ARLINGTON — Where was Texas Rangers rookie outfielder Wyatt Langford when the Chicago White Sox opted to intentionally walk Corey Seager with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning during Tuesday’s game at Globe Life Field?“I was just kind of hanging out in the dugout,” Langford said.And what happened when the White Sox then decided to intentionally walk Josh Smith, too, to load the bases for the rookie?“Then the [pitch] clock was started,” Langford said with a laugh. “I got my stuff on, threw some pine tar on and when out there and called time.”So, you used your one timeout before a pivotal bases-loaded, extra innings at-bat?“Yeah, I mean, five seconds ago I had no batting gloves on,” Langford said. “I needed to take a breath.”He took a breath. Then he let a crowd of 30,832 exhale. Langford drilled a bases-loaded single to the left-field wall that scored ghost runner Travis Jankowski to give the Rangers a 4-3 win, and to give himself his first career major league walk-off hit. It was the Rangers’ third walk-off win of the season and first since was hit by a pitch to score the game-winning run against the Los Angeles Angels on May 18.It was just the Rangers’ fifth win this season in games that were tied after eight innings. He became the first Rangers rookie to walk off a win since Mark Mathias on Sep. 13, 2022.“He’s got so much confidence,” said Rangers manager Bruce Bochy, who was ejected by home plate umpire Edwin Moscoso in the fifth inning after a foul-tip fiasco. “I’m sure he wants to be the guy up there.”Langford — with Jankowski at third, Seager at second and Smith at first — chased two Steven Wilson sweepers to fall into a two-strike count. He took a ball in the dirt, then drilled a low-in-the-zone sweeper 109.2 mph and 377 feet.He said he didn’t talk the pair of intentional walks as an insult.Quite the opposite. “I appreciate it,” said Langford, who had been in an 0 for 27 drought through Saturday’s game vs. the Baltimore Orioles, but is 4 for 9 since.Langford was the reason Texas even reached extra innings in the first place. The 22-year-old clubbed a John Brebbia slider into right-center field with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning and stretched a would-be-single into a double. He stole an undefended third base,
