Rangers eye .500 mark in series finale vs. Royals

As the Texas Rangers bid to win a fourth straight series, they have another chance to reach the .500 mark.

They can do so Thursday afternoon by completing an already successful season series against the Kansas City Royals.

Though the Rangers expected to be winning at a more consistent rate, they've sat at .500 on 10 occasions this season, but not since May 1 at 16-16. After evening this three-game set against host Kansas City with a 6-4 win in 10 innings on Wednesday, Texas is 33-34 and again in position to even its mark.

"These wins are big; we need to win games like this," said the Rangers' MacKenzie Gore, who allowed two runs over five innings Wednesday.

"I think if we keep winning series, we'll all be happy."

On Wednesday, Jake Burger came off the bench after Joc Pederson left with a reported hip issue and hit a tying homer in the seventh inning and a tying sacrifice fly in the eighth. Ex-Royal Elias Diaz delivered a tie-breaking double in the 10th, and another former Kansas City standout, Nicky Lopez, had two hits with an RBI for Texas.

The Rangers have 31 runs while going 4-1 vs. Kansas City this season, with Lopez 7-for-14 with a homer and four RBIs. Burger, meanwhile, is 6-for-9 in the last three games and 9-for-16 against the Royals for the year.

Through his first 11 starts of 2026, Thursday's scheduled Royals starter, Michael Wacha (4-4, 3.44 ERA), posted a 2.69 ERA. Then, the veteran right-hander faced the Rangers on May 31 and gave up six runs, eight hits and four walks over five innings. Wacha followed that by allowing five runs and eight hits over 5 2/3 innings of Kansas City's 5-3 loss at Minnesota on Friday.

The Royals have lost the last five starts made by Wacha, who said he expects to learn from his most recent outing.

"Just tried to keep attacking with that game plan we had going," he said. "Just stopped executing for whatever reason."

Wacha is 2-4 with a 4.79 ERA in seven career starts against the Rangers.

Meanwhile, scheduled Texas starter Kumar Rocker (2-5, 3.54) has been solid over his last two starts.

That began in his lone career appearance against the Royals on May 30, when he allowed three hits and three walks over six scoreless innings of the Rangers' 7-6 comeback victory. The right-hander followed that by yielding two runs and six hits over five innings of Texas' 3-2 win over Cleveland on Friday.

Kansas City's Jac Caglianone went 1-for-3 against Rocker last month. Caglianone had four hits Wednesday after going 3-for-3 with two homers and a walk during the Royals' 5-3 win in Tuesday's series opener.

Caglianone is 14-for-26 with eight RBIs in his last eight games for the Royals, who are 6-3 in June after losing 16 of 19 to end May.

"(Caglianone's at-bats) have come a long way," Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro said. "His at-bats overall have been really quality."

Texas star Corey Seager went 0-for-5 on Wednesday, dropping his season batting average to .179. However, he's hitting .391 (9-for-23) against Wacha.

--Field Level Media