 and third appearance with the Braves since being claimed off waivers from the Minnesota Twins on July 11. His line was 4 H, 4 R-3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 1 HR, 81 pitches/55 strikes. His record now sits at 2–2 with an ERA of 5.76.

Wentz has logged his three highest pitch counts of the year in his three outings with the Braves. He allowed the solo home run to Heim in second, and five of the six home runs Wentz has surrendered in 2025 have been to right-handed batters.

Bochy’s Postgame Comments

After the game, Bochy remarked how important this win was for the Rangers. “This was a good team win,” he said. “When you get contributions from everyone in the lineup, it’s huge because it doesn’t happen every night. Guys are going to have ebbs and flows. It’s a long season and every win counts.

Eovaldi’s Postgame Comments

Eovaldi gave his take on the game. “It wasn’t pretty, but we were able to make it work where we could,” Eovaldi said. “Double-play ball in one situation, a couple big strikeouts. I’m not really sure what was going on out there. Mechanically, I felt like I was all over the place.”

“Every win down the road matters right now,” he said. “We know how we started out. We know we weren’t playing our best baseball. We’re playing better now, and we got to keep everything rolling. I think the starters feed off of each other. We go out there and you set the tone and the bullpen has been great for us. We’re just trying to keep the score in our favor and let the offense do their thing.”