PHOENIX - Wyatt Langford did not wait for the inning to find him.
He led off the fifth with a solo home run to left-center - his 17th of the season, per the Associated Press - and the Texas Rangers never trailed again in a 6-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night at Chase Field.
ESPN's box lists Langford 2-for-4 with the homer, a double and an RBI, matching the AP account that framed his blast as the first swing of a six-run frame.
Texas entered the fifth tied at 1-1 after Pavin Smith's RBI single had scored Tim Tawa in the third. Langford's leadoff shot flipped the scoreboard. Jake Burger singled and stole second.
Nicky Lopez laid down a sacrifice. Elias Diaz singled Burger home. Joc Pederson was hit by a pitch.
Corey Seager reached on a fielder's choice that survived Arizona's challenge when video of Brandon Pfaadt's foot at first was ruled inconclusive, the AP reported. Josh Jung and Brandon Nimmo kept the line moving. Ezequiel Duran's two-run single finished a rally that turned a one-run game into a five-run lead.
Power that opened the door
Langford had already doubled earlier. The fifth-inning homer was the cleaner statement: ball over the wall to open the frame, and a club that had been searching for a crooked number finally had one. The Rangers collected 13 hits overall. Arizona managed six.
Kumar Rocker started and worked four innings, allowing one run on two hits and two walks with five strikeouts. Robert Garcia (1-1) threw a clean fifth for the win. Nathan Eovaldi, back from the injured list (elbow), pitched 2 2/3 innings of one-run relief in his first relief appearance since 2019, the AP noted. Jacob Latz closed it out.
