Rangers Put Up Seven Spot to Beat Diamondbacks

Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images

May 12, 2026

Rangers 7, Diamondbacks 4

ARLINGTON, Texas (May 12) — Joc Pederson and Ezequiel Duran led the Texas Rangers to a 7–4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks with one homer apiece Tuesday night. It was a nice change of pace for the Rangers as they failed to push across a run in Monday’s 1–0 loss in the series opener. Now they’ll have a chance to win their second consecutive series Wednesday with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 pm Central at Globe Life Field. Right-handers Ryne Nelson (1–3, 5.68 ERA) and Kumar Rocker (1–4, 5.01 ERA) will face each other in the series finale.

Pederson, Duran Go Deep

The Rangers broke the ice in their half of the first against right-hander Zac Gallen. There was a noticeable change in the lineup as Pederson was inserted into the leadoff spot instead of his usual assignment as the team’s cleanup hitter. A lot of people questioned manager Skip Schumaker‘s decision on this. He is not your typical leadoff hitter. It paid off, however, as Pederson deposited a 1–0 pitch into the stands in right, his third home run of the season.

The Diamondbacks answered back in the top of the second off lefty MacKenzie Gore. With one out in the inning, Ildemaro Vargas tied the game with a solo blast to left-center on a 1–1 pitch, his seventh of the campaign.

The Rangers regained the lead in the bottom of the second. Gallen walked Duran and Alejandro Osuna was hit by a pitch to follow. That brought up Jake Burger, who scored Duran with a single to right. Osuna moved to second on the play.

Rangers Pile On

The lead stretched to 3–1 in the bottom of the fourth. Duran hit a a one-out homer to right on a 1–2 pitch, his third of the year.

The Rangers opened it up with four more in the bottom of the fifth. Brandon Nimmo smacked a triple to center, his second of the season. On deck was Corey Seager, who drove in Nimmo by grounding into a fielder’s choice fielded by Vargas at first. Seager moved to second on a single up the middle by Josh Jung. That brought up Duran who plated Seager with an infield single. The ball slipped out of the hands of Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo.

This turn of events led Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo to bring in reliever Ryan Thompson. Once play resumed, Jung crossed the plate thanks to a single up the middle by Osuna. Duran scored moments later courtesy of a single to right by Burger.

The Diamondbacks put together a small rally in the top of the ninth against reliever Gavin Collyer. He walked Corbin Carroll to start the frame. Up next was Tim Tawa, pinch-hitting for Perdomo. Tawa also reached on a walk. After Collyer uncorked a wild pitch to advance both runners, he issued another walk to Nolan Arenado to load the bases. Vargas scored Carroll with a single to center. This brought Schumaker to the mound to bring in reliever Jacob Latz. Tawa scored on a 5–4 force play grounded into by Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Arenado crossed the dish thanks to a sacrifice fly to center by Gabriel Moreno.

What Went Right for the Rangers

The Rangers had some unexpected, yet good, fortune when Pederson led off the bottom of the first with his home run. Sometimes moves like that can make all the difference., Pederson has gotten off to a slow start this year, but he has shown signs of life at the plate lately. Duran showed some unexpected power as well when he hit his dinger.

What Went Wrong for the Rangers

The home-nine looked to be cruising to a 7–1 win until the top of the ninth. Collyer has been a pleasant surprise for the Rangers since he was called up from Triple-A Round Rock earlier this season, but he didn’t have much petrol in the tank tonight as he surrendered three runs on three walks, a wild pitch, and a single.

Gore Goes Four Times Two

Rangers starter MacKenzie Gore turned in a career-high eight sterling innings, limiting the Diamondbacks to one run on three hits. He earned his third win of the year, improving to 3–3 with an ERA of 4.50. His final line was 8 IP, 3 H, 1 R-ER, 1 HR, 1 BB, 5 K, 95 pitches/63 strikes. Gore surpassed his previous career-high of seven innings, which he has done six times. This comes after the Rangers deployed a bullpen game Monday. Following the Vargas long ball, Gore held the Diamondbacks’ bats to a 2-for-22 clip. He needed 95 pitches to complete eight stanzas after entering play averaging 18.5 pitches-per-inning on the campaign.

Left-hander Jacob Latz went three up, three down in the ninth to nail down his fifth save of 2026.

Rough Night for Gallen

Diamondbacks starter Zac Gallen allowed a season-high seven runs, all earned, over 4 2/3 innings. His line was 7 H, 2 BB, 4 K, 2 HR, 95 pitches/60 strikes. His outing Tuesday ended his team’s rotation’s streak of seven straight starts with six or more innings pitched. It was also the seventh start of seven or more runs in his 185th career outing, first since June 20, 2025 against the Colorado Rockies. He took the loss for his effort, bringing his record to 1–4 with an ERA of 5.65.

Schumaker’s Postgame Comments

After the game, Schumaker discussed the importance of Gore’s performance on Tuesday. “We needed him to go as long as he could,” he said. “He did that and more. Anything past the sixth inning we were going to be okay with, but we didn’t really know what he could give us. It’s a good offense over there. It’s a right-handed dominant lineup with a couple of lefties that are capable of hitting left-handers, so not an easy task for him. He threw 95 pitches, his fastball execution was to me so far was the best of the year, and his curveball was excellent as well.