ARLINGTON, Texas — Cal Quantrill delivered the kind of start the Texas Rangers needed Tuesday night.
Quantrill worked seven scoreless innings, and Texas backed him with timely hitting as the Rangers opened their homestand with a 5-0 victory over the Washington Nationals.
The win moved Texas to 62-64 and, with Baltimore and Detroit both losing, put the Rangers alone in possession of the American League’s third and final wild-card spot.
It was also Texas’ 11th shutout of the season, tied for the fourth-most in the American League.
Quantrill allowed four hits, walked none and struck out five over 91 pitches, throwing 61 for strikes. It was his longest scoreless outing in more than two years, dating to a 7⅔-inning shutout for Colorado against Pittsburgh on May 3, 2024.
After Washington’s C.J. Abrams opened the game with a 103.4-mph ground-rule double, Quantrill settled in. He did not allow another ball to be hit harder than 100 mph and surrendered only three singles the rest of the way.
The right-hander also avoided trouble by working ahead in the count. Only two of the 25 batters he faced reached a three-ball count.
Quantrill has quietly put together one of his best stretches of the season. Over his last five appearances, including four starts, he is 2-1 with a 1.11 ERA, allowing three earned runs over 24⅓ innings while striking out 22.
Texas gave him an early lead.
The Rangers scored in the first inning when Wyatt Langford reached base and eventually came around on Jake Burger’s double-play grounder. It was only the third time in Texas’ last 20 games that the club scored in the opening inning.
Justin Foscue added to the lead in the second, turning on an 0-2 changeup from Washington starter Jackson Kent and sending it into the left-field seats.
The homer ended a career-long 26-game homerless stretch for Foscue and was his first since July 9 against the Los Angeles Angels.
Texas added three more runs in the third.
Cody Freeman delivered a run-scoring single through the infield for his first RBI with the Rangers this season. Foscue then drew a bases-loaded walk, giving Texas a 4-0 advantage.
Freeman reached base three times, also walking in the second inning and singling again in the eighth.
The Rangers received production from the top of their order as well. Langford and Corey Seager each collected two hits, with both players reaching safely in their first two plate appearances.
It marked the fourth time this season that the two most recent Rangers Players of the Year — Seager in 2024 and Langford in 2025 — have each recorded at least two hits in the same game. Texas has won all four.
Langford has now produced two multi-hit games in his last three starts after going 8-for-67 during a 19-game stretch without one. Seager, meanwhile, has 16 hits in 15 games since returning from the injured list July 31.
Brandon Nimmo added two hits and an RBI, giving him a team-leading 40 multi-hit games this season.
For Washington, the loss extended a difficult stretch on the road. The Nationals have now dropped five straight away from home and are 1-11 in their last 12 road games.
Washington was shut out for only the fourth time this season, with all four shutouts coming on the road.
Kent, making only his second major league start, took the loss. He lasted 3⅔ innings, allowing eight hits and five earned runs while walking three and striking out three.
Texas kept the pressure on after Kent departed, but Washington reliever Trevor Williams provided a bright spot. Williams worked 3⅓ scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk while striking out five.
The Rangers, meanwhile, continued a strong run at home. They have won five of their last six, eight of their last 11 and 12 of their last 18 games at home since July 9.
More importantly, Tuesday’s victory came with the Rangers beginning to gain ground in a crowded American League playoff race.
With 38 games remaining, Texas is no longer looking up at the wild-card line.
For at least one night, the Rangers are sitting on it.
