The Mets beat the Rangers for the second straight night, defeating Texas 7-2 at Globe Life Field to secure the series victory and play the role of spoiler. Nolan McLean retired the Rangers in order in every inning he pitched except one and earned his 12th win in his final start of 2026. Three home runs—one from Juan Soto to get the Mets on the board, a go-ahead solo shot from Marcus Semien, and a pinch-hit grand slam from Brett Baty that sealed the deal—were responsible for all seven of the Mets’
runs.
The first inning was rather uneventful except for the fact that right after Gary Cohen mentioned that Rangers first baseman Jake Burger was on the precipice of breaking a Rangers club recrod for consecutive errorless games, he made an error on the very next play on a Bo Bichette grounder that went right between his legs for the game’s first base runner. Nothing came of it, however, as Mark Vientos flew out to end the inning.
The Mets did not record a hit until the third inning, thanks in part to a couple of nice places early in the game by Wyatt Langford in the outfield. But finally Francisco Lindor broke through against Cody Bradford with a two-out single up the middle and Juan Soto followed with a 429-foot blast to put the Mets on the board. Given a 2-0 lead to work with, Nolan McLean made quick work of the Rangers early and was perfect through four innings. The Mets squandered a golden opportunity in the fifth when the first two runners reached base, but did not score. Francisco Alvarez singled to lead things off and then A.J. Ewing dropped down a bunt intended to be a sacrifice, but he ended up reaching first base safely because the catcher Danny Jansen went to field it, but Bradford got in his way and the Rangers were unable to make the play. Nick Morabito then failed to execute a sacrifice bunt and struck out. Not taking any chances in a game that is crucial for their playoff hopes, the Rangers brought in Tyler Alexander to face the top of the order. Francisco Lindor flew out to center and not wanting to allow Soto to beat them again, Alexander intentionally walked Soto to load the bases. The move worked; Bo Bichette grounded out to end the inning.
Meanwhile, the Rangers did all of their damage against Nolan McLean in one inning in the bottom of the frame. Brandon Nimmo led off with a single for the Rangers’ first hit. Ezequiel Duran then grounded out for the second out, but Nimmo advanced into scoring position on the play. Jake Burger then smacked a single to plate the Rangers’ first run. As often happens with McLean, the base runners came in bunches; Nicky Lopez singled to advance Burger to second and Danny Jansen walked to load the bases still with only one out. But McLean did good to limit the damage to just one additional run. Evan Carter hit a grounder to second on which the Mets could not turn a double play, recording only the out at second base as the tying run came home. Carter stole second base, but McLean induced an inning-ending popup off the bat of Wyatt Langford to stop the bleeding.
McLean bounced back with a very quick 1-2-3 inning in the sixth and the Mets’ half of the seventh inning played out almost exactly like their missed opportunity in the fifth. Chase Silseth took the mound for the Rangers and Francisco Alvarez greeted him rudely with a sharp single up the middle—the first time in his career he’s had four straight multi-hit games. A.J. Ewing followed with a walk and then Nick Morabito once again failed to bunt the runners over and bunted a two-strike pitch foul for strike three. Desperate to keep this important game tied, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker turned to his closer Jacob Latz to get the final two outs. Francisco Lindor made a bid for home run number 300, but the ball was caught on the warning track for the second out. The Rangers then intentionally walked Juan Soto to load the bases for a second time and for a second time it worked; Bo Bichette flew out to right field to end the inning.
Nolan McLean finished his night on a high note, retiring the Rangers in order to keep the game tied. Marcus Semien rewarded McLean’s brilliant work by putting him in line for the win in the top of the eighth with a two-out, go-ahead solo homer off his former team. Devin Williams made his first appearance back from the injured list in relief of McLean in the eighth and recorded a 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout of Wyatt Langford to cap it off. Jordan Montgomery took the mound for the Rangers in the eighth and Morabito redeemed himself somewhat with a one-out hit—his first big league hit off a left-handed pitcher. He advanced to second on a Lindor dribbler in front of the plate for the second out. The Rangers then—you guessed it—intentionally walked Juan Soto yet again. It marked the first time a Met has been intentionally walked three times in a game since David Wright in 2009. Montgomery then made way for righty (and former Met) Trevor Williams to face Bo Bichette, who this time finally made the Rangers pay by drawing an unintentional walk to load the bases. Brett Baty then pinch hit for Mark Vientos to face the righty and dealt the decisive blow—a towering grand slam to extend the Mets’ lead to 7-2 and break the Rangers’ hearts.
Cionel Pérez was tasked with the ninth inning by now-official manager Andy Green and worked around a one-out single to Josh Jung to complete the victory and give Nolan McLean the win in his final start of 2026. The Mets will go for the sweep at Globe Life Field tomorrow afternoon.
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What’s WPA?
Big Mets winner: Juan Soto, +28% WPA
Big Mets loser: Bo Bichette, -15% WPA
Mets pitchers: +29% WPA
Mets hitters: +21% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Marcus Semien’s go-ahead home run in the eighth, +29.6% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Jake Burger’s RBI single in the fifth to drive in the Rangers’ first run, -10.9% WPA
