ARLINGTON -- Rangers prospect Cody Freeman was sitting at a blackjack table in Las Vegas on Friday morning with his father.
Triple-A Round Rock was playing the Las Vegas Aviators later Friday night and his parents made the trip. Why not have some fun before the game?
“[Round Rock manager] Doug Davis called me, and I didn't answer because I didn't have his number saved,” Freeman said with a nervous laugh. “I declined him right away, because, you know the rule, you can't have phones on the table. Then he texted me, ‘This is Doug,’ so I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ So I left the table. My dad's right next to me, looking at me. I smiled at him and he knew. It was one of those moments I'm gonna remember for the rest of my life.”
Just 12 hours ago, Freeman didn’t know what was in store for him. When he arrived in Arlington, it was the fifth or sixth inning. He obviously wasn’t in the starting lineup. But he showed up just as a pitchers' duel between Patrick Corbin and Reese Olson was turned over to the bullpens.
As the Rangers geared up to open the second half of the 2025 season against the Tigers, fans and media alike circled a Sunday Night Baseball matchup between a pair of aces in Tarik Skubal and Nathan Eovaldi.
But to open the series on Friday, Corbin and Olson put on a show of their own as the Rangers and Tigers entered the eighth inning locked in a scoreless stalemate.
The Rangers entered the eighth with just two hits, a single from Kyle Higashioka and a double from Jonah Heim. Texas was 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position.
Then Corey Seager happened.
With Freeman pinch-running in his MLB debut, the Rangers’ shortstop delivered a two-out, two-run double in the right-center gap in the eighth inning, propelling Texas to a 2-0 win to get back to .500 for the first time since June 15. Seager also extended his on-base streak to 19 games, which is the longest by a Ranger this year.
Freeman took second base after Higashioka doubled with one out. After Josh Smith walked with two out, Seager drove them both home. According to Stathead, Freeman is just the second Ranger in the last 11 seasons (since 2015) to make his MLB debut as a pinch-runner.
“Anyway to get in, it’s a blessing man,” Freeman said. “You just don't know when you're getting called and Higgy right here, the man gets us going with the double. I got on second base, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ No words. It wouldn't have happened without Higgy right there. … I'm so stoked to be here and contribute to this team in any way.”
Friday’s win was the exact kind of game that the Rangers lost time after time in the first half -- a flawless starting pitching performance, a bullpen shutdown and the offense sputtering in the final innings.
Instead, Seager came up with the big hit the Rangers were missing in so many close games early on.
“I think it's just always nice to win the first one out of the break, especially a game like this,” Seager said. “Both offenses struggled, both pitching staffs threw well. To be able to come out on top of that one is huge. We just wanna keep winning games and keep winning series.”
It’s hard to overstate how important getting on a hot streak could be for the Rangers. With just two and a half weeks to go until the Trade Deadline, everybody is eager to prove that they’re right in the thick of the competition atop the American League.
Friday’s win is what they hope is the start of that all-important hot streak.
“It's huge to get started on the right foot,” Higashioka said. “We don't have a lot of season left. It's kind of make or break, especially if we want to be in contention and not have this team dismantled. We need to show that we're capable of playing well. … You have to show the front office that you're a good team. We've had our moments, but we haven't really put together that consistency that we need yet. Hopefully that's coming right now, soon.”