​Texas Rangers’ Evan Carter celebrates hitting a double during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Athletics Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026, in West Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Sara Nevis) (Sara Nevis/AP Photo/Sara Nevis)
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. —  Rangers designated hitter Joc Pederson understands belief. If you don’t buy that, he’ll remind any and all who ask that four months ago, after a dormant start to the regular season which followed the worst season of his career, he reiterated multiple times that corners can be turned. Pederson turned his. He believes his team can do the same. “If you don’t believe in yourself, well, it’s an uphill battle,” Pederson said. “This group has believed this whole year.”The Rangers believe they are a playoff-caliber team, and after a 5-3 win against the Athletics at Sutter Health Park Saturday night, they technically are once again. The win snapped a gruesome four-game losing streak against the worst and second-worst teams in baseball by record this season, and paired with a Detroit Tigers loss, it lifted the Rangers into the third American League Wild Card position. They’ll now need to hold onto it for six more weeks.Saturday’s win provided a road map toward that.They need to execute on the margins:There were glimpses of better offensive decisions and better offensive processes in Saturday’s win. The Rangers have gone first-to-third on singles fewer times than any team league-wide this season, but after left fielder Wyatt Langford hit one in the first inning, shortstop Corey Seager took an extra base for the first time this year. In the fifth inning, after first baseman Jake Burger hit a leadoff double, catcher Austin Wynns advanced him to third base with a sacrifice bunt before second baseman Nicky Lopez drove him in with a single. Schumaker acknowledged that the decision to have Wynns bunt while down three runs was “unconventional,” but because they “needed to get momentum back on our side,” the call was made. The two instances of smart baseball provided the Rangers all of one run — because infielder Ezequiel Duran flew out after Langford’s single in the first and Pederson grounded into a double play after Lopez’s single in the fifth — but both served as a reminder of what an offense must do if it can’t consistently slug its way out of holes. “[It takes] other things that are needed to help manufacture runs,” Schumaker said. “Whether it’s the bunt today, the first-to-thirds, the ball in the dirt reads … it’s the little things like that that you have to be aware of to win baseball games at this level. I don’t care who the opponent is, that has to be a part of our identity, and it’s been lost a little bit in the last week.” 
Wyatt Langford, de los Rangers de Texas, recibe la felicitación de Corey Seager luego de batear un jonrón de dos carreras ante los Atléticos, el sábado 15 de agosto de 2026 (AP Foto/Sara Nevis) (Sara Nevis/AP Photo/Sara Nevis)
They need to play loose:
 
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