With 2nd 16-run rout of series, are the Rangers' bats back for good?

MINNEAPOLIS -- Josh Smith fouled off the first pitch of the game, a 91.5 mph four-seamer from Twins starting pitcher Bailey Ober. He took a split second before stepping back into the box.

Then, the Rangers' utility man -- playing shortstop with Corey Seager at DH on Thursday -- launched a changeup over the heart of the plate and sent it 393 feet into the right-field stands. That was just the start of Texas’ offensive downpour to close out a series win in the Twin Cities.

Smith collected just one of the Rangers’ six homers in the club’s 16-3 win over the Twins. Wyatt Langford, Jake Burger, Sam Haggerty, Evan Carter and Adolis García joined him for a season-high six homers in the win. Texas has now won back-to-back series for the first time since May 9-14 at Detroit and against Colorado at home.

The Rangers’ 34 runs over the set were tied for the third most in a three-game series in club history, and Texas' most runs in a three-game series since 2012. After their 16-4 win in the opener, Texas is also the first team to score 16 or more runs in multiple games in a series since the Cubs vs. the Reds on Aug. 1 and 2 in 2023.

“Just a great job and a great bounce back by the fellas,” said manager Bruce Bochy. “I thought it was big for the boys. It made for a decent road trip. Not a good one, we were very close to having a good one. That's a tough one there, but yeah, nice job by the guys.”

The Rangers sent all nine batters to the plate on two separate occasions. All nine Texas starters reached base. Each of the starting nine but Seager -- the best of them -- collected at least one hit, though he did nab a pair of walks. Five guys -- Smith, Langford, Carter, Burger and Josh Jung -- had multiple hits.

Texas batters walked a season-high-tying nine times (April 29 against the Athletics). They recorded double-digit hits for the 17th time this season and double-digit runs for the fifth. They collected a season-high 12 hits with an exit velocity of 100 mph or over.

It looked like a completely new offense on the field.

“We're just trying to do a better job of putting balls in play, and not trying to slug or anything and just keeping things moving as far as the line. We've talked about this. Hopefully we can continue this, and be who we are,” Bochy said.

“That's a team that can put runs on the board. This is a good offense. It's good to score runs like this. This isn't going to happen a lot, but I'm just talking about consistency of getting those four or five runs. For guys to have success like they did here in this series, it should do a lot for them.”

It was a pleasant end to a nine-game, 10-day road trip that began in miserable fashion.

The Rangers opened the trip with a three-game sweep at the hands of the Rays at George M. Steinbrenner Field before taking two of three against the Nationals in Washington, D.C.

Texas then rolled into the Twin Cities with what appeared to be a reinvigorated offense, backed specifically by hot streaks from Carter and Marcus Semien. Over the last six games, in which the Rangers won series against the Nats and Twins, they’ve scored 43 runs, their most over any six-game stretch in 2025.

“I think a big part of that is Evan Carter is getting going,” Smith said. “He's had some really good at-bats the past couple games, and if we get him going, we all know what he's capable of. Semien is swinging it well, too. I don't know, I feel like our at-bats [have] just been a lot better this whole road trip, really.

“I think if [Carter] stays hot and keeps going, he's gonna be that spark plug for us. In my opinion, these past two series, I don't think we do what we did without him. He's been big.”

Texas is now 25-4 when scoring four or more runs this season, as one of the best pitching staffs in baseball has continued to carry them to hang around .500 as best as possible.

Both Smith and Langford said that nothing has tangibly changed in the Rangers’ routines or cage work over the last week. But it’s clear that this could be a turning point for an offense that has scuffled all season long.

If guys keep drawing their walks and making consistent, hard contact, this thing could snowball into something much different than what April and May held for the club.

“It's kind of a cumulative thing of everybody kind of getting hot at the same time,” Smith said. “It's not very good when just one guy's hot here and there. I don't think routine-wise [there's] been anything different, but I do think guys have made some adjustments individually. That's just baseball. Tomorrow's a different day. You have to make an adjustment tomorrow. It’s about making the adjustments, and finally, some are clicking for people.”