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Wyatt Langford hits game-winning RBI, leading Texas Rangers over Chicago White Sox

IMG_0985by:Griffin McVeigh•07/22/24•

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Mar 18, 2024; Surprise, Arizona, USA; Texas Rangers outfielder Wyatt Langford against the Seattle Mariners during a spring training baseball game at Surprise Stadium. Mandatory © Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

It’s do-or-die time for the Texas Rangers, needing to stack wins ahead of the MLB trade deadline. And with the poor Chicago White Sox in town, a great opportunity was ahead of them. Monday was the first of four games and despite some end-game nerves, Wyatt Langford made sure to send people home from Globe Life Field with a smile on their face.

Langford secured his first walk-off hit as a Major Leaguer, something he called the biggest hit of his young career. Tied at three in the bottom of the 10th inning, Langford hit one off the left field wall, driving in Travis Jankowski for the winning run.

The game-tying run in the ninth inning was also scored by Langford after an RBI single from Jonah Heim. When Texas needed Langford the most, he came through in the clutch. A huge win for the Rangers to get a massive series started the right way.

You can check out the full moment from Globe Life Field here.

Chicago decided they wanted to pitch to Langford with two outs. The two guys in front of the Rangers rookie were intentionally walked, both being left-handed. From being in the hole to quickly being up to bat, Langford did not feel too rushed and was ready for the moment.

“I knew they were going to walk Corey (Seager),” Langford said during a postgame interview on Bally Sports Southwest. “And then they walked Josh (Smith) and I was like ‘Oh crap, I got to hurry.’ I was ready to go, it was good.”

Steven Wilson had shown a great sequence of off-speed pitches to Marcus Semien in a prior at-bat and had early success against Langford, working a two-strike count. But one thrown at the bottom of the zone, just hitting the inside corner, was too much to leave Langford and the Rangers got to enjoy a walk-off win.

Texas now finds itself four games under .500 but entered the day just 5.0 games back in the American League West. Houston currently leads the division after winning a series against Seattle out of the All-Star break, being one game up on the Mariners.

If a push was going to come from the defending World Series champions, taking games from the White Sox was going to be a requirement. Nearly walking out of the building with a devastating loss, Langford picked a pretty good time to earn his first-ever walk-off hit.