ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers worked their way into playing past 162 after a season marked by adversity. With the win on Saturday night, Texas sealed the deal to play in the postseason for the first time since the 2016 season.
The drama of the 2023 season continued into the final game of the season with the American League West title up for grabs. The Mariners were relegated to the role of spoiler, and they were more than happy to render the Rangers’ hopes down to a Wild Card series in Tampa Bay after Seattle took three of four games over the weekend.
- Game 159: Texas 2, Seattle 3 (W: Munoz, 4-7, L: Chapman, 6-5)
- Game 160: Texas 0, Seattle 8 (W: Thornton, 1-2, L: Eovaldi, 12-5)
- Game 161: Texas 6, Seattle 6 (W: Sborz, 6-7, L: Castillo, 14-9)
- Game 162: Texas 0, Seattle 1 (W: Kirby, 13-10, L: Dunning, 12-7, Sv: Campbell, 1)
Three Up
The bullpen giveth – Of all the issues in the 2023 season, the one that stuck with the club year-round, producing some eye-watering and record-breaking stats, was the bullpen. But on Saturday, it was the work of the bullpen that sent the Rangers into the postseason.
Yes, Andrew Heaney put on a cape and carried the first 4 ⅓ innings in an emergency reemergence into the rotation, but the remaining 4 ⅔ innings of one-run ball was shouldered by Josh Sborz, Cody Bradford, and Jose Leclerc against an amped Seattle team – and crowd – with their season on the line.
The four-out save by Leclerc in the playoff clincher on Saturday and one inning of clean ball on Thursday in particular offer a boost of confidence for the longest-tenured Ranger who fell out of the closer role early in the season. As the bullpen looks for anybody to step up and be an anchor, Leclerc’s 1.98 ERA in September might lead him to take that role in October.
Starting pitcher iron man – Two of the starting pitchers that stepped up the most in this series are the two that have remained on the active roster the most for the team. Minus a paternity leave stint for both, Heaney and Dane Dunning were the two members of the rotation that stayed on the active roster all season.
When the Rangers needed them to step up in this series, they did in a big way. Heaney relieved the other outstanding pitcher of this series, Jordan Montgomery, in the opener, throwing one inning of two-strikeout, one-walk, no-run ball on 17 pitches in the opener.
On Saturday, with Jon Gray having just hit the injured list, it was Heaney who stepped up and gave Texas shutout innings to stave off a Mariners team that had all the momentum in the world on their side.
Dunning, meanwhile, made what was supposedly his last start of the season on Wednesday in the finale against the Angels, but again, with the team in need of a starter in a game to clinch the division, the breakout righty stepped up again on three days rest after shutting out the Angels on 87 pitches on Wednesday night.
With the division on the line, Dunning lasted 3 ⅓ innings, leaving with the bases loaded, and the only run on his ledger – and indeed the game itself – was scored on a ground ball out induced by Martin Perez.
In the tournament – All told, the Rangers did just enough in Seattle by winning one game. That was all Texas needed to do to secure their first playoff berth in six seasons. The 6-1 win over Seattle on Saturday night accomplished that feat. Indeed, it was a moment worthy of celebration even if Texas had more disappointment to deliver a day later.
Everyone in the starting lineup except for Josh Jung and Evan Carter recorded a hit in the clincher. Jung and Carter, though, both drew walks and scored a run. That was the kind of production that is representative of the top-to-bottom contributions that characterized the Rangers’ early months of rampant success. It was fitting that this would be the game that gave them their long-awaited postseason berth.
Three Down
The bullpen taketh away – All of the drama that lasted all the way to the end of the season could have been alleviated in the series opener. Montgomery had thrown six glowing innings of one-run ball and the Rangers had taken Logan Gilbert deep for two runs to hold a one-run lead. Both Heaney and Leclerc earned holds by throwing a scoreless innings to set things up for the fireball-throwing Aroldis Chapman.
Chapman had earned a hold in the series finale in Anaheim, throwing just 10 pitches and striking out one. When he came into the ballgame on Thursday night, he didn’t retire a single batter. Chapman gave up two singles, threw a wild pitch, and then loaded the bases with a walk, prompting manager Bruce Bochy to come out and pull the Cuban in favor of Jonathan Hernandez.
Chapman, over the course of this season, had a sub-1.00 ERA in appearances with one or more days rest; with no days rest, Chapman’s ERA is well over 6.00. Hernandez was able to induce two outs in the air, but then JP Crawford doubled over Evan Carter’s head to give the Mariners the walk-off win and Texas more heartburn.
With a whimper – The Mariners had their own starting pitching heroes in the form of Bryan Woo and George Kirby. Woo, whom the Rangers had touched up both other times they faced him this year, took advantage of a wide strike zone by Mark Carlson and held the Rangers’ offense down for 3 ⅔ innings.
The Rangers went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position on Friday as they were kept at bay, leaving 12 men on base. Beyond the two hits the club logged against Woo, they could only put up one more base knock against the Mariners in the eventual 8-0 loss.
Kirby, pitching in a meaningless game for the Mariners, turned in one of his finest performances of the season shutting out the Rangers entirely over six innings, striking out seven and allowing just three hits. Beyond those hits, the Rangers only mustered one more off Seattle’s bullpen in the finale. In both games the Rangers were shut out this series, they managed just seven hits combined.
What could have been – The Rangers are in, but this series was a microcosm of the last couple of months for Texas. There were missed opportunities with men in scoring position. There were injuries to the rotation that spread the pitching staff too thin. There were very winnable games that were blown by questionable bullpen decisions followed by lack of execution by the relievers called upon. And, in the end, the sometimes all-or-nothing offense rolled snake eyes one too many times.
Because of several instances of this in the last two months of the season, and those instances manifesting again in Seattle, the Rangers will be traveling to Tampa Bay to play the Rays on Tuesday in a best-of-three Wild Card series all played in St. Petersburg, putting them at risk of never making it back home to play October baseball in front of their fans at Globe Life Field.
Ultimately, the Rangers improved by 22 wins over last season, which is an incredible year-over-year improvement. That should be celebrated as an achievement after many years of trying to become a competitive ballclub again.
Texas is in the postseason, and while all the efforts of this season are going to come down to a best-of-three series against a dangerous Rays team, the Rangers have all the tools present to go further than one series in the 2023 Postseason. They have one day to shake off the disappointment before making the cross-country trek to Tampa Bay where they will be asked to hit the ground running at Tropicana Field.
Texas Rangers Final Record: 90-72, 2nd in AL West - AL Second Wild Card
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