Rangers Walk it Off in Extras against White Sox

Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images

July 22, 2024

Rangers 4, White Sox 3 (10 innings)

ARLINGTON, Tex. (Jul 22) — The Texas Rangers narrowly defeated the Chicago White Sox, 4–3, in dramatic fashion in extra innings on Monday. They owe this victory to Wyatt Langford, who hit a walk-off single in the tenth inning. The crowd of 30,832 went wild as the winning run, in the form of Travis Jankowski, crossed the plate. The Rangers will try to make it two wins in a row against the White Sox in this four-game set on Tuesday evening. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 pm Central at Globe Life Field. Left-hander Garrett Crochet (6–6, 3.02 ERA) will take the hill for the White Sox, while righty Jon Gray (4–4, 3.96 ERA) will get the ball for the Rangers.

Tight Game

The White Sox scored their first run of the game three batters into the top of the first. With Michael Lorenzen on the mound for the Rangers, Tommy Pham blasted a solo home run to center. The Rangers tied it in similar fashion in the bottom of the third off White Sox starter Erick Fedde. Leody Taveras grounded to second to lead off the frame, bringing Marcus Semien to the dish. With one swing of the bat, Semien had his 14th dinger of the season, a solo shot to left. The tie was short-lived as the White Sox took a 2–1 lead in the top of the fourth. A leadoff double to center by Andrew Vaughn set the table. Two batters later, Nicky Lopez drew a walk. On deck was Brooks Baldwin, who plated Vaughn with a sharp single to right. This marked the first RBI of Baldwin’s major league career.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Rangers knotted the game at two runs apiece on a solo blast to right-center by Taveras, his seventh of the year. The White Sox regained the lead in the top of the ninth off Rangers reliever Kirby Yates. After Gavin Sheets struck out swinging to lead off the inning, Paul DeJong hit a solo home run to left, his 17th of the year. The Rangers made things interesting as they tied it again in the bottom of the ninth. With White Sox reliever John Brebbia on the mound, Wyatt Langford ripped a double to right. He stole second moments later. Nathaniel Lowe drew a walk after Adolis Garcia grounded to short. On deck was Jonah Heim, who drove in Langford with a single up the middle.

Walk Off

The Rangers won it in the bottom of the tenth off reliever Steven Wilson. Jankowski represented the ghost runner at second when the inning began. Taveras moved him over with a sacrifice bunt back to Wilson on the mound. Semien followed that up by striking out swinging. In an odd twist, White Sox manager Pedro Grifol elected to issue back-to-back intentional walks to Corey Seager and Josh Smith to load the bases. There was a healthy mix of confusion and excitement throughout the crowd at this point. On deck was Langford, who hit a sharp single to left, plating Jankowski. The roof was closed on Monday evening, but the noise inside the ballpark practically forced it open when Langford hit that single.

What Went Right for the Rangers

The Rangers were relentless in this win. They found themselves behind several times, but they kept finding ways to either tie or lead the White Sox the entire night. Both Heim and Langford provided key hits, and the home run by Taveras was a big help as well on a night when Lorenzen struggled on the mound.

What Went Wrong for the Rangers

The homers by Pham and DeJong hurt the Rangers early on. Then there was the RBI base hit by Baldwin. These hits were coming from throughout the lineup. Even though the White Sox have lost 11 out of their last 12 games, they still have a good lineup, and they proved it on Monday.

Bochy’s Ejection

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy was ejected for the fourth time this season in the top of the fifth. Bochy went out for an explanation when Luis Robert Jr. stole second base on a foul tip. The ball was briefly in Heim’s mitt before coming out while he was trying to get in position for a throw. Bochy was tossed after he kept following umpire Edwin Moscoso, who was walking back toward home plate. It was Bochy’s 85th career ejection, passing former Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire for the seventh-most career ejections, still far behind the record of 162 by former Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox.

A Pair of No-Decisions

Rangers starter Michael Lorenzen did not factor into Monday’s decision after navigating through five innings. His final line was 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R-ER, 1 HR, 2 BB, 8 SO, 94 pitches/57 strikes. Monday signified the fourth time for a Rangers pitcher to notch eight-plus strikeouts in a start of five-or-fewer frames. This was last done by Dane Dunning on June 16 against the Seattle Mariners. He pitched 4 2/3 innings and struck out eight in the game. Lorenzen dealt with traffic all evening, as he did not record a three-up, three-down frame in the outing and had a runner reach second base in four of his five frames. It marked the fifth consecutive start that Lorenzen has worked exactly five innings. Reliever Jonathan Hernandez earned his third win of the year after tossing a perfect 10th inning, striking out two. He is 3–0 on the year with an ERA of 4.10.

White Sox starter Erick Fedde also took a no-decision on Monday. He made his 20th start of the season and first ever against the Rangers. He yielded two runs, both earned, in 6 1/3 frames. The rest of Fedde’s line was 3 H, 2 BB, 5 SO, 2 HR, 98 pitches/60 strikes. He has tossed a minimum of six innings while permitting no more than two runs in each of his last five road starts, all of which are quality efforts. He surrendered both runs on the solo homers to Semien and Taveras. Fedde remains winless in seven career starts against AL West opponents. After giving up the winning run in the bottom of the 10th, Wilson took the loss for the White Sox. His record now sits at 1–6 with an ERA of 3.25.

Postgame Comments

Bochy emerged from his office after the game to give his thoughts on his team’s efforts. “You have to start with the pitching”, he said. “Good effort by Lorenzen. They got some men on base, and he gave up a couple runs, but he kept us in the game and gave the club a chance. That’s what we talk about a lot. Then you look at what the bullpen did, and I know Kirby (Yates), he’s been perfect. He made a mistake, but you look at that 10th inning with Johnny (Hernandez) and what a great job he did. You also have to run through our at-bats. It wasn’t perfect, but we got things done.”