Rangers Take Home Finale From Mets

Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images

September 24, 2026

Rangers 3, Mets 1

ARLINGTON, Texas (Sep 24) — The Texas Rangers finished the home portion of their 2026 schedule with a 3–1 win over the New York Mets Thursday afternoon. Josh Jung and Corey Seager each homered to help snap the Rangers’ three-game losing streak. For the moment, the Rangers (79–80) sit atop the AL West with a half-game lead over the Houston Astros (78–80). The Astros will start their final series of the season — a four-gamer against the Athletics — Thursday at 6:40 pm Pacific at Sutter Health Park. Peter Lambert (8–10, 3.70 ERA) will face Mason Barnett (1–4, 7.16 ERA) in that game.

The Rangers, meanwhile, will embark on their final road trip of the season with a three-game set against the Minnesota Twins. That tilt will get underway Friday with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 pm Central at Target Field. The Rangers will send righty Jacob deGrom (11–10, 3.86 ERA) to the mound, and right-hander Joe Ryan (6–10, 3.83 ERA) will get the ball for the Twins.

As for the Mets, they will end their campaign on the road with three against the Washington Nationals. That matchup also starts Friday with first pitch slated for 6:45 pm Eastern at Nationals Park. The Mets haven’t named their starter as of press time, while lefty Andrew Alvarez (2–6, 3.17 ERA) will take the hill for the Nationals.

Rangers — Mets Game Summary

The Mets jumped out to an early 1–0 lead with Kumar Rocker on the mound. Francisco Lindor led off with a ground-rule double down the line in right. Juan Soto popped out to third and Bo Bichette grounded to third to follow. That brought up Carson Benge, who brought home Lindor with a single to right.

The Rangers answered in the bottom of the first against left-hander Zac Thornton. Justin Foscue opened the inning with a single to left. On deck was Seager, who struck out swinging to bring up Jung. With a count of 1–0, Jung connected and snuck one inside the foul pole in left. It landed four rows deep for his 12th blast of the year.

The Rangers extended their lead to 3–1 in the bottom of the sixth off reliever Jefry Yan. Seager led off with a shot to the first row in right on a 1–0 pitch. It marked his 19th bomb of the season.

What Went Right for the Rangers

The Rangers may not have scored an abundance of runs on Thursday, but it was enough. The two-run homer by Jung helped the team leapfrog the Mets early in the game, and Seager’s dinger in the sixth put the game too far out of reach f0r the Mets to mount any further threats.

The Rangers’ pitching staff did a nice job keeping the traffic on the base paths to a minimum. The Mets left three on base and were held to a 1-for-5 clip with runners in scoring position.

What Went Wrong for the Rangers

The Rangers had a bit of an uphill battle in the first after the RBI single by Benge, but after that Rocker settled in nicely.

Six Wins for Rocker

Rangers starter Kumar Rocker picked up his sixth win of the season Thursday. He is now 6–11 after turning in five innings of one-run ball. The rest of his line was 3 H, 2 BB, 4 K, 74 pitches/45 strikes. Rocker allowed two of his first four batters faced to reach, including Benge’s two-strike, two-out RBI single in the first. He permitted only one hit the rest of his start, holding Mets hitters 1-for-12 over that stretch.

Rocker issued walks in the third (Soto, intentional) and fourth (Semien), but those baserunners were erased on a double play and caught stealing, respectively. His eight opponents GIDP on the season are second on the Rangers to only Cal Quantrill’s nine. Thursday was Rocker’s seventh outing this season of five or more innings and one or zero earned runs, first since July 21 versus the Chicago White Sox (six scoreless innings).

Reliever Jordan Montgomery picked up his first save of 2026 after tossing a spotless ninth with one strikeout.

Thornton’s Afternoon

Mets starter Zac Thornton fell to 5–6 after going five innings Thursday. His line was 4 H, 2 R-ER, 1 BB, and 4 K in what was likely the final start of his initial campaign. He was tagged for two runs on the homer by Jung in the first, his 14th blast allowed. His 1.49 HR/9 is the fifth-highest among all rookies with 60 or more innings pitched.

Thornton settled in for the final four frames, a stretch highlighted by escaping a two-on, one-out situation in the fourth. He walked Brandon Nimmo, only his 18th free pass of the year as his 1.92 BB/9 ranks third in the majors by rookies with a minimum of 60 innings pitched. Thornton has gone five or more innings in nine straight starts, which is the fifth-longest active streak among rookies. He moved his ERA to 3.42.

Schumaker’s Postgame Comments

After the game, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker described how he felt after Thursday’s win. “There’s still a pulse,” he said. “As long as we still have a pulse, we’re good to go. We have that. That’s the fun part about where we’re at right now. … But we have to win. That’s the other part of this thing. I said that last night, if we don’t win, it doesn’t matter. The scoreboard watching is more fun when you win.”