ARLINGTON, Texas (May 30) \u2014 The Texas Rangers<\/a> took out their recent hitting frustrations on the St. Louis Cardinals<\/a> Friday, in an 11\u20131 laugher on a picture perfect evening with the roof open at Globe Life Field. Wyatt Langford<\/a><\/strong> and Marcus Semien<\/a><\/strong> treated the crowd of 28,679 to a home run apiece en route to the blowout. With a quick turnaround, the Rangers will aim for the series victory on Saturday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 3:05 pm Central. Right-hander Sonny Gray<\/a><\/strong> (5\u20131, 4.06 ERA) will toe the slab for the Cardinals, while lefty Patrick Corbin<\/a><\/strong> (3\u20133, 3.75 ERA) will take the hill for the Rangers.<\/p>\n The Rangers opened the scoring in the bottom of the first with Matthew Liberatore<\/a><\/strong> on the mound for the Cardinals. Sam Haggerty<\/a><\/strong> reached on a throwing error by Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn<\/a><\/strong>. After Langford popped out to first, Haggerty raced to second on a wild pitch to Corey Seager<\/a><\/strong>, who struck out swinging. Up next was Josh Jung<\/a><\/strong>, who plated Haggerty with a single\u00a0to left.<\/p>\n The Rangers added four more in the bottom of the second. Kyle Higashioka<\/a><\/strong> and Semien set the table with back-to-back singles. After Ezequiel Duran<\/a><\/strong> lined to center, Higashioka and Semien scored on a triple to right by Haggerty.<\/p>\n On deck was Langford, who made it 5\u20130 Rangers with a two-run dinger to left-center.<\/p>\n The Rangers scored four more in the bottom of the sixth off Cardinals reliever Gordon Graceffo<\/a><\/strong>. Jake Burger<\/a><\/strong> led off with a single to center and he advanced to second on a free pass drawn by Higashioka. Semien scored Burger with a single to left. Two batters later, Haggerty brought Higashioka home with a single to right.<\/p>\n Langford nudged Haggerty to second with a walk, bringing up Seager, who struck out swinging for the second time. Moments later, Jung plated Semien and Haggerty with a single to left.<\/p>\n The Rangers extended their lead to 11\u20130 in the bottom of the seventh off Cardinals reliever Matt Svanson<\/a><\/strong>. Higashioka reached on a one-out infield single that was out of the reach of Nolan Gorman<\/a><\/strong> at third.<\/p>\n On deck was Semien, who cracked a two-run homer to left-center.<\/p>\n The Cardinals scored their only run of the evening in the top of the eighth against Rangers reliever Caleb Boushley<\/a><\/strong>. Victor Scott II<\/a><\/strong> led off with a single to left. Lars Nootbaar<\/a><\/strong> plated Scott with a double up the middle, denying the Rangers the shutout.<\/p>\n The Rangers owe this win largely to Haggerty and Semien. Haggerty reached base five times with four hits and a walk. Semien, meanwhile, had four hits and three runs scored. That marked a season high for him and tied his career high. It seemed like everyone in the lineup made a contribution, and that’s always great to see, especially when that same lineup was held to one hit the night before.<\/p>\n Haggerty and Semien were the first Rangers with a four-hit game since Josh Smith<\/strong><\/a> on May 4 of this season against the Seattle Mariners<\/a>. This was the first time two or more Rangers had four hits in the same game since July 7, 2024, when Jonah Heim<\/strong><\/a> and Wyatt Langford did so against the Tampa Bay Rays<\/a>. Haggerty was the first Ranger with four hits and a walk since Nathaniel Lowe<\/strong><\/a> on July 14, 2023 against the Cleveland Guardians<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Cardinals are a tough team to keep silent and Friday was no different. The Rangers hoped to walk away with a well-deserved shutout, but it wasn’t to be. Nootbaar’s RBI single in the eighth broke it up.<\/p>\n Rangers righty Jack Leiter<\/a><\/strong> logged the longest scoreless appearance of his career, posting 5 2\/3 scoreless innings to earn his fourth win of the season. His record is now 4\u20132 with a 3.66 ERA. His final line was 3 H, 2 BB, 6 K, 1 HBP, 1 WP, 96 pitches\/59 strikes.<\/p>\n Leiter allowed three singles and held the Cardinals hitless in four at-bats with runners in scoring position. He exited after plunking Willson Contreras<\/a><\/strong> with two outs in the sixth. Shawn Armstrong<\/strong><\/a> stranded the inherited runner. Leiter has fashioned a 2.28 ERA in his last four outings since May 13 to drop his season ERA from 5.09 to 3.66.<\/p>\n After tossing three innings, allowing two hits and an earned run, Rangers reliever Caleb Boushley<\/strong><\/a> earned his first career save, becoming the seventh Ranger to register a save this year, which is the most in the AL.<\/p>\n Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore took his team-high fourth loss of the season. His line was 5 R-4 ER over 5 IP (7 H, 1 BB, 5 K, 1 HR, 91 pitches\/55 strikes. All four earned runs came on the back-to-back RBI hits by Haggerty and Langford in the second inning. After the four-run second, Liberatore retired eight of his final eleven batters faced, holding the Rangers off the board over the third through fifth frames.<\/p>\n The southpaw\u2019s five runs surrendered snapped a streak of eight consecutive starts allowing two or fewer runs, dating back to April 13. Liberatore is now 0\u20134 with an ERA of 4.45 in six road starts compared to a 3\u20130 record with an ERA of 1.69 in five home starts.<\/p>\n After the game, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy<\/a> <\/strong>gave his thoughts on Semien’s night. “He had a great game,” he said. “Everybody had a great game, but we don’t win this game without Marcus. He was the Marcus we all know. He had some great at-bats, and we really did a lot of good things throughout the lineup. We kept the rallies going, and it was needed on our side. More than that, the off-day on Thursday really served our guys well. They were able to check out and come back today ready to go. We hope to see more of it.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\nFour-Run Inning for Rangers<\/h4>\n
What Went Right for the Rangers<\/h4>\n
What Went Wrong for the Rangers<\/h4>\n
Fourth Win for Leiter<\/h4>\n
Liberatore’s Evening<\/h4>\n
Bochy’s Postgame Comments<\/h4>\n
Main Photo:
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>