The Texas Rangers avoided a complete meltdown to earn their first victory of the season, beating the Philadelphia Phillies 5-4 in 10 innings Saturday at Philadelphia.
The day started with bad vibes when two-time Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom was scratched from his start with a neck injury.
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Despite that, Rangers fans had nothing to complain about for the first eight innings — until Texas carried a 3-0 lead into the ninth. Then last season’s nightmarish problems closing games carried over into 2026.
This time, the Rangers were able to rebound in extra innings, scoring on a wild pitch and an RBI single from designated hitter Andrew McCutchen to earn the victory.
The Rangers and Phillies will finish their opening three-game series at 12:35 p.m. Sunday. Texas’ big offseason trade acquisition, left-hander MacKenzie Gore, will make his first start for the Rangers against Philadelphia lefty Jesus Luzardo.
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Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s win:
Is there a closer on the roster?
The Rangers went a mind-numbing 37-for-66 in save situations last season, and they started 0-for-1 in 2026.
Left-hander Robert Garcia, who went 9-for-16 on save chances last season, got the first shot this season, and it didn’t go well. He recorded the first two outs, then gave up a single to third baseman Alec Bohm and walked second baseman Edmundo Sosa.
New Rangers manager Skip Schumaker turned to right-hander Chris Martin to try to record the final out, and in fairness to Martin, he seemed to have gotten the job done by inducing a foul pop-up from former Rangers outfielder Adolis Garcia. However, first baseman Jake Burger lost track of the ball and didn’t secure the out.
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Things fell apart after that. Garcia doubled to score Bohm, then left fielder Brandon Marsh hit a two-run single to tie the game at 3.
After the Rangers scored two in the top of the 10th, left-hander Tyler Alexander got the team’s second save opportunity of the season. He hit pinch hitter Otto Kemp, then recorded two outs before allowing an RBI single to first baseman Bryce Harper.
With the tying run on third and the winning run at first, Alexander finally got Bohm to pop out to shortstop to end the game.
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So make the Rangers a dramatic 1-for-2 on save opportunities so far.
Jacob Latz fills in for Jacob deGrom
Starting on short notice, left-hander Jacob Latz gave the Rangers four no-hit innings with three strikeouts and one walk.
Texas Rangers pitcher Jacob Latz delivers in the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
(Hunter Martin/Getty Images)
Right-hander Cole Winn relieved Latz after he gave up a leadoff walk in the fifth, and Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto ended up breaking up the no-hitter with an infield single.
Latz narrowly lost the battle to be the fifth starter in the rotation to right-hander Kumar Rocker in spring training. DeGrom said Saturday that he thought he would be able to make his next start, but Latz appears to be a capable fill-in.
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Jake Burger’s bat working
Burger’s fielding miscue nearly led to a defeat, but he appears to be bouncing back at the plate after a dismal 2025.
Texas Rangers first baseman Jake Burger singles in the eighth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
(Hunter Martin/Getty Images)
Burger homered for the second straight game to open the season, a two-run shot to left in the third inning.
He is 5-for-9 (.556) on the young season with two homers and four RBIs after hitting .236 with 16 homers and 53 RBIs in 103 games last season.
Shortstop Corey Seager also hit first home run of the season Saturday.
Game schedule dates, times, locations
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Mavericks â–¶
March 18 Atlanta 135, Mavericks 120
March 21 L.A. Clippers 138, Mavericks 131 (OT)
March 23 Golden State 137, Mavericks 131 (OT)
March 25 Denver 142, Mavericks 135
March 27 Mavericks 100, Portland 93
March 30 vs. Minnesota, 7:30 p.m., KFAA, MavsTV
March 31 at Milwaukee, 7 p.m., KFAA, MavsTV
April 3 vs. Orlando, 7:30 p.m., KFAA, MavsTV
April 5 vs. L.A. Lakers, 6:30 p.m., NBC, Peacock
April 7 at L.A. Clippers, 9:30 p.m., KFAA, MavsTV
TCU Men’s Basketball â–¶
March 7 TCU 73, Cincinnati 63
Big 12 Tournament (at Kansas City, Mo.)
March 11 No. 6 TCU 95, No. 14 Oklahoma State 88 (second round)
March 12 No. 3 Kansas 78, No. 6 TCU 73 (quarterfinals)
NCAA Tournament (at Greenville, S.C.)
