HOUSTON -- The first three Rangers hitters to start the game -- Josh Smith, Wyatt Langford and Jake Burger -- struck out swinging in the top of the first inning on Tuesday night at Daikin Park.
In the bottom half of the frame, the Astros went single (Jeremy Peña), double (Carlos Correa) and sac fly (Jose Altuve) to take an early lead against Merrill Kelly and the Rangers.
Those five plate appearances between the two clubs pretty much illustrated exactly how most of the night would go for Texas. With the Rangers starting the pitcher they traded for at the Deadline and the Astros throwing out a bullpen game, the team down South came out on top.
The Rangers put up a fight, scoring four in top of the eighth to pull within one run, but ultimately fell, 6-5, dropping the three-game set and allowing the Astros to pull even, 6-6, in the season series.
“Tremendous fight,” said manager Bruce Bochy. “The winning run was up there in the eighth and ninth. They battled hard. Got off to a rough start there, and they got down five runs, and the bullpen did a great job. They were fighting to get back in it. They did. Just missing that one more hit, obviously. You gotta love how they just kept going.”
The Rangers had the tying run in scoring position and brought the winning run to the plate in each of the final two innings, but -- like Bochy said -- couldn’t deliver the final knock.
In a turn of events, the Rangers' rotation -- which has kept them in most games this season -- stumbled most in the loss.
Kelly turned in his worst start since joining the club, allowing all six runs and failing to record an out in the fourth inning. He had gone 3 1/3 innings or better in every start he's made since May 17, 2022 (2 innings pitched against the Dodgers).
“Just the locations of certain pitches,” Kelly said when asked what went wrong. “Not all of them were bad pitches, but in games like this, that means a lot. You gotta be pretty precise with execution, especially against a team that is working good at-bats.”
Texas’ postseason hopes, which seemed out of the question mere weeks ago, are once again slipping through their fingers by the day.
For two-and-a-half weeks, the Rangers were on life support. Then the the Little Rascals -- the likes of Cody Freeman, Michael Helman, Alejandro Osuna and Dustin Harris carried the injury-riddled ballclub back into contention.
Even Freeman had a solo homer and walk in Tuesday’s loss.
But the collective Linsanity run was bound to come to an end eventually, with the Rangers absorbing their third straight loss on Tuesday. And sure, it’s not mathematically over. But the Rangers now sit 3 1/2 games back from the Astros for the final AL Wild Card spot. They’re 4 1/2 behind the Mariners in the AL West. There are only 10 games left to make up all of that ground.
“Just keep going,” Kelly said, “there's nothing really we can do other than keep going. We obviously know the situation. We know the gravity. It's tough, obviously, losing those first two games here, with it being a direct series for our future. There’s nothing we can do but turn the page and try to get them tomorrow.”
A series sweep in Houston would be yet another blow. And potentially losing the ninth consecutive Silver Boot Series Wednesday would be a dagger to the heart.
The Rangers have shown tremendous resolve at multiple points this season. They’ve bounced back from injuries and skids and everything in between. But time rules all. And they’re running out of it.
“Hopefully that momentum will carry into Wednesday and we get some runs early instead of trying to come from behind,” Bochy said. “That's always big. They're all must-win and you have some catching up to do. That's how we're looking at it.
“This group's done a great job of [bouncing back]. How many times [have] we talked about being resilient? I told them after the game that I love the fight. You were a swing away from taking a lead. You come out here. You gotta put it behind you. Obviously, in our situation, we know what's at stake.”