ARLINGTON, Texas — Through 40 games, representing a quarter of the 2023 season, the standings have started to congeal a little and one begins to think about if certain moments in games that happen now might have an impact in four months during a playoff hunt.
That’s where we are with the Texas Rangers. Even with their early success and four-game division lead, and even though they enjoyed a winning road trip with each leg a series victory, two of the three losses looked like they were headed for the win column.
It’s a similar story to how things have gone all year. When the Rangers aren’t dominating, they’re losing games that would seemingly be backbreakers for most teams only for them to bounce back and continue soaring.
- Game 37: Texas 4, Oakland 0 (W: Eovaldi, 5-2, L: Medina, 0-2, Sv: Smith, 7)
- Game 38: Texas 7, Oakland 9 (W: Fujinami, 1-4, L: Burke, 2-1)
- Game 39: Texas 5, Oakland 0 (W: Gray, 3-1, L: Kaprielian, 0-3)
- Game 40: Texas 11, Oakland 3 (W: Hernandez, 1-1, L: Pruitt, 0-1)
Leave it all on the field, not on the table
The second game of the series on Friday night against the Oakland Athletics featured another late-inning loss for the Rangers that came in gut-wrenching fashion. This time, it was the normally reliable Brock Burke who stumbled after the offense missed on multiple chances to put the A’s away.
Burke, who gave up just two runs in all of April, spelled Jonathan Hernandez in the bottom of the 9th inning of a tied game and collected a couple of easy outs. He was then brought out again in the bottom of the 10th, after the Rangers had taken a two-run lead in extras.
Closer Will Smith had been used two days in a row prior so, while his save on Thursday night only required four pitches, it was understandable why manager Bruce Bochy would want to stay away from the lefty for a third consecutive outing.
The problem is, if Bochy is going to do that, he needs to have other arms upon which to rely when Smith is down. Jose Leclerc is still working his way back to being trusted in high leverage situations and Hernandez had already been used. The only other proven winning piece was Burke.
Unfortunately, a passed ball by catcher Jonah Heim started off a sequence of unfortunate events, as two singles and a walk-off Brent Rooker home run later led to Texas experiencing their latest defeat ripped from the jaws of victory.
Bookended by brilliance
For all the grief one could express over the loss in the second game of this four game series, there must be double the amount of praise heaped upon the starters in the other three games. Nathan Eovaldi and Jon Gray in particular clocked in for their shifts ready to dominate, and domination might very well be an understatement for how well they did.
Eovaldi, coming off back-to-back scoreless outings against the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Angels, nearly went the distance again against Oakland. If not for a two-out double and walk with 113 pitches ahead of Rooker, one of the hottest hitters in baseball (as he’d prove the next night), Eovaldi could have enjoyed the second nine-inning complete game shutout of his career with the first coming in the start against New York in April.
As it was, he threw 8 ⅔ innings of scoreless, three-hit baseball, striking out a career-high twelve and walking just one. He extended his consecutive scoreless inning streak to 28 ⅔, the longest this year in MLB, toppling the 28-inning streak held by Arizona’s Zac Gallen. Incidentally, that was a streak that the Rangers were happy to break up back on May 2.
Gray, meanwhile, gave a much-needed performance on Saturday to allow the bullpen to digest another evening of blown saves. The right-handed veteran went eight innings of his own to help Texas rebound.
Over the first 6 ⅔ of those innings, the Athletics recorded no hits and gained only two baserunners via walks. It was Jace Peterson who broke up the no-hit bid in the 7th with a single off a changeup. That marked the longest search for history from the Rangers since Bartolo Colon took a perfect game into the 8th inning against the Houston Astros on April 15, 2018.
With the no-hitter out of reach, and Texas scoring two additional runs in the top of the ninth, Gray found himself done after 95 pitches with another excellent performance on his ledger.
In the finale, Andrew Heaney contributed his second consecutive quality start on the road trip. Although he didn’t come away with the win (another bullpen faux pas), Heaney fared well to allow the Rangers to eventually break through and secure the series victory. Ultimately Heaney went six innings and gave up just one run on two walks and nine strikeouts.
Stepping on the gas
With the grab bag at best at the back end of the bullpen, the offense simply cannot let up. It would appear that they learned that lesson as the bats went for broke in the last couple of innings in Sunday’s finale.
After Heaney exited with the score 3-1 in favor of the Rangers, reliever Hernandez ruined the starter’s potential victory by coughing up a game-tying, two-run home run in the 7th to former Baylor Bear Shea Langeliers.
Texas responded emphatically with an eight-run 8th, however. That fateful frame started with Adolis Garcia doubling to left and was punctuated nine batters later with Garcia punching a grand slam to left to all but secure the series.
Garcia’s second grand slam of the season gave Leclerc ample opportunity to work out some kinks in the 9th; the cut-change specialist retired three on swinging strikes, with just a blooped single sandwiched between.
With the West Coast behind them, the Rangers return home with their biggest lead in the division since 2016 and they should get All-Star shortstop Corey Seager back perhaps as early as Monday when Texas kicks off a three-game series against the National League East leading Atlanta Braves.
Do you think the Rangers can remedy their bullpen in the coming weeks? Share your thoughts with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB