Rangers Lineup vs. Padres: Texas Scratches Nathan Eovaldi With Knee Soreness

The Texas Rangers scratched their starting pitcher for the second game of their three-game series with the San Diego Padres.

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi. | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

ARLINGTON, Texas — For once, the Texas Rangers’ lineup doesn’t need much adjusting. But the rotation did.

On Saturday, just before the clubhouse opened, the Rangers informed media at Globe Life Field that starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi had been scratched due to left knee soreness and that MacKenzie Gore would start in his place. Gore was scheduled to start on Sunday. Now, Sunday's starter is TBA.

That means the Padres are likely to adjust their lineup for Saturday's game as they expected to face a right-hander for the second straight game.

As for the Rangers, they will face a right-hander for the second straight game against the San Diego Padres, this time Walker Buehler. But the Rangers’ offense is coming off a 9-7 win over the Padres on Friday night.

How incredible was that offensive output? The Rangers (36-39) scored six runs in the first inning — after San Diego put up five runs in the top of the first — which was one less run than they scored in their three games against the Minnesota Twins earlier this week. By game’s end they had scored two more runs in that game than in the whole Twins series.

The question, of course, is can the Rangers do it again? Here’s the lineup.

Texas Rangers Lineup for June 20, 2026

Texas Rangers designated hitter Joc Pederson. | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

DH Joc Pederson (L)

3B Josh Jung

CF Wyatt Langford

RF Brandon Nimmo (L)

SS Ezequiel Duran

LF Jarred Kelenic (L)

1B Jake Burger

2B Nicky Lopez (L)

C Kyle Higashioka

RHP MacKenzie Gore

For the second straight game the Rangers have a good reason to put designated hitter Joc Pederson at the top of the order, and not just because he's been one of their better hitters for the past month. He’s a good matchup against Buehler. They faced each other plenty in the National League West and Pederson has a .273 lifetime batting average against him with a home run and an RBI.

Brandon Nimmo is the only other Rangers hitter with more than 10 at-bats against Buehler lifetime. He’s batting .182 with two RBI.

Another Rangers batter to watch is Jake Burger. While he is 0-for-3 against Buehler, he’s been productive the last month. Since May 29 he is slashing .303/.382/.485 with two home runs and eight RBI.

The American League West race continues to look tight. The Seattle Mariners (39-38) have the lead, but by only a half-game off over the Athletics (38-38), two games over the Rangers and three games over the Houston Astros (36-41). Where Texas has lost ground is in the wild card race, where it enters Saturday's action 1.5 teams out of the final wild card spot.

Texas is in a stretch of 15 games in 15 days before a scheduled day off on July 2 for a World Cup match at nearby AT&T Stadium. After Sunday, the Rangers hit the road for a 10-game road trip to Miami, Toronto and Cleveland before returning to Globe Life Field to host the Detroit Tigers in a three-game, four-day series that starts on July 2.