Rangers Drop Series Opener to Marlins in Extras

Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images

September 20, 2025

Marlins 6, Rangers 4 (12 Innings)

ARLINGTON, Texas (Sept 19) — The Texas Rangers succumbed to the Miami Marlins, 6–4, in extra innings Friday night to open their final homestand of the 2025 season. One of the many highlights for the Marlins was a solo home run by Javier Sanoja in the seventh inning. The Rangers will try to even this three-game series Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 pm Central at Globe Life Field. Right-hander Adam Mazur (0–4, 4.85 ERA) will get the ball for the Marlins, while fellow righty Jack Leiter (9–9, 3.82 ERA) will take the hill for the Rangers.

Pitchers Duel Early On

The Rangers broke the seal in the bottom of the second off Marlins starter Janson Junk. Joc Pederson led off with a ground-rule double that bounced over the wall down the right field line. Back-to-back groundouts to second by Adolis Garcia and Jonah Heim brought Josh Jung to the dish. He scored Pederson with a single on a soft grounder in front of the plate. Catcher Liam Hicks scrambled to get to the ball a little to his left. Once he came up with it and made the throw to first, Jung had already run through the bag.

The Marlins knotted things up in the top of the seventh against reliever Robert Garcia. Sanoja entered the game as a pinch-hitter for Graham Pauley. On the first pitch he saw from Garcia, Sanoja launched one over the wall in left for his sixth homer of the season.

Extra Frames

Fast forward to the top of the 10th. Reliever Hoby Milner came in to pitch for the Rangers and Agustin Ramirez went out to second to serve as the automatic runner. After Jakob Marsee grounded to third, Otto Lopez doubled to center to drive in Ramirez. On deck was Joey Wiemer to pinch-hit for Hicks, and Milner intentionally walked him. Up next was Xavier Edwards, who plated Lopez with a single to right.

The Rangers got even in the bottom half of the frame against reliever Michael Petersen. Jake Burger started the inning at second as the zombie runner. Pederson and Garcia flied to right and grounded to third, respectively, bringing up Rowdy Tellez to take his swings for Heim. Tellez smashed a 2–0 pitch, sending it to right-center for a two-run blast, his 16th of the year.

Marlins Add On

The Marlins took a three-run lead in the top of the 12th with lefty Patrick Corbin making a rare relief appearance. With Ramirez on second as the automatic runner, Marsee drove in the go-ahead run with a double to right, his 17th of the year. After Lopez popped to Jung at third, Marsee scampered to third on a wild pitch from Corbin. On deck was Brian Navarreto, who scored Marsee with a double to right. Navarreto scored two batters later thanks to a single to shallow left by Dane Myers.

The Rangers scored once more in the bottom of the 12th with Ezequiel Duran at second as the ghost runner and George Soriano on the mound. Duran scored with one out in the inning courtesy of a sacrifice fly to center by Burger, but it was not enough to catch the victorious Marlins.

What Went Right for the Marlins

Simply put, the Marlins wore down a depleted Rangers team, handing them their fifth consecutive loss. They found ways to score, both by power and contact hitting, and they held the Rangers’ offense in check.

What Went Wrong for the Marlins

One of the potholes the Marlins had to work around was the two-run home run by Tellez in the 10th. That may have been a mental mistake by Petersen on the mound. That tends to happen from time to time when you’re in extras, whether you’re a player, manager, or umpire.

Long Road for Mahle

Rangers right-hander Tyler Mahle was activated from the 60-day IL prior to Friday’s game and made his 15th start of the season in the series opener. He left with a 1–0 lead but would not have qualified for a win as he worked 4 2/3 innings. He gave way to Jacob Latz with two outs in the fifth and runners on second and third, as Latz stranded both runners to escape the threat.

In nine starts at Globe Life Field in 2025, Mahle owns a 4–1 record with a 0.74 ERA. That signals the lowest ERA over a Rangers pitcher’s first nine home starts of a season in franchise history, ahead of Rick Honeycutt’s 0.98 mark in 1983. Mahle still has yet to yield a home run at Globe Life Field this season, as his 48 2/3 homer-less innings pitched at home in 2025 are the most in baseball.

After allowing Marsee’s RBI double in the 12th, Corbin took the loss. His record now sits at 7–10 with an ERA of 4.33. He tossed one inning, giving up three runs, two earned, on three hits.

Junk’s Evening

Marlins starter Janson Junk limited the Rangers to one run over seven sharp innings in a no-decision. His line was 3 H, 0 BB, 5 K, 1 HBP, 91 pitches/66 strikes. He had allowed three or more runs in nine consecutive starts entering Friday. Junk booked his second career outing of seven or more frames and one or zero runs. He has fared better on the road this year with a 3.42 ERA in seven starts compared to his eight starts at loanDepot Park. He boasts a 2.40 ERA in three career starts against the Rangers.

After pitching the final two innings of the game, Soriano notched the win, improving to 2–0 with an ERA of 8.55. He gave up the one earned run while walking one and striking out one.

Bochy’s Postgame Comments

After the game, a winded Bruce Bochy reflected on Friday’s contest. “No doubt a tough one to lose, especially when you get a home run like that from Tellez,” he said. “Their pitching did a job on us offensively. We just didn’t get much going and didn’t get the big hit. We didn’t execute there in extra innings. The bats were quiet. Pitching did a great job. Terrific job. It just got away from us there at the end.”