Rangers Drop Home Opener Against Reds

Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images

April 3, 2026

Reds 5, Rangers 3

ARLINGTON, Texas (Apr 3) — The Texas Rangers fell short in their home opener Friday afternoon against the Cincinnati Reds, 5–3. Spencer Steer, Elly De La Cruz, and Tyler Stephenson came through for the Reds with one home run apiece to spoil the afternoon for thousands of Rangers fans. The Rangers will have an opportunity to even this three-game series Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 pm Central at Globe Life Field. Right-hander Rhett Lowder will take the hill for the Reds, while fellow righty Kumar Rocker will make his 2026 debut for the Rangers.

Pain in the Steer

The Reds jumped out to an early 2–0 lead in the top of the second off lefty MacKenzie Gore. With one out in the frame, Eugenio Suarez snuck a sharp single to left bringing up Spencer Steer. He blasted a two-run bomb on an 0–1 fastball to left to get Rangers fans on the edge of their seats. It was his first of the season.

The Rangers knotted it up in their half of the second off Reds right-hander Brady Singer. A two-out single to left by Josh Jung started things off. Up next was Evan Carter, who nudged Jung to third with a line drive double to right.

Up next was Danny Jansen. He ripped a double to left enabling both runners to score to get back into the ballgame.

The Reds regained the lead in the top of the sixth. Elly De La Cruz launched one over the wall in left-center on a 1–0 pitch for his third dinger of the year.

The Rangers evened things up again in the bottom of the seventh off Reds reliever Graham Ashcraft. With one out, Brandon Nimmo lined a dramatic triple to right. Wyatt Langford plated him with a double to right, prompting the sellout crowd of 37,635 to rise to their feet.

In the top of the ninth, the Reds scored two more runs against reliever Chris Martin. Steer led off with a sharp double up the middle, much to the chagrin of the crowd. Tyler Stephenson followed with his first blast of the season, to give the Reds a 5–3 lead and the win.

What Went Right for the Reds

The Reds leapfrogged the Rangers all afternoon. The long balls by Steer, De La Cruz, and Stephenson really put a crimp in the Rangers’ home opener festivities. The home-nine had several chances to take a nice lead, but the Reds kept them at bay the whole time.

What Went Wrong for the Reds

The Reds stumbled a little in the second inning when Singer gave up the two-run double to Jansen with two outs. Ideally, you’d like to have a shutdown performance from your defense in the instance, but the cards didn’t fall into place.

Quality Start for Gore

Left-hander MacKenzie Gore produced a quality start Friday afternoon. He did not factor into the decision in his home debut with the Rangers. His final line was 6 IP, 6 H, 3 R-ER, 0 BB, 9 SO, 2 HR, 88 pitches/57 strikes. Outside of the homers, Reds hitters were 4-for-22 (.182) with nine punchouts off Gore, who turned in his second career start of six or more innings, nine-plus strikeouts, and no walks.

Gore began his outing with his only flawless frame on 16 pitches in the top of the first. He stranded base hits in the third, fourth, and fifth innings. Friday was his third straight start during his team’s home opener. He owns a 2.60 ERA in those games, logging 28 strikeouts against two walks. Gore’s clubs are 0–3 in those outings.

After allowing the two-run shot to Stephenson, Martin was saddled with his first loss of the season, bringing his record to 1–1 with an ERA of 13.50.

No-Decision for Singer

Reds righty Brady Singer made his second start of the season and first on the road Friday. Like Gore, he also took a no-decision despite limiting the Rangers to two runs over five or more innings. He posted scoreless frames in the third, fourth, and fifth innings, at one point retiring nine consecutive Rangers. Singer departed after yielding a leadoff double to Jake Burger in the sixth, but reliever Sam Moll stranded Burger to maintain the 3–2 advantage. He was removed from the decision after Langford’s game-tying double in the seventh.

After tossing a spotless eighth inning, reliever Tony Santillan notched his first win of the year.

Right-hander Emilio Pagan struck one out in a 1–2–3 ninth to earn his first save of 2026.

Schumaker’s Postgame Comments

After the game, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker gave his thoughts on his team’s performance Friday. “Obviously, you want to win,” he said. “It’s the home opener and I thought the fight was great. We had two outs and nobody on in the second and our guys were able to tie the game and we tied it again late. Things didn’t fall our way in the ninth. All things considering, I was happy with the at-bats we had early on and we’ll try and get them tomorrow.”