Jonah Heim laid on his back, eyes closed, and sunk defeatedly into the Globe Life Field foul territory dirt. He had flung himself into the netting behind home plate in an effort to corral a José Caballero pop up in the seventh inning of Sunday’s game vs. the Tampa Bay Rays, but, instead, he dropped the ball — and himself — to the ground.
He’s the hero of this story, mind you, and a central figure in the moral that it brings: There’s more than one way to win a baseball game. Heim, who hit a walkoff single two innings after his blooper to clinch a 4-3 win, is proof. The Rangers, who own the American League’s best record through a week-and-a-half of games despite an offense that can’t kick itself into second gear, are too.
Texas’ lineup, which was expected to be the team’s anchor, has a league-worst batting average (.192), six regulars (Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, Joc Pederson, Adolis GarcĂa, Jake Burger and Leody Taveras) with a sub-.200 average and the seventh-fewest runs scored in baseball.
It’s amounted to more wins than anyone other than the reigning champion Los Angeles Dodgers, the second best 10-game start in team history and a record of six games above .500 for the first time since the final day of the 2023 season. How uncommon is that? The Rangers are one of just seven teams all time — and the first since the World Series-winning 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers — to win 8 games in any 10-game span with a team batting average of .192 or worse in a single season, according to Stathead.
“We’re not quite clicking,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said, “but we’re getting some big hits — some timely hits.”
Saturday’s win — in which three of the Rangers’ four hits were home runs — exemplified that. Ditto for Sunday’s victory:
- Third baseman Josh Smith led the third inning off with a single vs. Tampa Bay starter Drew Rasmussen, promptly stole second base, took third on a Heim single and scored the game’s first run when Semien grounded into a force out. Smith’s stolen base was the Rangers’ first of four on Sunday as they’ve ramped up their aggression on the basepaths to complement a lineup that they believe will eventually fire up.
- Speaking of stolen bases: Heim, in the seventh, reached first on an error and stole his ninth career base to reach scoring position. Smith joked and called it “so random” and Heim acknowledged that a stolen base “doesn’t happen very often.” Hey, they’ll take it: Heim’s base running helped lead directly to a two-run lead after Taveras drove him in with a two-strike, two-out single.
- Smith laced a two-strike, two-out double in the bottom of the ninth inning to set Heim up for his game winner. The 29-year-old catcher then clubbed an Edwin Uceta single into center field to score Smith from second base and trigger a getaway day celebration on the infield. “All I needed was a base hit,” said Heim, who now has five career walkoff wins. “Keep it simple.”
Smith and Heim combined for five of the Rangers’ seven hits while the top-half of the lineup was largely silent outside of a sixth-inning Corey Seager home run. The two tag-teamed the ninth inning to clinch the Rangers’ fifth one-run win this season and their third in the last five games.
“If you can come out on top in the majority of those, you’re probably in a pretty good spot,” Smith said. “It shows you you can win in tough situations where maybe you’re not feeling the best but you can sneak out a win.”
They’ve been forced into those close games largely because of their offense. They’ve been able to win them largely because of their pitching staff. The Rangers’ starting pitchers have an AL-best 2.68 ERA through two full turns of the rotation and were given five innings of one-run ball by Kumar Rocker in Sunday’s win. It was a significant rebound for Rocker, a 25-year-old rookie, after he allowed six earned runs in three innings against the Reds in his season debut.
Rocker allowed six hits — all singles — and walked none in the longest start of his career Sunday. He retired the side on 10 pitches in the top of the first inning, stranded two runners in scoring position to end the second and threw a scoreless third before Jonathan Aranda and Kameron Misner both singled off of him in the fourth to score a run. Bochy said that they could have kept Rocker out for a sixth inning if it weren’t for a hand cramp. The Rangers’ reconstructed bullpen — which was without the high-leverage trio of Luke Jackson, Chris Martin and Robert Garcia — pieced together four innings of two-run ball behind him.
“Just tried to be better,” said Rocker, a hard self critic. “Just tried to improve each week. Today it showed a little bit, got a little bit of results, got to go do it again.”
The offense, the Rangers hope, join them on that journey soon.
They’ll find other ways to win in the meantime.
“We’re getting the big hit when we need to and getting the big punchout when we need to,” Heim said. “It’s been a lot of fun, hopefully we can keep it going.”
Texas Rangers catcher Jonah Heim celebrates with teammates after driving in third baseman Josh Smith with a walk-off single in the ninth inning of a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Globe Life Field on Sunday, April 14, 2025, in Arlington.
The Rangers are off to a red-hot start to the 2025 season and that continued with a dramatic win over Tampa Bay on Sunday afternoon. The team has been able to win games despite their offense struggling, thanks to their strong pitching staff. The Rangers’ starting pitchers have an AL-best 2.68 ERA through two full turns of the rotation.
While the Rangers have stolen 14 bases, they’ve also allowed the most stolen bases in baseball (16). The team has been able to find ways to win, even when their offense is not clicking. They have been getting timely hits and making the most of their opportunities.
The Rangers’ lineup has been struggling, with a league-worst batting average of .192. However, the team has been able to overcome this by getting big hits when it matters most. The Rangers have been able to win close games, thanks to their pitching staff and their ability to get timely hits.
The team’s manager, Bruce Bochy, has been impressed with the way the team has been playing. “We’re not quite clicking,” Bochy said, “but we’re getting some big hits — some timely hits.” The Rangers have been able to win games despite their offense struggling, and they will look to continue this trend as the season progresses.
In conclusion, the Texas Rangers have been able to win games despite their offense struggling, thanks to their strong pitching staff and their ability to get timely hits. The team has been able to overcome their struggles at the plate by getting big hits when it matters most. The Rangers will look to continue this trend as the season progresses and hope that their offense will start to click soon.
FAQs:
Q: What is the Rangers’ record through 10 games?
A: The Rangers have a record of 8-2 through 10 games, which is the second-best 10-game start in team history.
Q: What is the Rangers’ team batting average?
A: The Rangers have a team batting average of .192, which is the worst in the league.
Q: How many stolen bases have the Rangers allowed?
A: The Rangers have allowed 16 stolen bases, which is the most in baseball.
Q: Who is the Rangers’ manager?
A: The Rangers’ manager is Bruce Bochy.
Q: What is the Rangers’ ERA through two full turns of the rotation?
A: The Rangers have an AL-best 2.68 ERA through two full turns of the rotation.