March 19 No. 9 TCU 66, No. 8 Ohio State 64 (first round)
March 21 No. 1 Duke 81, No. 9 TCU 58 (second round)
TCU Women’s Basketball â–¶
March 1 TCU 65, Baylor 53
Big 12 Tournament (at Kansas City, Mo.)
March 6 No. 1 TCU 63, No. 9 BYU 46 (quarterfinals)
March 7 No. 1 TCU 74, No. 12 Kansas State 62 (semifinals)
March 8 No. 2 West Virginia 62, No. 1 TCU 53 (championship)
Opening rounds (at Schollmaier Arena)
March 20 No. 3 TCU 86, No. 14 UC San Diego 40 (first round)
March 22 No. 3 TCU 62, No. 6 Washington 59 (OT) (second round)
March 28 vs. No. 10 Virginia (Sweet 16), 6:30 p.m., ESPN
March 30 vs. No. 1 South Carolina (Elite Eight), 8 p.m., ESPN
Texas Rangers â–¶
March 26 Philadelphia 5, Rangers 3
March 28 Rangers 5, Philadelphia 4 (10 innings)
March 29 at Philadelphia, 12:35 p.m., RSN
March 30 at Baltimore, 5:35 p.m., RSN
March 31 at Baltimore, 5:35 p.m., RSN
April 1 at Baltimore, 11:35 a.m., RSN
April 3 vs. Cincinnati, 3:05 p.m., RSN
April 4 vs. Cincinnati, 6:05 p.m., RSN
April 5 vs. Cincinnati, 1:35 p.m., RSN
TCU Baseball â–¶
March 20 Central Florida 18, TCU 7
March 21 TCU 6, Central Florida 0
March 22 Central Florida 9, TCU 1
March 24 TCU 11, Dallas Baptist 5
March 27 TCU 18, Texas Tech 8 (7 innings)
March 28 vs. Texas Tech, 2 p.m., ESPN+
March 29 vs. Texas Tech, 1 p.m., ESPN+
March 31 vs. Lamar, 6 p.m., ESPN+
April 3 at Kansas State, 6 p.m., ESPN+
April 4 at Kansas State, 4 p.m., ESPN+
April 5 at Kansas State, 1 p.m., ESPN+
Stars â–¶
March 18 Stars 2, Colorado 1 (SO)
March 21 Minnesota 2, Stars 1 (OT)
March 22 Vegas 3, Stars 2
March 24 New Jersey 6, Stars 4
March 26 N.Y. Islanders 2, Stars 1
March 28 at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m., Victory+
March 29 at Philadelphia, 6 p.m., Victory+
March 31 at Boston, 6 p.m., Fox, Victory+
April 2 vs. Winnipeg, 7 p.m., Victory+
April 4 vs. Colorado, 2 p.m., ABC
TCU Football â–¶
Aug. 29 vs. North Carolina (at Dublin), TBA
Sept. 12 vs. Grambling State, TBA
Sept. 19 vs. Arkansas State, TBA
Sept. 26 at Central Florida, TBA
Oct. 24 vs. West Virginia, TBA
Nov. 14 vs. Kansas State, TBA
Nov. 28 at Texas Tech, TBA
Cowboys â–¶
TBA vs. TBA (at Rio de Janeiro), TBA
2026 opponents (dates and times TBA; one home game will be in Rio)
FC Dallas â–¶
Feb. 21 FC Dallas 3, Toronto 2
Feb. 28 FC Dallas 0, Nashville 0
March 7 LAFC 1, FC Dallas 0
March 14 FC Dallas 3, San Diego 3
March 21 FC Dallas 4, Houston 3
April 4 at D.C. United, 6:30 p.m., Apple TV
April 11 vs. St. Louis, 7:30 p.m., Apple TV
April 18 vs. LA Galaxy, 7:30 p.m., Apple TV
April 22 vs. Minnesota, 7:30 p.m., Apple TV
April 25 at Seattle, 9:30 p.m., Apple TV
Texas Motor Speedway â–¶
April 11 NASCAR Racing Experience
April 18 Team Texas-David Starr’s Racing School
April 23-25 Pate Swap Meet
April 30-May 2 High Limit Racing Stockyard Stampede
May 1 NASCAR Truck Series: SpeedyCash.com 250
May 2 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series: Andy’s Frozen Custard 340
May 3 NASCAR Cup Series: Wurth 400