This story was excerpted from Kennedi Landry’s Rangers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
ARLINGTON -- The last time Tyler Mahle took the mound for the Rangers on June 10, they were four games under .500 and floating aimlessly throughout the American League postseason picture.
Since then, the Rangers have gone through a bigger roller coaster than anybody could’ve expected. They’ve fallen to as many as six games under .500, they’ve rallied back to buy at the Trade Deadline, they struggled once again to six games under before a recent winning streak got them to just two games back of the lead in the AL West.
But again, after a three-game sweep at the hands of the Astros in Houston this week, the Rangers could not afford to lose any more games if they want to keep their postseason hopes alive.
After watching most of the season from the sidelines, Mahle took the mound on Friday at Globe Life Field looking to do enough to put Texas in a position to win. At the very least, he did his job. The right-hander tossed 4 2/3 scoreless innings against the Marlins and left with the Rangers in the lead.
Texas ultimately lost its fifth game in a row after the bullpen stumbled late, first when Robert Garcia surrendered a game-tying, pinch-hit, solo homer to Javier Sanoja in the seventh inning and again when Hoby Milner and Patrick Corbin combined to allow five runs (three earned) in extra innings.
“I wanted to put myself in a position to be able to pitch in the postseason, so that was the main focus…” Mahle began.
“Or is the main focus,” he corrected himself to present tense. “To go off into the offseason healthy is big, even though it might only be two starts, but hopefully somehow we can get this into the playoffs and I can pitch some more.”
Mahle, who turns 31 on Sept. 29, missed the Rangers’ previous 85 games with right shoulder fatigue. The right-hander made three rehab starts with Triple-A Round Rock, allowing five earned runs in 7 1/3 innings. The last 6 1/3 frames he threw were scoreless.
He was on track for an electric 2025 before he landed on the injured list, posting a 2.34 ERA in 14 starts. He practically picked up where he left off in Friday’s loss, lowering his ERA to 2.20 on the year.
Mahle at Globe Life Field this season has posted a 0.74 ERA in nine starts across 48 2/3 innings, marking the lowest ERA over a Washington/Texas pitcher’s first nine home starts of a season in franchise history, just ahead of Rick Honeycutt’s 0.98 mark in 1983. He still has yet to permit a home run at Globe Life Field this season -- and likely won’t pitch again in Arlington before the homestand is up -- with his 48 2/3 homerless innings at home in 2025 representing the most in baseball.
“I felt really good,” Mahle said. “I felt like I never missed a step from where I left off. I just made pitches and had good defense behind me. Just making pitches. Focus on making pitches.”
Mahle signed a two-year deal with the Rangers entering the 2024 season amid his rehab from Tommy John surgery. But he has only made 18 starts over the past two years, posting a 2.58 ERA in 94 1/3 innings over that time.