Rangers Have Grand Time against Royals

Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images

June 22, 2024

Rangers 6, Royals 0

ARLINGTON, Tex. (June 22) — The Texas Rangers stretched their modest winning streak to three on Saturday afternoon, as they blanked the Kansas City Royals, 6–0. Rookie outfielder Wyatt Langford provided most of the Rangers’ offense with his first career grand slam in the late innings. On Sunday afternoon, the Rangers will go for their first series sweep since May 28-29 when they won both games of a two-game set against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Arlington. First pitch for the series finale against the Royals is set for 1:35 pm Central at Globe Life Field. Righty Alec Marsh (5–4, 4.37 ERA) will get the ball for the Royals, while right-hander Max Scherzer will make his season debut for the Rangers. He will be activated from the 60-day IL, where he was recovering from offseason back surgery.

Six for Smith

The teams traded zeroes for the first three and a half innings. Josh Smith put the Rangers on the board in the bottom of the fourth against Royals righty Michael Wacha. He led things off with his sixth homer of the year, a solo shot to right. There was still plenty more to come, however. Going forward, both teams stayed off the scoreboard until the Rangers broke it open in the bottom of the eighth with reliever Angel Zerpa on the mound for the Royals.

Langford Craves Salami

Marcus Semien and Corey Seager got things started with back-to-back singles. Smith advanced them both with a sacrifice bunt up the third base line. On deck was Adolis Garcia, who reached on a fielder’s choice, allowing Semien to score and Seager to reach third. Moments later, Nathaniel Lowe drew a walk, loading the bases for Langford, who stepped up to the plate like a rooster with an itch. After working the count full, the Royals had a mound visit with Zerpa, most likely to disrupt Langford’s swing. It didn’t work, as he launched Zerpa’s next pitch into the seats in left for his first career grand slam. As cliche as it may be, sound had feel among the sellout crowd of 38,301 at that moment.

It’s Been Awhile

Langford’s bomb marked the Rangers’ first grand slam of the season and the 17th ever by a Rangers rookie. The last to do it was Josh Jung on April 30, 2023 against the New York Yankees. Langford is the youngest Ranger to hit a grand slam since Nomar Mazara on April 7, 2017 against the Oakland Athletics.

The slam was part of a two-hit effort for Langford. He has posted three consecutive two-plus hit games and has multiple hits in five of the last nine games. Langford has an RBI in seven of his last nine games. He has 13 RBI and a hit in four straight at 7-for-15 (.467). He is slashing .313/.361/.522/.883 with 2 HR, 2 3B, 4 2B, and 17 RBI in the month of June as he entered play Saturday leading AL rookies during June in RBI, SLG, extra-base hits, and total bases. Langford is the only player in the majors with an inside-the-park home run and a grand slam this year.

What Went Right for the Rangers

The Rangers had the baseball equivalent of an everything bagel on Saturday. Smith’s homer and Langford’s grand slam spread the power on the bagel. Smith’s sacrifice bunt spread the small ball, and Jon Gray‘s performance provided an added touch.

What Went Wrong for the Rangers

Games like this make it hard to find a flaw in the winning side. The only thing that went wrong was that the pitching staff allowed three base runners the entire game, all on base hits.

Gray’s Longest Start of 2024

Rangers right-hander Jon Gray earned his third win in what was his 13th start of the season. He faced two batters over the minimum over his six scoreless frames, posting his second scoreless outing of six-plus innings this season. He tossed 72 pitches, 51 for strikes. That marks the fewest in a start of six-plus innings in his career, and fewest pitches by a Rangers hurler in such a start since Dane Dunning on May 10, 2023 against the Seattle Mariners. Gray allowed two runs, both earned, over his 13 innings in two starts against the Royals this season, fanning 10 and walking none in those games. He is 3–3 on the season with 2.03 ERA over 71 1/3 innings. The Rangers are now 7–6 in his 13 starts in ’24.

Wacha’s Afternoon

Royals starter Michael Wacha was saddled with the loss despite permitting one earned run over five frames in his return from the injured list. His final line was 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R-ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 1 HR, 74 pitches/52 strikes. Wacha was activated from the 15-day IL from a fractured left foot pre-game. He has gone 4–6 with a 4.07 ERA across 13 starts in 2024. Wacha has allowed two or fewer earned runs in each of his last six outings to cut his season ERA from 5.50 to 4.07.

Postgame Comments

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy has stressed several times over the season that the home runs would come at some point. He had kind of an “I told you so” moment in his postgame press conference as he grinned at the first question about Langford. Bochy mentioned that his recent stint on the IL gave him a breather. “I think there is a reset, probably, that did happen there,” Bochy said of Langford’s injury. “He got a little break, and that gave him a chance to back off a little bit and get some AB’s (in Triple-A Round Rock). He came back up here and he’s a different player. So that happens. You try to look at the silver lining with injuries. It gives them a chance to reset, and that happened with him.”