MLB News

Home

Teams

Quizzes

Watch

Newsletter

Jim Cowsert-Imagn Images

Rangers Pass Test With Flying Colors Against MLB's Best Brewers

Originally posted on Texas Rangers on SI
By Maddy Dickens | Last updated Sep 10, 2025 8:30 PM ET

The Texas Rangers entered their set against the Milwaukee Brewers needing to come away with a result. Despite the uphill battle they are facing in the playoff race, they have clawed their way back into contention.

This season, especially the last two months, it has been the Brewers who have done the sweeping,. Milwaukee hadn't been swept since their first series of the season against the New York Yankees. But the Rangers turned the tables on their National League opponents, outscoring them 16-7 which included a shutout in Game 1.

This series was a huge test for Texas and they passed with flying colors. Entering Wednesday 2.5 games behind the first-place Houston Astros, the Rangers were only one game out of the final Wild Card spot.

Facing off against the No.1 team in baseball wasn't the ideal situation to help Texas' playoff standing, but they responded in a major way like they have done for the last few weekd. The Rangers are now 14-4 since Aug. 22 with series sweeps over the Athletics. Cleveland Guardians and now the Brewers.

Pitching and Offense Combine for Incredible Showing

29-year-old Jacob Latz has been primarily used out of the bullpen this season. But that changed when Nathan Eovaldi was placed on the injured list. His last three outings have been starts, and that included the first game against Milwaukee that got things rolling for Texas. Latz went nearly 5.2 innings with more strikeouts (four) than hits allowed (three) as the team went on to win 5-0.

Jack Leiter struggled a bit in Game 2, but he did enough to keep the Rangers in it, allowing the offense to scrape across enough runs with a surge in the bottom of the fifth inning to win the game. That also coincided with a strong showing from the bullpen, something that has been lacking during their struggles following the trade deadline.

The pitching staff wasn't the only bright light during this three-game stretch, as the offense also came up with timely hits to secure this series sweep. Someone who was unheralded is now very much known.

Michael Helman had two homers and seven RBI in only nine at-bats against the Brewers. One of those home runs came in the fifth inning of the first game, which wasn't just a homer, but was a grand slam to put his team on the board.

Michael Helman in 14 games since being recalled:

.275/.341/.675 (11-40 AB)
7 XBH
13 RBI
5 HR

Brewers manager, Pat Murphy, joked “this kid… we’re gonna intentionally walk him four times today.”

pic.twitter.com/qYu77dZkbg
— Abby Jones (@_abigaiiiil) September 10, 2025

It was also great to see Jake Burger starting to look like the offensive weapon that the team needs him to be going forward, especially if they make it to October. Since returning from the injured list on Sept. 1 he has been great with a slash line of .269/.321/.731 in his last seven games. That included a monster showing in the finale with the Brewers where Burger had a pair of homers that went over 420 feet.

Texas is on fire right now and the AL West is up for grabs. They have an off day before starting a road trip against the New York Mets before facing the Astros in what will be a massive set for the Rangers' division and playoff chances.

There isn't anybody who could have predicted the team could get back into this playoff fight after all the stars that went down in a short period, but here they are.