Rangers Fall to Mets, Tied for AL West Lead

Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images

September 22, 2026

Mets 6, Rangers 3

ARLINGTON, Texas (Sep 22) — The Texas Rangers dropped their series opener to the New York Mets, 6–3, Tuesday night. Brett Baty drove in an insurance run with a double in the seventh that helped put the game out of reach for the home nine. With this loss, the Rangers are once again tied for the AL West lead with the Houston Astros, 7–0 winners over the Seattle Mariners, Tuesday night. The Rangers will try to force a rubber game with the Mets Wednesday with first pitch set for 7:05 pm Central at Globe Life Field. Right-hander Nolan McLean (11–10, 3.18 ERA) will take mound for the Mets, while the Rangers have yet to announce a starter for the middle game.

Rangers — Mets Game Summary

Both teams traded zeroes for the first two innings of Tuesday’s contest. The Mets broke the tension against lefty MacKenzie Gore. Francisco Alvarez led things off with a double to center. After A.J. Ewing flied to left and Luis Torrens grounded to second, respectively, Francisco Lindor drew a walk. Alvarez scored on a single to center by Juan Soto.

The Rangers knotted things up in the bottom of the third off left-hander Sean Manaea. He walked Danny Jansen to start the frame before striking out Wyatt Langford swinging. A passed ball by Torrens behind the plate moved Jansen to second. On deck was Josh Jung, who drove in Jansen by lining a double to right.

The Mets regained the lead in the top of the fourth. Carson Benge set the table with a ground-rule double down the line in left. After former Ranger and 2023 World Series champion Marcus Semien lined to left, Alvarez reached on a fielding error by former Met Brandon Nimmo in right. Both he and centerfielder Ezequiel Duran were running for the ball and they got crossed up, causing the ball to drop out of Nimmo’s glove. Benge scored on the play.

Back and Forth

The Rangers took a 3–2 lead in the bottom of the fourth. Nimmo led off with a single, and Duran followed with a walk. On deck was Justin Foscue, whom Manaea hit with a pitch to load the bases. Up next was Elias Diaz, who plated Nimmo with a sacrifice fly to left. Duran scored a moment later thanks to another sacrifice fly to left, this one coming from Langford.

The Mets took the lead once again in the top of the sixth off Nathan Eovaldi, on in relief of Gore. Baty pinch-hit for Mark Vientos to start the inning and doubled sharply to center. Benge followed with a free pass. Baty was called out on a force play grounded into by Semien that was fielded by Jung at third. Benge and Semien scored on a double to center by Alvarez. Up next was Ewing, who drove in Alvarez with a pop-up to first baseman Jake Burger in foul territory.

The Mets made it 6–3 in the top of the seventh against reliever Robert Garcia. Bo Bichette reached on a one-out walk. He was tagged out at second on a 6–4 force play grounded into by Baty, who scored courtesy of a double to right by Benge.

What Went Right for the Mets

The Mets applied pressure in this game. They kept finding timely ways to score. The RBI double by Baty in the seventh seemed to deflate the Rangers as they never got anything going from that point on. The two-run double by Alvarez in the sixth gave them the lead.

The Mets’ pitching staff held the Rangers to only three hits, none of which came after the fourth inning.

What Went Wrong for the Mets

The Mets ran into a problem in the third when Manaea gave up the run-scoring double by Jung. The sacrifice flies by Diaz and Langford also rippled the water a little, but the Mets prevailed.

Gore Tosses Five Innings

Rangers starter MacKenzie Gore made his AL-leading 33rd start of the season and did not factor into the decision despite tossing five innings of two-run ball. One run was earned. Gore was tagged for runs in the third and fourth innings, although the tally in the fourth came from the Nimmo error on a fly that could have ended the inning.

Head Athletic Trainer Matt Lucero went out to visit Gore, along with manager Skip Schumaker and pitching coach Jordan Tiegs, following a two-out walk to Lindor in the third, but Gore remained in the game. He concluded his night by executing a successful challenge to overturn a potential ball four to strike three on Bichette for the final out of the fifth. Tuesday marked Gore’s second successful challenge of the season (now 2-for-4). He is the only Rangers hurler with multiple overturns in ‘26 (Baseball Savant). Gore has a 3.43 ERA in 16 starts at Globe Life Field this season.

Eovaldi shouldered the loss and blown save after pitching an inning of relief. He surrendered three runs, all earned, on three hits and one walk. His record now sits at 11–10 with an ERA of 4.27.

Manaea’s Evening

Mets starter Sean Manaea improved to 6–7 after tossing six innings. His line was 3 H, 3 R-2 ER, 2 BB, and 9 K, his second-most strikeouts in a game this season. He fanned 11 on at August 9 at the Pittsburgh Pirates. Manaea made his first quality start since pitching seven stanzas with one earned run in that game. He struck out the side in order in the first on 13 pitches. Manaea escaped a two-on, one-out situation in the second before being tagged for an unearned run on the passed ball by Torrens that advanced Jansen to second on the Jung RBI double in the third.

Right-hander Kodai Senga closed out the game, earning his eighth save of the year. He pitched a perfect ninth inning with two strikeouts.

Schumaker’s Postgame Comments

After the game, Schumaker reflected on Gore’s night. “He grinded that out,” Schumaker remarked. “He gave everything he had today. It was an impressive outing. I thought he did enough. He thought he did enough as well. It wasn’t five innings coming out with the lead. I thought he did a really, really good job of giving us everything he had.”