ARLINGTON — The Milwaukee Brewers have the most wins in baseball, a league-best offense and a stingy staff of pitchers that’ve been as good as almost any this season.
The Texas Rangers have Michael Helman and Jacob Latz.
It wasn’t even a competition on Monday.
We’d say “go figure,” but you’ve probably tried that once or twice already.
Rangers
The Rangers continued their improbable and undermanned storm back into contention with a 5-0 series-opening win vs. the Brewers at a roofless Globe Life Field, thanks to their recent theme of unexpected heroes that’ve filled in while nearly a dozen everyday players mend on the injured list.
Texas Rangers’ Michael Helman runs as teammate Ezequiel Duran, top, and spectators react to Helman’s grand slam home run off Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Jose Quintana during the fifth inning of a baseball game Monday, Sept. 8, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Julio Cortez / AP
Helman, a 29-year-old rookie outfielder whom the Rangers claimed off waivers, hit a go-ahead grand slam in the fifth inning against the team with the National League’s best statistical pitching staff. Latz, a 29-year-old left-handed swingman who’s filled in as a starter due to injuries, pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings against the team with the National League’s most total runs scored.
The Rangers, now 12-4 in their last 16 games and a game back of the American League’s third Wild Card spot, have become only predictable in their unpredictability.
“They’ve done some really good things to help us,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said of the wave of fill-ins and step-ups. “We needed it with what we’re dealing with.”
Helman had never taken an at-bat with the bases loaded in the major leagues before stepping to the plate in Monday’s scoreless game with second baseman Dylan Moore (fielder’s choice), designated hitter Kyle Higashioka (double) and catcher Jonah Heim (walk) on in front of him. His assignment was to hit a pitch into the air for a sacrifice fly, score a run and turn the Texas lineup back over to the top.
“Lucky enough,” Helman said, “I got something better than that.”
He fouled off two Jose Quintana pitches in the strike zone before he turned on a high sinker and sent it 381 feet into left field for the club’s first grand slam this season. Quintana, a left-hander, didn’t allow a base runner until first baseman Jake Burger walked to lead off that inning.
It was more than the Rangers needed with Latz — who now has a 2.73 ERA in six starts this season and has filled in for right-hander Nathan Eovaldi — in the midst of his own gem against an offense that’s among baseball’s best against left-handers.
“It was just a good example of the way this season’s been going,” Latz said of Helman’s grand slam. “We’ve kept fighting. We get close at times — maybe we get a couple bad breaks, no one shows it — and Helman comes through.”
Three times, to be precise. Helman hit a double in the seventh inning that scored Heim from first base to give the Rangers a fifth run. He also threw out speedy Milwaukee left fielder Jackson Chourio on his attempt to advance to second base on a flyout in the fourth.
“This was my first time I’ve played with the dome open,” Helman said. “It happened to be that kind of twilight-ish gray sky. So the ball went up high, I kind of lost it for a second, so I was like, ‘OK, I really need to make sure I just catch this ball first.’ Then I heard Cody [Freeman] screaming in my ear, ‘He’s tagging, he’s tagging.’ And I was like, oh, I’m going to have to get rid of this thing. It worked out.”
It sure did.
“What a game by the kid,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “All of these kids have done such a great job as we’ve talked about so many times.”
Last Monday, in a 7-5 win against the Arizona Diamondbacks, rookie outfielder Alejandro Osuna hit a two-run single in extra innings. Friday, in a 4-3 win vs. the Houston Astros, outfielder Dustin Harris hit a walk-off single just over a month after he was designated for assignment and left for every team in the league to claim. Freeman, the rookie sparkplug face of this club’s resurgence, has scored the go-ahead run, driven in the tying run or served as the winning run in three of the team’s last four wins. Helman, who did not have a home run on his big league stat sheet prior to this season, has hit two in the last nine games that’ve given the Rangers a lead.
Bochy acknowledged that he can’t recall a single team in his 28 years of management that’s been carried by as many unlikely heroes in a single critical stretch like these Rangers have been. Osuna, the youngest of that quartet, is the most experienced with 47 games played at the big league level. Harris, Freeman and Helman have combined to play just 90 games above the minor leagues.
“It’s definitely fun when you play with these guys for such a long time [in the minor leagues] and we’re all up here now,” said Helman, who played with Osuna, Harris and Freeman at Triple-A Round Rock this season. “We’re just continuing to do the same things we’d been doing in Triple-A and trying not to make moments bigger than what they are.”
The moment remains seismic nonetheless. Monday’s game was the first of nine straight against teams currently in a postseason position. The Rangers travel to Queens, N.Y., after this series to play three against a New York Mets team that holds their league’s third Wild Card spot. They’ll return to Texas after that to play three more against the division-leading Houston Astros at Daikin Park.
It’s a stretch that will all but certainly make or break this season.
It’s hard to tell if you spend a few minutes around these kids.
Twitter: @McFarland_Shawn
Filling in for team’s injured ace, Rangers’ LHP Jacob Latz has pitched like one
Latz has given the Rangers reason to turn his temporary stint in the rotation into a more permanent role.
Rangers playoff tracker: How close is Texas to a spot in the postseason?
Despite a litany of injuries, Texas is in the hunt for a playoff spot as the MLB regular season nears its conclusion.
Find more Rangers coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
Click or tap here to sign up for our Rangers newsletter.