Mahle solid in return from IL, but Rangers fall in 12th as postseason hopes dwindle

ARLINGTON -- Tyler Mahle returned to the mound for the first time since June 10 on Friday night. In what was ultimately a Rangers’ 6-4 extra-innings loss to the Marlins, Mahle did his job, tossing 4 2/3 scoreless innings before turning it over to the bullpen.

“I wanted to put myself in a position to be able to pitch in the postseason, so that was the main focus…” Mahle began.

“Or is the main focus,” he corrected himself to present tense. “To go off into the offseason healthy is big, even though it might only be two starts, but hopefully somehow we can get to this into the playoffs and I can pitch some more.”

And that’s really the story of the day. Sure, the Rangers fell to the Marlins to open the three-game set in Arlington. But more importantly, they extended their losing streak to five games, and their postseason dreams keep getting pushed further and further in the rearview mirror, no matter how much they wish it was all right in front of them.

With the loss, the Rangers fell behind the Astros by five games for the third American League Wild Card spot. They also trail the Guardians by 3 1/2 games.

“Tonight was a huge bummer,” Mahle said. “But I mean, all we can focus on is winning each game. Just one at a time, and whatever happens outside of here, obviously we can't control, so let's just try to win one at a time.”

“Bummer” was felt by many of the fans as well. Globe Life Field was silent for much of Friday night. A lack of offense does that.

While Mahle dealt 4 2/3 scoreless innings, Marlins starter Janson Junk dominated the Texas offense with seven innings of one-run ball. And even though the Rangers led for awhile, they were never able to extend the lead by more than one run.

The Rangers ultimately used a season-high nine pitchers in the loss, including starters like Jacob Latz and Patrick Corbin, but the offense was never able to get much of anything going.

As the game reached extra innings, the Rangers’ 16th such affair this season, the energy gradually built up, even as fans filtered out when the game neared its 12th inning. That same energy went out with a whimper, as Adolis García softly grounded out for the final out of the evening.

The final out capped off what was mostly an uninspiring night of baseball in Arlington, save for Rowdy Tellez’s game-tying, pinch-hit, two-out, two-run homer in the 10th inning. That homer was the only hit the Rangers collected in extra innings, as well as just the fourth of the day.

“No doubt a tough one to lose, especially when you get a home run like that from Tellez,” said manager Bruce Bochy. “Their pitching did a job on us offensively. We just didn't get much going and didn’t get the big hit. We didn’t execute there in extra innings. The bats were quiet. Pitching did a great job. Terrific job. It just got away from us there at the end.”

The week’s frustration boiled over for Josh Smith in the bottom of the sixth inning, when he softly grounded out for the second out of the frame, and chucked his helmet into the tunnel behind the Rangers dugout.

Smith was 0-for-3 on the day, though he is far from the only Ranger to struggle in the loss. Texas recorded just four hits, marking the club's 28th game of four-or-fewer knocks in 2025, which is the most in MLB this season and is the second most for the Rangers since moving to Texas in 1972.

“I haven't really done a whole lot on the offensive side to help us out here lately,” Smith said. “It was just some built-up frustration, I just kind of took it out. Just frustrated with myself, and then also, I guess, with us as well. But I feel like if I'm getting on base, getting hits, it gives us a better opportunity to win.”

With eight games left to play this season, the Rangers are always going to say they should only focus on what they can control. But they’ll need more than a little bit of help from other AL teams to sneak into the postseason.

Regardless, they need to show up and try to win each of the final eight games. There’s no other way to face it.

“You play the game,” Bochy said. “You come out here, no matter what happens. We all have a job to do, and it's to come out and play hard for nine innings. That's what we'll do. You don't know what can happen. It certainly was a tough one. But you know, we'll come out ready to go tomorrow.”