Travis Jankowski saved the game for the Rangers with a leaping catch to rob Andrew Vaughn of a home run in the ninth inning, leading Texas to a 4-3 win over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday night. This victory was the Rangers’ second win of the day against the worst team in the majors.
Corey Seager had four hits, including a go-ahead single in the ninth inning, helping Texas improve to 6-0 against Chicago this season. Seager also had an RBI single earlier as the Rangers defeated the White Sox 3-1 in an earlier game that had been paused after just four pitches on Tuesday.
The White Sox (31-103) are on a six-game losing streak and have lost 10 of their last 11 games. They are 4-32 since the All-Star break, moving closer to their franchise record of 106 losses set in 1970.
Wyatt Langford hit a three-run home run in the second game for Texas (62-71). José Ureña (5-8) pitched four scoreless innings in relief of Jack Leiter, and Grant Anderson recorded his first career save.
With runners on first and second, Vaughn hit a deep drive off Andrew Chafin. Jankowski, who had replaced Langford in left field, tracked the ball and made an impressive catch by jumping up and reaching over the wall.
“It was high. You know the hang time was perfect,” Jankowski said. “If it was a foot further, it might have been out of my reach. So everything aligned perfectly.”
Jankowski mentioned that Chafin gave him a big hug and offered to buy him a steak dinner.
“I said, ‘No, man. Your friendship and the hug are good enough,’” Jankowski said with a smile.
After Gavin Sheets walked to load the bases, Anderson took over from Chafin and got the final out by retiring Lenyn Sosa on a fly ball to center.
After another tough loss, Vaughn praised Jankowski for his catch.
“It’s probably one of the best catches you’ll see in a long time,” Vaughn said. “Got to hand it to him.”
Seager scored the game-winning run with a bloop single in the top of the ninth against Justin Anderson (1-1).
In the first game, Marcus Semien hit a go-ahead RBI double for Texas in the seventh inning. Matt Festa (2-1) got three outs for the win, and Kirby Yates closed out the ninth for his 24th save in 25 chances.
Langford gave Texas a 3-2 lead in the second game with his eighth homer, a 409-foot shot to left-center off Sammy Peralta in the fourth inning. Chicago mishandled ground balls by Nathaniel Lowe and Josh Jung before Langford’s home run.
Sosa, who was involved in the defensive issues for the White Sox, hit a tying single in the fifth inning but was called for batter interference with two outs and two runners on in the seventh, which ended the inning. He was also checked by an athletic trainer after being hit by a throw to second base ahead of the eighth inning.
“That’s a tough game to lose,” interim manager Grady Sizemore said about the second game. “We played well, did everything right. They got some key hits when they needed them and stole one from us at a good time.”
Semien was at the plate and Garrett Crochet was pitching when a storm caused a delay on Tuesday night. The game was eventually suspended due to persistent rain.
When the game resumed on Wednesday afternoon with a small crowd, Semien had a 2-2 count and Chris Flexen (2-13) was the pitcher. Semien ended up drawing a leadoff walk.
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy mentioned that he had to adjust his comments because the few fans could hear everything clearly.
“You know you have to tone down your comments, though, because you know everybody can hear them,” Bochy said with a grin.
Flexen gave up three runs and nine hits in 6 1/3 innings. He fell to 0-10 in his last 20 appearances. “Just didn’t execute at the end,” Flexen said.
