The Texas Rangers scored six runs while the Anaheim Angels scored three runs.
That series, man. I’m sweating. Should you be out of breath just from sitting around watching a baseball game? I just want to see my family again. I feel like I lost years off my life.
Thanks goodness the Rangers claimed this last one to prevent a sweep or we’d maybe be talking about one of the worst series in team history that ironically followed one of the more sparkling homestands.
They won but it was a struggle for a long
while there and even when Texas grabbed a lead, it felt like being in first place on the final stretch in Mario Kart waiting to careen into a loose banana peel with a Blue Shell hot on your ass.
That is until El Bombi used a star that he’d been hanging onto and the Rangers zipped across the finish line.
Adolis García tacks on a couple of insurance runs pic.twitter.com/Y0UGNzmQUF
— MLB (@MLB) July 31, 2025
The Rangers opened the scoring 1-0 in the top of the fourth after many missed opportunities only for the Angels to immediately tie the game in the bottom of the inning with what felt like their hundredth two-out rally of the last three days. It was the fifth time that the Rangers failed at a shutdown frame overall in the series.
Nevertheless, after a bungled play in center field by Jo Adell gifted the Rangers a runner in the sixth, and a wild pitch moved the runner to second, Marcus Semien singled in the go-ahead run to give Texas a lead that they wouldn’t relinquish. Even so, it was scary practically the entire night waiting for something idiotic to happen.
The Rangers eventually put the game to bed with a four run eighth inning that was quite similar to some of the rallies that the Angels used against Texas in this series. So that was cathartic.
Still, two runs from the Angels in the bottom of the eighth (of course) made it close enough that you had to wonder if the other shoe was about to drop again. Luckily, the Rangers got the final handful of outs and escaped with a win.
Player of the Game: As is his entire ethos, Nathan Eovaldi pitched his balls off tonight when the Rangers really, really needed it following a couple of disastrous losses. It wasn’t easy, though. Eovaldi allowed six hits and walked a couple while needing to get out of several jams to prevent the Rangers from cratering.
But that’s what Eovaldi does. That’s his hallmark. You hear the term bulldog when it comes to pitchers and Eovaldi might be one of the greatest of that breed in league history. His signature win, the win that clinched the Rangers their first championship, came while stranding nine batters.
But he’s also not just a dude he guts it out. He’s also very good. So good in fact that despite giving up one of those frustrating runs that allowed the Angels to tie the game, he lowered his microscopic ERA to 1.49 on the season while picking up his ninth win with his seven inning, one run performance.
Up Next: The Rangers escape Orange County only to find themselves in the final boss’ lair. Next stop: T-Mobile Park, where the Rangers have gone like 1-873 this decade. RHP Kumar Rocker will take the mound for Texas in the opener opposite RHP George Kirby for Seattle with both clubs sitting at 57-52.
The Thursday evening first pitch from the house of horrors in Seattle is set for 8:40 pm CT and will be carried on the Rangers Sports Network.
