HOUSTON -- You always have to feel good with Jacob deGrom coming to the mound in a must-win game. Everybody in the Rangers' clubhouse would have told you so entering Wednesday’s series finale against the Astros.
“They're all must-win,” manager Bruce Bochy said after Tuesday night’s late rally came up short.
In Wednesday’s series finale, deGrom uncharacteristically allowed five runs in five innings as the Rangers fell, 5-2, to the Astros at Daikin Park. By being swept in the three-game set, Texas also dropped the season series, while extending their current losing streak to four games.
The five earned runs match a season high for deGrom, as his ERA rose to 3.01. He has now given up 24 home runs on the season, which would be the second most in his career. (He gave up 28 in 201 1/3 innings in 2017.)
The Rangers, who improbably willed themselves back into contention in late August and early September, now find their postseason chances slipping more and more by the day. Texas is now five games back of the Astros in the AL West and 4 1/2 games back of the final AL Wild Card spot.