Langford's leadoff blast sparks Rangers' six-run fifth in Phoenix

Wyatt Langford set the tone before the rally even needed a second act. Leading off the fifth at Chase Field on Saturday night, he drove a ball to left-center for a solo home run, tying the game and opening the door for a six-run Texas inning that carried the Rangers past the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-2.

The Associated Press credited Langford with the spark and Ezequiel Duran with a two-run single later in the frame as Texas evened the three-game series. Per ESPN's box score, Langford finished 2-for-4 with the homer, an RBI and a run scored. ESPN's box matches that line.

How the fifth got away from Arizona

Arizona had taken a 1-0 lead earlier when Tim Tawa scored on a Pavin Smith single. Langford's 17th home run of the season, measured at 435 feet by the ESPN gamecast, wiped that edge out immediately.

What followed turned on a contested play at first base. The Diamondbacks thought they had escaped a jam with an inning-ending double play with the score tied 1-1, but umpire Bill Miller ruled Corey Seager safe, signaling that pitcher Brandon Pfaadt's foot was off the bag. Arizona challenged; the review was inconclusive and the call stood, the AP reported.

Texas then scored five more runs after the review.

Elias Diaz singled home Jake Burger. Josh Jung singled home Diaz. Brandon Nimmo doubled home Seager. Duran's two-run single plated Jung and Nimmo. By the time the inning ended, the Rangers led 6-1.

Keeping Arizona at arm's length

Kumar Rocker started and worked four innings, allowing one run on two hits and two walks with five strikeouts. Robert Garcia, Nathan Eovaldi and Jacob Latz finished it. Eovaldi, activated from the injured list, pitched in relief for the first time since 2019 and threw 2 2/3 innings with one run allowed, the AP noted.

Corbin Carroll's sacrifice fly in the late innings accounted for Arizona's second run. Ketel Marte went hitless. Pfaadt took the loss after 6 2/3 innings and six earned runs.

Texas improved to 73-76 and sat two games out of the final American League wild-card spot despite a sub-.500 record. Arizona fell to 79-70.

The series finale Sunday lined up Cal Quantrill for Texas against Eduardo Rodriguez for Arizona.

Langford's night was not only the leadoff jolt. The second hit in his 2-for-4 line kept pressure on Arizona's infield after the game had tilted, and it fit a larger Texas approach that finally strung together contact after an early quiet stretch.

For a Rangers club chasing a wild card from under .500, an inning that starts with a solo shot and ends with a five-run cushion is the kind of sequence that keeps September relevant.

Arizona still had chances after the fifth, and Carroll's sacrifice fly proved the Diamondbacks were not finished. But the gap Langford opened, and that his teammates widened, held up through the late innings.

Sources

ESPN

ESPN