Rangers Fold in Home Finale Against Twins

Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images

September 25, 2025

Twins 4, Rangers 0

ARLINGTON, Texas (Sept 25) — The Texas Rangers dropped their series and home finale to the Minnesota Twins, 4–0, under an open roof at Globe Life Field Thursday afternoon. Byron Buxton drove in all four of the Twins’ runs with two home runs on the day. With the home half of their schedule completed, the Rangers will finish their season with three against the Cleveland Guardians. That series will begin Friday with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 pm Eastern at Progressive Field. It will be a duel of righties as Jack Leiter (9–10, 3.92 ERA) will get the ball for the Rangers, while Slade Cecconi (7–6, 4.15 ERA) will take the hill for the Guardians.

The Twins, meanwhile, will end their season with a three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies. The opener for that set will also be Friday with first pitch scheduled for 6:45 pm Eastern at Citizens Bank Park. Right-hander Joe Ryan (13–9, 3.47 ERA) will toe the slab for for the Twins, and righty Aaron Nola (4–10, 6.46 ERA) will take the hill for the Phillies.

The Byron Buxton Show

The Twins grabbed the lead right away in the top of the first. With Tyler Mahle on the mound, Buxton stepped in and demolished the first pitch of the game, sending it to center for his 33rd home run of the season. Many of the 23,298 fans in attendance were still finding their seats at that point.

They extended their lead to 4–0 in the top of the eighth with reliever Chris Martin on the mound. Edouard Julien led off with an infield single that was out of the reach of Ezequiel Duran at short. Ryan Fitzgerald entered to pinch-run for Julien. Up next was Christian Vazquez who nudged Fitzgerald to second with a single to right. On deck was Buxton. Once again he blasted the first pitch he saw to center for his 34th long ball of the year.

What Went Right for the Twins

Byron Buxton gave the Rangers fits for the duration of this series. He hit two homers in Thursday’s game, and he also hit a leadoff bomb in Wednesday’s contest. This reporter cannot recall a time when a player had a multi-homer game, where each of them came on the first pitch of each at-bat.

What Went Wrong for the Twins

The Twins were 1–for–5 with runners in scoring position on Thursday. They left five men on base, and the only thing they could have done better was score more runs than they already did.

Tough Loss for Mahle

Rangers starter Tyler Mahle was saddled with his fourth loss of the season despite allowing one earned run over his five innings Thursday afternoon. His final line was 5 H, 1 BB, 4 SO, 1 HR, 78 pitches/54 strikes. He finishes the year with a 6–4 record and an ERA of 2.18. Mahle allowed the leadoff home run to Buxton on his first pitch of the game – the first home run Mahle has yielded at Globe Life Field all season – as his 48 2/3 IP at home without giving up a home run were the most in the majors entering Thursday’s game.

He held the Twins off the scoreboard following the leadoff blast, allowing one baserunner to reach as far as second base. He finished the season with a 0.84 home ERA, the lowest mark in franchise history among pitchers with at least 10 home starts in a campaign.

All Ober It

Twins righty Bailey Ober pitched his first scoreless start of the season and earned the win, facing only one batter over the minimum in six frames. His line was 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 SO, 78 pitches/54 strikes. His 26 starts in 2025 without a scoreless outing were the most in the AL and second in the majors to Bryce Elder of the Atlanta Braves, who had 28 entering Thursday. Ober finishes the season with a record of 6–9 with an ERA of 5.10.

Bochy’s Postgame Comments

After the game, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy reflected on Thursday’s loss. “We didn’t want to lose the finale here at home in front of our fans,” he remarked. “Their pitching did great against us. We had a lot of hard-hit balls, but nothing came of it. Ober had it all working with his fastball and changeup. It was hard to catch up to him. As far as the rest of the season goes, we want to go out on a high note more than anything. It’s not as good as playing October baseball, but we’ll still show up in Cleveland ready to play. We have to be because that’s another good club.”