Seager, Rangers Edge Guardians

Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images

June 5, 2026

Rangers 3, Guardians 2

ARLINGTON, Texas (June 5) — The Texas Rangers rode a two-run home run by Corey Seager to a 3–2 victory over the Cleveland Guardians on a warm Friday evening in Arlington. Now they will set their sights on the series victory on Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 pm Central at Globe Life Field. Righties Tanner Bibee (0–7, 4.57 ERA) and Jack Leiter (3–4, 4.34 ERA) will go toe-to-toe in the middle game of the series.

Seager Goes Yard

The Guardians scored before the first out was recorded in the top of the first. With Kumar Rocker pitching, Travis Bazzana blasted a home run, on a 2–0 pitch, ten rows deep into right.

The Guardians extended the lead to 2–0 in the top of the fourth. It started with a two-out double to center by Steven Kwan. Austin Hedges followed with a single up the middle to score Kwan.

The Rangers split the lead in half in the bottom of the sixth off lefty Parker Messick. Kyle Higashioka led off the inning with a homer to left on a 3–2 pitch, his fourth of the season. After Michael Helman popped up to first, Wyatt Langford lined a double to left. On deck was Seager. He got the crowd of 27,738 on their feet with a two-run bomb to left-center on the first pitch he saw. It marked his eighth home run this year.

What Went Right for the Rangers

The Rangers received timely contributions from Seager and Langford Friday night. The team activated both of them prior to the game. Neither of them wasted time creating opportunities to keep the Rangers in this game.

To make room on the roster for their return, the club optioned infielder Cody Freeman and outfielder Alejandro Osuna to Triple-A Round Rock and designated second baseman Sam Haggerty for assignment after he was activated from the bereavement/family medical emergency list.

What Went Wrong for the Rangers

The Rangers hit a roadblock thanks to the leadoff blast by Bazzana in the top of the first. In 2026, they have allowed nine home runs to the game’s first batter and 15 homers to the first batter faced by a new pitcher. The Rangers have allowed 20 first-inning long balls overall, which is the most in baseball.

Kwan’s RBI single in the fourth also made things difficult for the home nine early on. Scoring has been sparse for the Rangers at Globe Life Field this season. Therefore any lead by their opposition cannot be taken lightly.

Rocker’s Evening

Rangers starter Kumar Rocker made his 11th start of the season Friday. He took a no-decision, allowing two runs, both earned, over five frames. His line on the evening was 6 H, 1 BB, 5 K, 94 pitches/57 strikes. He produced scoreless stanzas in the second and third before the Guardians rallied with two outs in the fourth for another run. Rocker tightroped out of a runner-on-third, no-outs jam in the fifth by inducing a foul pop, strikeout, and line-out after Bazzana hit a leadoff triple to conclude his outing, exiting with a 2–0 deficit.

Peyton Gray came in to relieve Rocker in the sixth and earned his second win of the season, improving his record to 2–0 with an ERA of 3.26. He tossed an inning and two thirds, striking out two.

In what has become somewhat of a trend recently, reliever Jacob Latz picked up another two-inning save. It is his ninth save of the year. He surrendered a hit and a walk in those two frames and struck out three.

Messick’s Outing

Guardians starter Parker Messick took his second loss of the season, pitching 5 2/3 innings. His line was 5 H, 3 ER, and 1 BB. The left-hander started off in dominant fashion, retiring 16 of the first 17 batters he faced and needing 63 pitches to get through five spotless innings. In 20 career starts, he has completed five or more innings 19 times, the most by a Guardians/Indians pitcher through 20 career starts since Aaron Civale turned the trick in 19 of his first 20 career appearances in 2019-20. Messick now owns a record of 6–2 with a 2.40 ERA.

Schumaker’s Postgame Comments

After the game, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker reflected on Seager and Langford’s presence in the lineup. “It’s definitely good to have them back,” he said. “We were talking on the bench, Rod [Barajas] and I, that their timing looked right in their first at-bat, both of them. Even though neither one of them got hits or anything, they just looked right. I didn’t know they were going to hit a home run and a double, obviously, but it was a really good sign.”