The defending World Series Champion Texas Rangers opened their season Thursday night against the Chicago Cubs at Globe Life Field after the Rangers won their first World Series in franchise history last fall. Texas followed their championship banner reveal with bonus baseball and a 4-3 win over the Cubs.

Nathan Eovaldi, who played a pivotal role in the Fall Classic, was the starting pitcher against the Cubs and began the game with 3 straight outs on 9 pitches. Eovaldi finished with 3 strikeouts, 4 hits, 1 walk, and 2 runs allowed on 88 pitches (6 innings).

Josh Sborz came in for Eovaldi at the top of the 7th and struggled through the inning, but struck out Gomes to strand two in scoring position with no damage to the scoreboard. Kirby Yates and Jose Leclerc also suited up and played for the Rangers. David Robertson pitched in extra innings.

The Rangers’ starting lineup consisted of:

1. 2B Marcus Semien [0-4, BB]
2. SS Corey Seager [1-5]
3. 3B Josh Jung [1-3, 2B, 2 BB, R]
4. RF Adolis Garcia [2-4, HR, RBI, BB]
5. DH Wyatt Langford [1-3, RBI, BB] – MLB debut
6. C Jonah Heim [1-5, RBI]
7. SS Ezequiel Duran [1-3, 2B]
   1. Travis Jankowski [1-1, HR, RBI]
8. LF Evan Carter [0-3, BB]
9. CF Leody Taveras [0-3]

The big story was Wyatt Langford’s major league debut. One year ago he was a Florida Gator, now he’s in The Show as a #4 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. Langford’s caught looking and strikes out his first plate appearance, but recorded his first career hit in the bottom of the 6th.

Jung had the first hit for the Rangers season in the fourth inning with 1 out, dropping a double in the right-field corner. Garcia followed that up with a hard-hit single. The rookie Langford came in with the sac fly RBI to bring Jung home and tie the game at 1.

Adolis Garcia rocked the Texas fanbase with a 407-ft homer in the bottom of the 6th, the first of many home runs of the Rangers season.

Travis Jankowski pinch-hit for Duran at the top of the 9th and immediately made an impact with his 11th career home run, tying the game at 3 and forcing extra innings.

In the bottom of the 10th, with two outs, Jonah Heim drives his first hit into centerfield and brings the winning run home. This was the 5th time the Rangers had a walk-off win in team history, the first occurrence in 14 years.

The Cubs started Justin Steele (16-5, 3.06 ERA in 2023) on the mound opening night. Steele struck out the first batter Semien in 6 pitches, Seager with his next 4 throws, before finishing the 1st inning with 24 pitches after walking Jung. Steele exited the game early due to injury in the 5th inning. After throwing Taveres out at first base on a bunt attempt, Steele immediately grabbed his left hamstring and finished with 6 strikeouts, 3 hits, 1 walk, and 1 score on 67 pitches (4.2 innings).

Julian Merryweather took over on short notice and finished the inning’s third out with 9 pitches. Yency Almonte, Mark Leiter Jr., Hector Neris, and Adbert Alzolay also participated in this game. Drew Smyly pitched in extra innings.

The Cubs’ starting lineup for Opening Night was:

1. LF Ian Happ [0-4, BB]
2. RF Seiya Suzuki [1-5, 2B, R]
3. CF Cody Bellinger [1-4, 2B, RBI, BB]
4. DH Christopher Morel [2-5, 3B, R]
5. SS Dansby Swanson [0-3, RBI]
6. 1B Michael Busch [1-2, 2 BB, R]
7. 2B Nico Hoerner [0-2, BB]
8. 3B Nick Madrigal [1-3, 2B]
   1. PH Miles Mastrobuoni [0-1]
9. C Yan Gomes [0-3]
   1. PH Garrett Cooper [0-1]

Morel caused the most trouble for the champion Texas Rangers early. Beginning 2-for-2 with a triple and a run, he was the only Cub to record a hit until Suzuki got a double in the 6th inning.

The Cubs took a 3-2 lead in the top of the 9th after Jonah Heim didn’t field the pitch when Mastrobuoni was at-bat. It was a controversial call where it appeared Mastrobuoni’s bat grazed the ball, which would have resulted in a foul ball. Instead, Busch stole home and the play was not eligible for review.

SCORING:

Top 2nd – Morel hits a triple, Swanson hits a sac fly RBI for Morel to score (CHI 1 – TEX 0).

Bottom 4th – Langford sac fly RBI, Jung scores (CHI 1 – TEX 1).

Top 6th – Bellinger’s single off Duran’s glove, Suzuki scores (CHI 2 – TEX 1).

Bottom 6th – Garcia homers (CHI 2 – TEX 2).

Top 9th – Busch steals home (CHI 3 – TEX 2).

Bottom 9th – Jankowski homers (CHI 3 – TEX 3).

Bottom 10th – Heim singles, Jung scores (CHI 3 – TEX 4).

Thursday night was the first of a three-game series. Here’s what you need to know for this weekend:

Game 1: Rangers win, 4-3 in extra innings on Thursday

Game 2: CHI @ TEX at 7:05 pm ET on Saturday

Projected Cubs starting pitcher: Kyle Hendricks (6-8, 3.74 ERA in 2023)

Projected Rangers starting pitcher: TBA

Game 3: CHI @ TEX at 2:35 pm ET on Easter Sunday

Projected Cubs starting pitcher: Jordan Wicks (4-1, 4.41 ERA in 2023)

Projected Rangers starting pitcher: TBA

1 game down, 161 games to go.