Langford caps torrid June with 11th cycle in Rangers' history

BALTIMORE -- Riddled by injuries and prolonged slumps, the Rangers offense has been looking for a spark. Wyatt Langford provided one Sunday while also carving out a place for himself in Rangers history.

Langford hit for the 11th cycle in Rangers history in Texas’ 11-2 win over the Orioles at Camden Yards, the rookie slugger pacing the team’s largest offensive eruption in months with a huge night in its nationally televised series finale. Langford tripled in the fourth, doubled in the fifth, singled in the sixth and pelted a three-run homer down the left field line in his final at-bat as Texas snapped its six-game losing streak.

Langford also drove in four runs and scored three more as part of the first cycle in the Majors this season, and Texas’ first since Carlos Gómez on April 29, 2017 against the Angels. Langford is the 10th player in Rangers history to hit for the cycle (Adrian Beltré did it twice). Texas also got two Derek Hill homers and a strong Andrew Heaney start in a badly-needed win as it scored its most runs in a game since May 8.

“In his first year to hit for the cycle, that’s quite a milestone,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “Guys go through their whole careers and don’t get one. We were all pulling for him, and he didn’t miss it, either.”

• Players who have hit for the cycle

The Rangers know they have work to do to climb out of the hole they’ve dug for themselves. Sunday’s win capped a 10-16 June during which they sank to eight games below .500 and eight games back in the American League West. Even with Sunday’s win, they’ve dropped 16 of their last 25 as their AL-best offense from a year ago sagged amid injuries and inconsistency.

In that vein, the beating they gave Cole Irvin and a few O’s relievers to avoid a sweep on Sunday provided signs of optimism, a night after losing Corey Seager to a wrist injury for a still-undetermined amount of time. Hill’s first career multi-homer game gave him three big flies in four games since being recalled in this week’s roster reshuffle, and Nathaniel Lowe (two hits, two RBIs, two runs) chipped in around Langford’s enormous game.

“It’s going to take everybody, but [Langford] makes our offense so much better, no getting around that,” Bochy said. “We need everybody, but the way he’s playing is going to be critical for us to take care of him [physically]. He’s really played great baseball.”

All the offense Sunday was more than enough to back Heaney, who, pitching with unusual run support, racked up 10 strikeouts across seven breezy innings of two-run ball. The outing continued a strong run for Heaney, who has now pitched to a 3.26 ERA over his last 12 starts. But Texas is only 5-7 in those games.

But the star was Langford, who has dealt with his own amount of adversity since propelling himself onto the big league roster this spring, less than a year before he was selected No. 4 overall in last summer’s MLB Draft. He started off slow and then lost most of May due to a hamstring strain. But the 22-year-old has been productive since returning, posting a .910 OPS in June.

“He’s such a good player,” Heaney said. “Since he’s come back he’s been hitting balls really hard. He’s been putting together really good at-bats. He has so many tools to beat you. He can hit for power, he can run, he plays good defense. Seeing him get comfortable and be so good here lately, it’s been fun to see. I’m so happy for him and it’s good for us.”

Langford’s special combination of power and speed was well on display at Oriole Park. His 104 mph triple to the stadium’s pushed back left field wall would’ve been a homer in 22 of 30 ballparks, per Statcast. His homer traveled a Statcast-projected 404 feet -- a homer in all 30 parks. Langford said he was trying to homer in his last at-bat, knowing the milestone at stake.

“I was trying to hit a home run,” Langford said. “[But] in a game like baseball, you never know what’s going to happen.”

Said Bochy: “It looked like he had it on his mind, didn’t he?”

Langford became the eighth player in the last 75 years to cycle within his first 60 career games, and first since Elly De La Cruz on June 23, 2023. He is also the first player in MLB history to have a cycle, a grand slam and an inside-the-park homer in his first 60 career games.

“He’s just an exciting player,” Bochy said. “You love how aggressive he is. No fear on the bases. Of course the speed. Great instincts out there. It’s just fun to watch him.”