Rangers Top Royals in Sunday Matinee, Sweep Series

Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images

May 31, 2026

Rangers 6, Royals 3

ARLINGTON, Texas (May 31) — The Texas Rangers wrapped up their seven-game homestand with 6–3 victory over the Kansas City Royals to complete the three-game sweep Sunday afternoon. Fresh off his walk-off hit in Saturday’s game, Ezequiel Duran contributed again with a two-run triple in the first inning. Now the Rangers head out on a quick three-game road trip to face the St. Louis Cardinals. That series will begin Monday with first pitch scheduled for 6:45 pm Central at Busch Stadium. Right-hander Jacob deGrom (3–4, 3.77 ERA) will face fellow righty Michael McGreevy (3–4, 2.98 ERA). deGrom will be making his third attempt at his 100th career win.

The Royals, meanwhile, will continue their road trip with a three-game set against the Cincinnati Reds, also starting Monday. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 pm Eastern at Great American Ballpark. It will be a duel of righties as Luinder Avila (0–2, 5.06 ERA) will face Chase Burns (7–1, 1.96 ERA).

Forever Jung

The Rangers took an early lead in the bottom of the first with righty Michael Wacha on the mound. Josh Jung hit a one-out double to left. The Rangers challenged the next play, in which they thought Brandon Nimmo was hit by a pitch, but it was determined that the ball never touched him and ultimately resulted in a strikeout on a foul tip.

Up next was Jake Burger, who drew a free pass to bring up Saturday’s walk-off hero Ezequiel Duran. He scored Jung and Burger with a triple that took a hard bounce off the wall in left. It was several moments before Royals left-fielder Isaac Collins was able to track it down. That brought up Alejandro Osuna, who drove in Duran with a single to right. A double to center by Kyle Higashioka plated Osuna.

Both teams traded zeroes until the bottom of the fourth, when the Rangers tacked on two more runs. Back-to-back singles by Higashioka and Nicky Lopez brought Michael Helman to the plate. He moved up both runners with a sacrifice bunt that rolled back to Wacha in front of the pitchers mound. An intentional walk to Joc Pederson loaded the bases for Jung, who added to his already impressive season with a two-run single to left.

The Royals got on the board in the top of the seventh off reliever Jalen Beeks. Michael Massey opened the frame with a soft bunt single that Burger bobbled at first. He sprinted to second on another sacrifice bunt, this one by Nick Loftin. It rolled up the first-base line and stopped when it hit Loftin’s bat (see clip below). This put it in perfect position for Higashioka, who scooped up the ball and threw it to first. That brought up Lane Thomas as a pinch-hitter for Kyle Isbel. Thomas singled to left, allowing Massey to score from second.

Late Rally for Royals

The Royals split the lead in half in the top of the eighth off reliever Gavin Collyer. He hit Salvador Perez with a pitch to start the inning. Perez walked back to the bench shortly after Jac Caglianone grounded into a 6–3 double play. Collyer walked Collins to bring up Massey, who hit a two-run blast past the Rangers’ bullpen in right-center.

What Went Right for the Rangers

Duran drove in runs for the second consecutive game with his RBI triple in the first. Osuna and Jung also entered the chat with RBI hits of their own. Another thing the Rangers have done right, not only in this game, but over the last several games was scoring in the first inning. That has been an issue they’ve been trying to remedy this year.

What Went Wrong for the Rangers

The Rangers were cruising until the seventh inning, when Thomas hit his RBI single. There was also Massey’s two-run shot that brought the Royals to within three runs.

Ten Strikeouts for Leiter

Rangers starter Jack Leiter tied a career high with 10 strikeouts over 5 2/3 scoreless innings and earned the win, improving his record to 3–4 with an ERA of 4.34. His line was 3 H, 2 BB, 101 pitches/68 strikes. Sunday marked his fourth career start with 10 punch-outs. Leiter eclipsed 100 pitches for the fourth time in his 50 career games, 47 of which were starts. He held the Royals hitless until a single by Caglianone with two gone in the fourth. Leiter notched strikeouts in every inning but the third.

The Rangers have won three straight Leiter appearances for only the second time in his career. He has received 18 runs of support in those three starts. The Rangers supplied him with only 15 runs of support in his first nine starts this year through May 15.

After allowing one hit and striking out one in the ninth, Jacob Latz earned his seventh save of the season.

A Milestone for Wacha

Royals starter Michael Wacha made his 12th start of the season and 300th of his career Sunday afternoon at Globe Life FIeld. He picked up the loss after tossing five frames while allowing six runs, all earned. His record now sits at 4–3 with an ERA of 3.23. He became the 10th active pitcher to reach the 300-start milestone, a list that includes three current or former Rangers: Max Scherzer, Patrick Corbin, and Nathan Eovaldi. His six earned runs tied a season high.

Coming into the game, the right-hander had only allowed a total of two earned runs in the first inning this season (1.64 ERA), before getting tagged for four runs, all earned, on four hits and a walk in the opening frame Sunday. His four extra-base hits allowed were his most in a start this season. His performance snapped a five-game quality start streak for the Texarkana, Texas product and Texas A&M alum. Sunday was his sixth career start against the Rangers and his fourth at Globe Life Field, as he owns a 1–2 record and 4.34 ERA there.

Schumaker’s Postgame Comments

After the game, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker reflected on the momentum this sweep gives the Rangers as they face the Cardinals next. “We did a lot of the little things in this series,” he remarked. “We got the bunts down at the right times, and they turned into hits on more than one occasion. A lot of our runs were executed perfectly this series. We had some great two-out hits from JJ (Josh Jung) and Zeke (Ezequiel Duran). Jake (Burger) took some really great at-bats today. We don’t have this sweep without those guys. We’re looking forward to a pleasant flight to St. Louis in a little bit, and hopefully we can carry this over there.”