Rangers Claim Series Against Angels

Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images

August 23, 2026

Rangers 5, Angels 3

ARLINGTON, Texas (Aug 23) — The Texas Rangers put the finishing touches on a 4–2 homestand with a 5–3 win over the Los Angeles Angels Sunday afternoon. Ezequiel Duran and Elias Diaz made their presence known with a homer apiece in the series finale. At 65–66, the Rangers now find themselves in a first-place tie in the AL West with the Houston Astros, 7–6 losers to the Athletics Sunday. The Rangers will now head out on a six-game road trip beginning with three against the Chicago White Sox. That tilt will get underway Monday night with first pitch scheduled for 6:40 pm Central at Rate Field. Right-hander Kumar Rocker (4–10, 4.46 ERA) will get the ball for the Rangers. As of press time, the White Sox had yet to name a starter.

The Angels, meanwhile, will fly back to Anaheim for a long nine-game homestand starting with a three-game set against the Cleveland Guardians. That series will also begin Monday with first pitch set for 6:38 pm Pacific at Angel Stadium. Lefty Parker Messick (9–8, 2.54 ERA) will face righty George Klassen (2–1, 3.74 ERA) in the opener.

Duran Duran

The Rangers began their scoring in the bottom of the second with lefty Yusei Kikuchi on the mound. Duran led off by sending a 1–2 pitch several rows into the seats in left-center. It marked his 14th homer of the season. After Jake Burger was called out on strikes, Logan O’Hoppe, who was recalled from Triple-A Round Rock earlier in the day, singled to left in his first at-bat as a Ranger. Up next was Cody Freeman, who brought O’Hoppe home with a triple that got past a sliding Jose Siri in left-center. On deck was Diaz, who scored Freeman with a sacrifice fly to center.

The Rangers extended their lead to 4–0 in the bottom of the fifth. Diaz opened the frame with a bomb to the second deck in left-center on a 1–2 pitch for his sixth home run of the year. After Justin Foscue went down swinging, Corey Seager singled to right. Moments later, Wyatt Langford sent Seager to third with a double to left. Brandon Nimmo followed with a sacrifice fly to center that plated Seager.

The Angels broke into the run column in the top of the eighth off reliever Peyton Gray. Zach Neto led off by driving a 2–1 pitch to left-center for his 22nd dinger of the year. After Mike Trout flied to center, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker brought in Tyler Alexander to relieve Gray. Up next was Moises Ballesteros, who reached on a sharp single to left. He advanced to third thanks to a double to right by Vaughn Grissom. On the next play, Ballesteros scored on a sacrifice fly to left.

On deck was Gustavo Campero, who brought Grissom home with a single to right to complete the scoring.

What Went Right for the Rangers

Duran has done a little bit of everything during this current homestand. To go along with his blast in the second, he made his first career start in center on Sunday. He has also split time at first and third over this six-game stretch that started with the Washington Nationals on August 18.

Diaz made a nice contribution with his solo shot in the fifth. Furthermore, Freeman drove in his new teammate O’Hoppe, and Nimmo plated Seager with a sacrifice fly.

What Went Wrong for the Rangers

The Rangers were cruising until they hit a bump in the eighth. Neto continued his good series with the leadoff dinger, and Grissom had his RBI double later in the inning. He later scored courtesy of the single by Campero.

Back-to-Back Wins for Quantrill

Rangers starter Cal Quantrill spun six scoreless innings on Sunday. His final line was 6 H, 0 BB, 6 K, and a season-high 96 pitches/68 strikes en route to winning his second consecutive start. It was the first time he earned victories in back-to-back outings since June 6 & 11, 2024 as a member of the Colorado Rockies. Quantrill allowed a hit in every inning except the sixth, holding the Angels to 1-for-9 (.111) with runners on base. He generated a season-high 14 swings-and-misses, his most whiffs in a single outing since 6/11/24 at the Minnesota Twins, where he had 15.

Quantrill is 3–1 with a 0.89 ERA, five walks, 28 strikeouts, and 0.824 WHIP over his last five starts. This lowers his season ERA from 4.05 to 2.90. Sunday was the right-hander’s fifth consecutive start of five or more innings with one or zero earned runs allowed, which is the longest streak by a Ranger since Nathan Eovaldi’s six-start run from July 2 through August 5, 2025. Quantrill is currently riding a 15-inning scoreless streak, the third-longest span of his career to a pair of 18-inning stretches from July 3-27, 2019 with the San Diego Padres and August 1-17, 2022 with the Guardians.

Reliever Jacob Latz turned in his 26th save of the season after allowing a hit, one walk, and striking out two in the ninth.

Tough Day for Kikuchi

Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi had a line of 5 IP, 7 H, 5 R-ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 2 HR, 89 pitches/59 strikes. He was charged with the loss. Sunday was his return to a major league mound after being activated from the 60-day Injured List earlier in the day. His outing marked his first start since April 29 at the White Sox. The damage was done in a pair of multi-run frames.

Kikuchi yielded two solo home runs after permitting only three homers in his first 31 innings with the Halos in 2026. He shoulders a 6.45 ERA in four career starts at Globe Life Field. The Angels are now 1–7 in Kikuchi’s 8 starts this year.

The Rangers ended a 22-inning scoreless streak by the Angels starting pitchers with a three-run second. This was the longest scoreless run by the club’s rotation since a 23-inning stretch from May 31 to June 3, 2018.

Schumaker’s Postgame Comments

After the game, Schumaker reflected on his lineup’s performance. “I wish I could tell you the messaging was different or the work was different,” he said. “I think the guys just swung at strikes and didn’t chase a ton today. The middle of the order was really good. [Corey] Seager and Wyatt [Langford] were fantastic today, but the bottom of the order really helped out as well. I think that’s the main difference. We just didn’t rely on the top. I think it was just up and down the lineup.”

Quantrill’s Postgame Comments

After Schumaker exited the interview room, Quantrill took his seat. He discussed what he has seen in the starting rotation as of late. “It’s an interesting staff where there’s a lot of guys who have accomplished their career,” he remarked. “I don’t think it’s necessarily a competition. It’s almost more like ‘Wow, that’s what he did, I’d like to try and do that as well.’ I think we’ve got a wealth of knowledge in our two true veteran starters [Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi], and then we’ve got a ton of talent in the younger guys. You just pick a little bit from each guy, and you try and build on what the last guy did to the best of our ability.”