Danny Jansen, Jake Burger make Midwesterner magic in Rangers' chaotic comeback vs. Arizona

Texas Rangers catcher Danny Jansen (9) points to the dugout as he hit a game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Globe Life Field in Arlington, May 12, 2026. The Rangers won 6-5 with the walk-off. (Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News) ARLINGTON — This is what rises in the elated fracas of a clubhouse that'd just celebrated a walk-off win , one in which one Midwesterner played hero, another set him up and the affable personalities of the two mesh underneath the glow of a well-earned victory.

"I mean, he worked at Culver’s, for Christ’s sake," Rangers first baseman Jake Burger , a St. Louis native, said. "That’s as Midwest as it gets.

” Catcher Danny Jansen, an Appleton, Wis. , native, confirmed the report with a chuckle and acknowledged that "[Burger] told me I was going to get asked about that. " Texas Rangers Ezequiel Duran (left), Jake Burger (21) and Josh Jung (6) mob Danny Jansen (9) after Jansen hit a walk-off single to win the game in the bottom of the ninth inning at Globe Life Field in Arlington, May 12, 2026.

The Rangers won 6-5 over the Arizona Diamondbacks. (Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News) Jansen did work at Culver's, a Midwest fast food stable, for two months in high school. His father hooked him up with the gig because the owner of the golf course he frequented also owned a handful of franchises, and in his short stint at a location nearby his house, he operated as the restaurant version of a utility player.