Texas Rangers lose momentum at home before All-Star break with loss to Astros
After winning back-to-back games, the Rangers lost big at home to the Houston Astros, 9-3 at Globe Life Field on Saturday night.
After gaining momentum from beating the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday and taking the first game against the Astros, the Rangers fell off and got dominated at home.
The Rangers never found themselves in the game from the start, after opening with an error between infielders Nicky Lopez and Jake Burger that allowed the Astros’ Jeremy Pina to reach first before Yordan Alvarez followed up with a home run.
LaMonte Wade Jr. hit a grand slam for the Astros in the third inning for a 6-0 lead, marking the first grand slam of his career.
Rangers infielder Ezequiel Duran homered in the fourth to put the Rangers on the board, and added another home run in the ninth. It was the first multi-homer game of Duran’s career. Outside of Duran’s efforts, though, the Rangers’ offense was bleak.
Despite the loss, the Rangers are sitting above .500 with a 48-47 record and still remain in first in the American League West with one game left before the All-Star break.
Rangers reliever Jacob Latz was named an All-Star for the first time. He is just the ninth reliever in Rangers history to make the All-Star team.
Latz was named the American League Reliever of the Month for June after recording an MLB-high 11 saves over 16 innings. The All-Star game will take place at 7 p.m. July 14 in Philadelphia.
The Rangers head into the break looking to come back healthy for the remainder of the season. Outfielder Wyatt Langford returned to the lineup Thursday — earlier than expected — after missing time with a hamstring strain. Langford was supposed to have been out until after the All-Star break.
Langford had an immediate impact, hitting a walk-off single Thursday against the Angels and a home run to put the Rangers ahead late in the win against the Astros on Friday.
The Rangers are still without infielder Corey Seager, who has back discomfort. Seager is expected to return at the end of the month. The Rangers are now without pitcher Jacob deGrom, who was supposed to pitch Sunday but was scratched with a glute strain and might be placed on the injury list.
The Rangers are looking to augment their pitching depth after selecting left-handed pitcher Gio Rojas in the first round of the 2026 MLB Draft on Saturday. The Rangers selected the 19-year-old out of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, Florida, with the 16th pick.
This is the first time in eight years that the Rangers have taken a high school pitcher with their initial pick.
The Rangers will have one final game before the All-Star break against the Astros and will look to regain momentum. The Astros can clinch the Silver Boot Series with a win over the Rangers on Sunday. The game starts at 1:35 p.m. at Globe Life Field.
“I think it’s a big game tomorrow. Obviously a big division game and you want to have some momentum going into the second half. So it’s going to be a big day for us tomorrow. Hopefully we can come out and score first and put a zero for the first inning,” Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said.
With a victory Sunday, the Rangers would secure a winning record before the All-Star break for the first time since 2023, their World Series-winning year.
This story was originally published July 11, 2026 at 9:31 PM.
