Rangers 11, White Sox 2: Seager, Burger, and Rocker Take the West Lead

First place, built one crooked number at a time

August 24, 2026 - Chicago - The Texas Rangers scored in five of their first six innings and left Rate Field with a season-high 11 runs.

Corey Seager finished with three hits and three RBI. Jake Burger and Wyatt Langford went deep. Final: Rangers 11, Chicago White Sox 2. Texas (66-66) moved a half-game ahead of idle Houston and into sole possession of first in the AL West for the first time since July 30.

That is not a quiet Monday on the South Side. That is a club claiming the division board with 14 hits against the AL Central leaders.

Pederson's early exit, then Seager's answers

Joc Pederson walked to open the game and scored on Ezequiel Duran's groundout. Evan Carter doubled home another run for 2-0. Brandon Nimmo robbed Andrew Benintendi of a two-run shot in the bottom half to keep the cushion intact.

Duran's bases-loaded infield hit made it 3-0 in the second. Pederson was ejected from the dugout after striking out looking to start the inning, stuck in an 0-for-24 slide. Tristan Peters answered with a two-out, two-run homer off Kumar Rocker, his third straight game with a long ball. 3-2.

Seager settled it. A two-out double in the third drove in two for 5-2. Burger led off the fifth with his 22nd homer. Justin Foscue, in for Pederson, doubled, and Seager doubled again. 7-2. Burger's RBI double in the sixth, a wild pitch in the eighth, and Langford's two-run shot in the ninth (his 15th) finished a 11-2 night.

Rocker worked around traffic and finished with eight punchouts

Rocker (5-10) went 5 2/3, five hits, two runs, eight strikeouts, three walks. He stranded a bases-loaded jam in the third. Robby Ahlstrom retired all four batters he faced. Jordan Montgomery threw two perfect innings.

José Urquidy (2-2) lasted three innings, five runs, six hits, four walks. Chicago managed five hits as a club. Texas outhit them 14-5 and never let Peters' second-inning answer turn into a real comeback.

AthX Engine liked the middle of the order and the starter

AthX Engine put Texas at 23 team fantasy points, second only to Washington on Monday's board. Seager, Burger, and Langford each scored 10 hitting fantasy points. Rocker scored 11.66 pitching fantasy points. Fantasy points measure production. Share price is a separate market number.

What's next

Jacob deGrom starts Tuesday opposite Anthony Kay. A first-place night in August still needs the next start. The Rangers just reminded the West that 11 runs travel.

Marketplace

*Sources: ESPN recap, ESPN box score, MLB schedule, AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*