Rangers' margin for error shrinks after latest tight loss to Royals

KANSAS CITY -- When the Rangers arrived in Kansas City on Sunday night, they knew how big of a week it was -- four games at Kauffman Stadium and then another three at home against the Guardians, two of the three teams ahead of them in the chase for the final American League Wild Card spot.

“I think we need to play like our backs are up against the wall, because it's kind of where we are,” president of baseball operations Chris Young said on Monday. “I think everybody knows what's at stake. I think everybody knows what we're playing for, and what the expectations have been for this team.

“But the reality is that you can throw expectations out the window at this point. It's about going out and fighting and taking it, and I’m looking forward to seeing how our team responds with this opportunity.”

Their backs certainly are up against the wall. But now, the Rangers have lost a pair of close games to the Royals to open the four-game set, continuing their slide down the American League standings.

On Tuesday -- just hours after Young announced that they would be skipping Jacob deGrom’s start the following day due to shoulder fatigue -- the Rangers fell, 5-2, to the Royals despite a quality start from Merrill Kelly on the mound.

“It was a one-run ballgame until the eighth there,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “But [scoring] two runs is tough. It's tough with just four hits. It's tough losing late. When you're battling a good pitcher, you gotta play perfect ball. Not that we really made any mistakes, but we couldn't find some runs on the board to help win this one.

“I don't know if it's stress. These guys are used to pitching close ballgames. But when you don’t have a bigger margin of error, you saw what happened. It's tough when you continue to sit on two or three runs for the most part.”

The Rangers have now lost 15 of their past 21 games since their season-high-tying six-game win streak from July 21-27, and are six games back in the Wild Card standings with 35 games remaining. They’re three games under .500 for the first time since the end of play on July 9 (45-48).

Kelley threw six innings in a very efficient 71 pitches. He only allowed two baserunners, but both were solo homers from Vinnie Pasquantino and Mike Yastrzemski. He exited with the game tied, 2-2, due to right hamstring cramping that he said he’s dealt with for most of his big league career.

Rookie reliever Cole Winn surrendered the deciding runs when he inherited a bases-loaded jam from Hoby Milner in the seventh inning. He hit Jonathan India, the first batter he faced, but got out of the jam with minimal damage thanks to a strikeout and a double play, before Royals superstar Bobby Witt Jr. blew the game open with a two-run homer in the eighth.

This game only emphasized just how thin the margin of error is for the entire team right now.

“I think all of us have an understanding of what our job is,” Winn said. “Our job is [to] go out there and get three outs, regardless of the situation that we're in. Whether there's anybody on base or not. I think obviously where our team's at right now, I think there's a little feeling of everything being more important, but at the end of the day, it is still just getting [outs].”

It’s not over. Not mathematically, at least. But things are getting more and more out of reach for Texas as the days go by.

“When I was a player, I loved the challenge and I loved the opportunity to prove people wrong,” Young said. “I think we have that opportunity in front of us. We have not played our best baseball. I do not believe we have played our best baseball this season. If we can play our best baseball for the next 38 games, there's a great reward for that, but we have to go make it happen.”