ARLINGTON -- The Rangers have one of the best rotations in baseball. At the conclusion of Wednesday’s 7-1 loss to the A’s, the Texas rotation had a 2.99 ERA (2nd in MLB) and 1.10 WHIP (T-2nd). Entering the day, the rotation also had a 3.31 FIP (2nd in MLB).
With that in mind, things should be going smoothly. Wednesday’s loss was a pure illustration of what so many Rangers losses have looked like this season. The A’s broke it open with a Lawrence Butler grand slam in the top of the ninth inning, but for most of the night, it was close and low scoring on both ends.
Against the A’s, Nathan Eovaldi turned in another superb start, allowing one run in six innings while striking out eight. He lowered the team’s starting pitcher ERA to 2.99, the best for any rotation in franchise history through the first 31 games of a season.
“I think we've been throwing the ball great, right?” Eovaldi said. “But at the end of the day, it comes down to the win-loss record. Our job is to keep us in the game. We can't score the runs, but we can keep us in there as long as possible. I think that's one of the things that we've been doing really well.”
All night long, the offense battled, trying its best to build off the season-high 15 runs it scored during Tuesday’s win. But ultimately, the Texas offense once again squandered opportunity after opportunity, collecting nine hits but going 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
“Our pitching staff has kept us in every ballgame, and they've done a tremendous job,” third baseman Josh Jung said. “Now, as an offense, we need to take some of the pressure off them, because I'm sure pitching in one or two run games every night isn't fun. There's very little room for error. They've been throwing the heck out of the ball. It's all you can ask for. As an offense, it's our job to start building wins. Ultimately, when we get more opportunities with runners in scoring position, we need to produce.”
The rough go on Wednesday comes immediately after the Rangers had season highs in runs (15), hits (18) and walks (9) in Tuesday night’s win.
Manager Bruce Bochy said he’s not worried that progress was lost despite the offense struggling once again. After all, the Rangers had the hits and moved the runners. They just couldn’t get a hit in the right situation and couldn’t make a productive out when needed.
The Rangers haven’t had a home run since a three-homer inning in Sacramento last Thursday. None of the nine hits Wednesday went for extra bases. Bochy said that while slugging is necessary, the team may be chasing it in those RISP situations.
“We're all putting a ton of weight on our backs and trying to do too much, and that leads to the results that we are seeing right now,” Jung reiterated. “Truly, it's just about us taking a deep breath and focusing on winning one pitch at a time. This too shall pass at some point. We've gone through stretches like this in the past. Unfortunately, it’s never really been to start this season. We'll get through this.”
Bochy is just as optimistic.
“The talent is here,” Bochy said. “If you don't have the belief that they will hit, what do you have? I know hope isn’t a strategy, but at the same time, I really think these guys are going to come around. I know some guys are going to hit. We’ve got to hunker down together and have each other's backs for each other and fight through this together.”
Bochy added that he still feels that the Rangers are in a good place collectively as the calendar turns to May.
The pitching staff has continued to dominate during this stretch, and he believes the offense is on the verge of a breakthrough. With a 16-15 record and right in the thick of the AL West race, things could be much worse.
“I try to look at the positives on this as we are a game over .500 despite this offense not hitting on all cylinders,” Bochy said. “That's how I try to look at it, and keep believing that this will happen. Yeah, it's been going on for a while. It could be a lot worse, considering what we're doing offensively.”