ARLINGTON -- Jonah Heim delivered the fifth walk-off hit of his career on Sunday at Globe Life Field, but the talk of the clubhouse postgame was of his stolen base in the seventh inning after reaching via an error.
¡°Oh my gosh, that was so random,¡± utilityman Josh Smith joked. ¡°I didn't know what he was doing, but he got a good jump, so good for him. That was a really heads up play.¡±
Texas notched four stolen bases in the 4-3 walk-off win over the Rays, marking its highest total of the season and the club¡¯s most since June 9, 2024, against the Giants (also four). The Rangers have three or more stolen bases in three straight games, tied for their longest streak in franchise history (beginning 1961). They are a perfect 14-for-14 on stolen-base attempts this season.
First base coach Corey Ragsdale and the coaching staff made aggressiveness on the basepaths an emphasis this spring, and that proved to be the difference in Sunday¡¯s win, which secured Texas¡¯ first sweep of 2025.
Heim¡¯s stolen base was his first since April 15, 2024, at Detroit. He¡¯s 9-for-11 in his career on stolen-base attempts.
¡°Stealing bases doesn't happen very often for me,¡± Heim said. ¡°Good coaching by [Ragsdale] there, giving me a good tip. Anytime you can steal 90 feet is going to be huge. We've been doing a tremendous job on the basepaths early in the year. That's been a big emphasis coming in the year, just taking the extra 90 feet, putting pressure on defenses. If we can do that, we're gonna be pretty good.¡±
The Rangers have done just enough to win each time out this year, including taking the extra bases when they can.
That was never more true than Sunday afternoon, when Smith scored from second base on Heim's ninth-inning single. Heim and Smith -- the Rangers¡¯ seven- and eight-hole hitters -- combined for five of the Rangers' seven hits in the win, as well as three of the four runs scored.
¡°Obviously in a perfect world, one through nine would be good all year,¡± Smith said. ¡°We just know that's not going to happen. Right now, we're picking some of the guys up in the top of the order. We know later in the year, they'll pick us up. That's our job back there, to turn it over to them. If things aren't going their way, we can grind at-bats and just keep the line moving.¡±
Each of Texas¡¯ eight wins on the season have been decided by three runs or fewer.
Manager Bruce Bochy admitted that the offense isn¡¯t quite clicking just yet. Their six runs on Saturday were a season high, and the team OPS of .610 ranks 26th in baseball.
But the pitching staff has continuously kept the Rangers in games with a 2.93 ERA, which is the best in the American League.
Like Kumar Rocker on Sunday, the Rangers' starting pitching has consistently kept them in games throughout the young season, giving way for the offense to strike at the perfect time, even if it¡¯s not yet perfect.
¡°We're not quite clicking,¡± Bochy said. ¡°We're getting some big hits, some timely hits. That's what it takes. The whole lineup has got to do something, hopefully, to help us win a ballgame. We're doing that. We're not scoring a lot of runs, but we're pitching well, we're playing good defense, we're running the base as well. We¡¯re just doing a lot of little things well, right now.¡±