Wyatt Langford hit a tiebreaking RBI single off Edwin Diaz with two outs in the ninth inning on Saturday as the surging Texas Rangers rallied for a 3-2 victory over the host New York Mets, whose losing streak reached a season-worst eight games.
Texas (79-70) tied a season high by winning six straight for the fourth time and improved to 7-48 when trailing through seven.
The Mets fell to 76-73.
The winning rally began when Cody Freeman lined a single to left field that had caromed off shortstop Francisco Lindor’s glove. After pinch runner Dustin Harris took second on a sacrifice bunt by Michael Helman, Langford ripped a fastball to center field to give Texas a 3-2 lead.
Langford’s hit occurred after Texas scored two in the eighth.
Pinch hitter Rowdy Tellez lined a tying double off Diaz (6-3) when he batted for Dylan Moore and forged a 2-2 deadlock after Langford took third on a wild pitch.
Tellez’s clutch hit occurred after Josh Smith opened the inning by reaching on catcher’s interference by Francisco Alvarez. Smith took third on a double by Langford off Tyler Rogers and scored on a sacrifice fly by Joc Pederson.
Phil Maton (4-5) got the final out of the eighth after Chris Martin suffered an apparent injury. Shawn Armstrong later allowed a single to pinch hitter Ronny Mauricio but fanned Brandon Nimmo to finish his ninth save and strand two.
Before Texas rallied, Juan Soto became the fifth player in Mets history to hit at least 40 homers in a season.
Soto joined Pete Alonso (2019, 2022, 2023), Carlos Beltran (2006), Todd Hundley (1996) and Hall of Famer Mike Piazza (1999) as the fifth player in team history with a 40-homer season.
New York lost for the eighth time this season when leading after seven innings. The collapse spoiled a strong home debut by rookie Brandon Sproat, who allowed six hits over six innings, struck out three and walked none.
Texas starter Patrick Corbin allowed an unearned run on six hits in 4 1/3 innings. He struck five, including Starling Marte with the bases loaded to end the first inning, and walked two.
–Field Level Media
