Texas Rangers' Pitching Staff Makes Franchise History with Another Shutout vs. Reds

The Rangers, not known for their pitching, got back-to-back 1-0 victories in the Queen City.

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jack Leiter (35) prepares to pitch in the second inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on April 2. / Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

The Texas Rangers defeated the Cincinnati Reds 1-0 on Wednesday afternoon, marking the second straight game in which the Rangers won by that score.

After Nathan Eovaldi threw a complete-game shutout on Tuesday, Jack Leiter and four relievers combined for the shutout on Wednesday. Leiter, one of the top prospects in baseball, went 5.0 innings, giving up just one hit. He walked none and struck out six.

The Rangers victory also made some never-before-seen franchise history.

Per the Rangers PR team on social media:

The Rangers' victories on Tuesday and Wednesday in Cincinnati marked the first back-to-back 1-0 wins in Washington/Texas franchise history (beg. 1961). Since the start of 2019, the only other MLB club with consecutive 1-0 wins was the 2023 Brewers (7/9-14/23)...

Heading into the season, the Rangers pitching was supposed to be a question mark because of the departure of Max Scherzer and the injury to Jon Gray, but Leiter and Eovaldi have stepped up, and Jacob deGrom looked solid in his first start of the season.

The Rangers are 5-2 after the win while the Reds are now 2-4. Texas finished third in the American League West last season and missed the playoffs, but with a healthy deGrom, several pundits think they can win the division this year.

The Rangers will be off on Thursday before returning home to Globe Life Field on Friday night. They'll take on the Tampa Bay Rays with first pitch coming at 8:05 p.m. ET.

Tyler Mahle will start for Texas while Zack Littell pitches for Tampa Bay.

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