Burger, Rangers Take Series Opener From Mariners

Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images

July 24, 2026

Rangers 5, Mariners 4

ARLINGTON, Texas (July 24) — The Texas Rangers gained the upper hand in their four-game series against the Seattle Mariners with a 5–4 win in Friday’s opener. One of the highlights for the Rangers in the tilt was a two-run blast by Jake Burger in the fourth inning. With this victory, the Rangers remain in first place in the AL West with their lead over the Mariners now stretched to a game and a half. They’ll have the opportunity to make it two in a row against their division rival Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 6:15 pm Central at Globe Life Field. Right-handers Bryan Woo (7–6, 4.16 ERA) and Nathan Eovaldi (9–8, 4.21 ERA) will go head-to-head in that game.

Langford Goes Bang-ford

The Rangers broke the tension early in the bottom of the first against right-hander Bryce Miller. Wyatt Langford stepped in with one out and a 1–1 count and launched one over the wall in left for his 12th homer to give the Rangers a 1–0 lead.

The Mariners knotted things up in the top of the second off lefty MacKenzie Gore. Josh Naylor drew a one-out free pass and Cole Young followed with a single to right. After former Ranger Mitch Garver struck out swinging, Weston Wilson drove in Naylor with a single to right.

In the bottom of the fourth the Rangers regained the lead thanks to a two-run blast to right by Burger with one out and an 0–2 count. Ezequiel Duran was the man on base at the time. He reached on a leadoff single to left several batters earlier.

The Mariners tied it back up in the top of the fifth. Colt Emerson and Randy Arozarena opened the stanza with back-to-back singles. Julio Rodriguez flied to Cam Cauley at second to bring up Dominic Canzone, who plated both runners with a double to center.

The back-and-forth affair continued when the Rangers took another two-run lead in the bottom of the sixth. Brandon Nimmo hit a single with one out and Evan Carter followed with a walk. It was at this point that Mariners manager Dan Wilson brought in Eduard Bazardo to relieve Miller. On deck was Burger, who scored Nimmo on a single up the middle. Moments later, a sacrifice bunt in front of the plate by Nicky Lopez allowed Carter to score. Bazardo picked it up and made an underhand toss to Cal Raleigh behind the plate, but it was bobbled.

Hairy at the End

The Mariners scored one more in the top of the ninth off reliever Jacob Latz. Emerson set the table with a one-out double to right. He advanced to third on a groundout to second by Arozarena. A wild pitch from Latz scored Emerson to make things a little too close for comfort for the Rangers.

What Went Right for the Rangers

It wasn’t a perfect win for the home nine, but it was still a win. The home runs by Langford and Burger provided some breathing room. There was also the RBI single by Burger, and Lopez made a nice contribution with his sacrifice bunt in the sixth.

What Went Wrong for the Rangers

The Mariners never had a lead on Friday, but they still kept it close. Weston’s RBI base hit prompted a loud groan from the crowd of 33,478. Canzone had a nice moment in the fifth when he plated Emerson and Arozarena. The Mariners also caught a break in the ninth when Emerson crossed the dish on Latz’ wild pitch.

Gore Tosses Five

Rangers starter MacKenzie Gore departed in a 3–3 tie after five innings. His line was 7 H, 3 R-ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 96 pitches/62 strikes. He failed to convert either opportunity for a shutdown inning after the Rangers gave him a run in the first and two runs in the fourth. Gore labored through a 31-pitch top of the second in which he allowed one run on two hits and two walks, his only free passes of the night.

He allowed three of the first four Mariners to reach in the fifth. It was capped by the two-run double from Canzone that knotted the score. Gore fired a 97.7 mph four-seam fastball to Naylor in the second, only 0.2 mph off his top heater of the year, which was 97.9 mph on April 3 against the Cincinnati Reds. Gore has 18 starts of five or fewer innings pitched but 95 or more pitches since 2023. That ranks third-most in the majors behind Dylan Cease with 27 and Freddy Peralta with 21.

The win went to reliever Peyton Gray. He relieved Gore in the sixth, yielding one hit and striking out one to improve to 5–0 with an ERA of 3.35.

For his effort in the ninth, Latz notched his 20th save of the season, surrendering one earned run on one hit and one strikeout.

Miller’s Performance

Mariners starter Bryce Miller took his third straight loss to fall to 4–5 with an ERA of 2.75. His line was 5 1/3 IP, 6 H, 5 R-ER, 1 BB, 0 K. Friday was the first game of his career in which he did not record a strikeout, spanning 86 games.

Miller was tagged for a season-high five earned runs. He struggled to keep the ball in the infield, as 18 of 23 plate appearances against him resulted in a fly ball or line drive to the outfield.

Two of those balls left the park. Miller exited the game with the score at 3–3 with two runners on. Both came around to score with Bazardo pitching in relief. He owned a 1.71 season ERA on July 2 and has seen that number jump to 2.75 since. The New Braunfels High School and Texas A&M alum is 0–4 with an 11.25 ERA in four career starts at Globe Life Field.

Schumaker’s Postgame Comments

After the game, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker gave his early impressions on the series thus far. “I just thought it was a really good team win,” he said. “We did the little things well, played good defense. The bullpen was outstanding tonight. We had some clutch hits and played small ball. I thought it was an overall good team win.”

Schumaker also elaborated further on the bullpen’s performance in this contest. “They attacked,” he continued. “There weren’t many free passes, if at all. Peyton Gray was outstanding, getting lefties and righties out.”