Two AL West Rivals Battle It Out in Sunny Arizona
The Texas Rangers continued their race to Opening Day in a division rival bout and took on the Athletics today at Surprise Stadium. The Rangers came into today’s game with a 10-8 Spring Training record, boasting one of the best records coming into the game, just behind the San Francisco Giants at 15-3, and the L.A. Dodgers sitting at 12-6. The Athletics, on the other hand, came in with a record of 9-10. Regardless of this game only being in Spring Training, when you have a chance to go against your division rival, and there aren’t any implications to the regular season, it feels good to have some fun while finalizing the projected starting lineup. Today, the Rangers had All-Star-caliber pitcher Jack Leiter as their starting pitcher, and the A’s had J.T. Ginn on the mound to start.
Leiter had a great day out on the mound, as he pitched five innings, allowing five hits and only two runs, complemented by six strikeouts. The scoring party for Texas started in the bottom of the second inning for the Rangers as Willie MacIver hit a three-run double to left field, and Wyatt Langford hit a 424-foot bomb lasered to left-center field, making the score 6-1 Rangers at that point. Max Muncy of the A’s got the game going to a hot start in the top of the first with a 440-foot blast to left-center field as well. Then, in the top of the third inning, Henry Bolte shortened the Rangers' lead by hitting a solo 408-foot homerun for the A’s, making it 6-2 in favor of Texas.
It got quiet for a bit until the top of the sixth inning, as Leiter was subbed out for Josh Sborz, who hadn’t seen much action since the 2023 World Series victory, mainly due to injuries and setbacks during rehab. With bases loaded, Colby Thomas hit a ground ball forceout to short, but still got Zack Gelof across the plate, making it 6-3. Before Sborz was able to get out of a dangerous situation, Leo De Vries got another run across the plate, scoring Muncy with a single down to center field, making it 6-4. This is a somewhat similar feeling to the 2025 regular season for the Rangers, as they have the ability to score and score quickly, yet once the starter gets off the mound and pitchers come in to relieve, the lead starts to dwindle little by little.
To begin the top of the seventh, Gavin Collyer replaces Sborz on the mound for the Rangers. The A’s began to inch closer to tying the Rangers as Brian Serven brought in Bobby Blandford on a sacrifice fly, who got on base via a walk, making the score 6-5. In the bottom of the seventh, Trevor Hauver was up to the plate for the Rangers and notched a double to center, and later crossed home on a fielding error committed by Jared Sprauge-Lott, extending the Rangers’ lead to 7-5. In the top of the eighth, Aidan Anderson was on the mound for the Rangers as Michael Stefanic hit a single up the middle to center field, bringing in Breyson Guedez, narrowing the Rangers’ lead to 7-6. Alas, Stefanic got a bit too risky and got caught stealing second base, ending the hope of tying the game. Going into the top of the ninth, the Rangers allowed Luis Curvelo to wrap things up for today, but the A’s were able to get on base with their first batter, Serven, who reached on an error at shortstop. Although the A’s were able to get some baserunners and had an opportunity to get some runs across and take the lead, Curvelo was able to get back-to-back strikeouts and get a groundout to end the game.
All in all, in a game that the Rangers felt comfortable in and were able to keep in their control, they came out with the win 7-6. Six of the Rangers' runs came from the bottom of the second with the huge double by MacIver getting three runs across, and then Langford hitting an absolute moonshot of a homerun to left-center, getting another three runs batted in. The pitching for the Rangers looked decent against a very young A’s squad. There were moments when the game got away from the Rangers, and some runs were getting through, but the relievers were able to get the outs when they needed them the most, and kept the A’s at bay. The Rangers, now sitting at 11-8, and the A’s, now 9-11, will be back in action tomorrow, as Texas will go against the Colorado Rockies, and the A’s will go against the San Diego Padres.
