SEATTLE — They changed the name of this lovely stadium with the rolling roof and the open air spaces from Safeco Field to T-Mobile Park in 2019. Because: Marketing.
Where the Rangers are concerned, though, it might as well have become the Little Shop of Horrors, presented, of course by T-Mobile. Things have gotten more macabre for them here annually.
Nevertheless, a Rangers team buoyed by a frenzy of late afternoon trades showed up here Thursday with a chance to grab control of a playoff spot for the first time this season since people actually started paying attention to standings. And… another gory mess ensued.
In a 6-0 loss, the Rangers allowed two runs to score on pitches that got away from catcher Kyle Higashioka (one ruled a wild pitch, the other a passed ball), allowed a homer hit so hard the metrics only said “interstellar,” and, of course, didn’t do anything offensively.
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“We’ve got to find ways to score runs in this ballpark,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said but he didn’t have a whole lot of advice on how to best do it, especially when the opposing pitcher is George Kirby.
They Rangers have lost all four games in Seattle this year, managing a total of six runs in the process. They have now lost seven straight here and are 13-41 in the park since the re-branding. The loss dropped them a game behind Seattle in the wild card race, which is officially on now that the trade deadline has passed. But they might as well trail by two because Seattle has already captured the season series, winning eight of 10 meetings.
Thursday’s loss highlighted both what the Rangers did at the deadline and what they didn’t do.
They did add pitching depth to try to preserve their biggest strength. The weakest link in the rotation is the rookie, Kumar Rocker, who allowed three runs in 4 ⅔ innings, including the 470-foot, 113 mph blast by No. 9 hitter Cole Young and a more predictable one to MLB home run leader Cal Raleigh. It was the third time in his last four starts that Rocker failed to get through the fifth inning. Timed with the impending arrival of Merrill Kelly, it might lead to a change in role for Rocker.
Texas Rangers starting pitcher Kumar Rocker (80) watches as Seattle Mariners’ Cole Young, background left, rounds the bases behind on a solo home during the fifth inning in a baseball game Thursday, July 31, 2025, in Seattle.
John Froschauer / AP
They didn’t add to the offense, however, and it remains inconsistent, at best. It was the 11th time they were shut out this year. They are on pace for 16 shutouts, one shy of the most in a season since the AL added the DH in 1973.
A lot of Thursday’s shutout had to do with Kirby, who was making his first start against the Rangers of 2025. He annihilates them. On Friday, he allowed three hits and two walks while striking out six. Just a typical Kirby night against the Rangers in Seattle. These numbers are beyond ridiculous. In seven career starts in Seattle, he is 6-0 against the Rangers with a 0.21 ERA (one earned run in 43 innings), 39 strikeouts and six walks. He has not allowed the Rangers an earned run in his last 29 innings in the park.
Surprisingly, the Rangers had two chances against him. Not surprisingly, they didn’t amount to anything.
In the third, No. 7 hitter Joc Pederson and No. 8 hitter Rowdy Tellez began things with a walk and a hit. But the next three Rangers, including Corey Seager, who struggles like nowhere else in this park, all struck out. It extended his career hitless stretch against Kirby to 14 at-bats.
In the sixth, with it still a game at 3-0, the Rangers threatened a two-out rally with a single by Seager to break the ofer and a double to the wall by Marcus Semien. Seager, a below-average runner, was held up at third. And stranded there when Adolis García struck out.
“You have to battle when the guy has that kind of stuff and he’s on top of his game,” Bochy said. “And we had guys at first and second and our guys up there and they’ve been swinging well. But he’s got that good stuff and the ability to make pitches when he gets in a jam.”
And that effectively was the end of the night.
They’ve got three more games in Seattle over the weekend. In theory, it gives them a chance to grab control back. In reality, they just hope to escape this place without being pushed back into folderol of the middle of a wild card race.
The good news: They won’t have to face George Kirby again this season. Unless it’s the playoffs. Should have stopped a sentence earlier.
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