ARLINGTON, Texas — Coming back home after a 4-2 road trip on the West Coast, the Rangers were going into the series against the Los Angeles Angels defending a six-game home winning streak. The Angels, meanwhile, who had not been playing like a team that declared themselves playoff contenders at the trade deadline, were hanging onto slim odds in the division and wild card races.
The Rangers had an opportunity to put the final nails in the coffin on the Angels’ season while hoping to keep the likely MVP-winner Shohei Ohtani quiet.
- Game 119: Los Angeles 0, Texas 12 (W: Scherzer, 12-4, L: Sandoval, 6-9)
- Game 120: Los Angeles 3, Texas 7 (W: Montgomery, 8-10, L: Giolito, 7-9)
- Game 121: Los Angeles 2, Texas 0 (W: Detmers, 3-9, L: Gray, 8-6, Sv: Estevez, 26)
Three Up
The unstoppable Corey Seager – Even with Ohtani existing and being exceptional on both sides of the ball, one has got to believe that if Corey Seager had been healthy for the entire year, he would be in serious MVP contention. Even with the injuries that cost him more than a month of action, Seager’s contributions and production this season have surely garnered him some votes in that area.
In fact, if you compared Ohtani and Seager right now, and eliminated the fact that Seager’s had two IL stints, Seager’s slash line (.350/.410/.666) is better than Ohtani’s (.302/.405/.657). In this series, Seager went 4-for-11 with two homers, two walks and five RBI. In his last 67 games, he’s registered 69 RBI. He’s been truly unbelievable when he’s been on the field.
No-tani – While the Rangers didn’t get to face Ohtani the pitcher as his start was skipped due to arm fatigue, they did have to contend with Ohtani the hitter in each game of the series. Over the three games, Max Scherzer, Jordan Montgomery, Jon Gray and the Rangers’ pitching staff held the phenom to four hits. Three of those hits came in the finale, and two of those were of the infield single variety where Ohtani showed off another aspect of what makes him the likely MVP, excellent speed.
Unfortunately for Gray, Ohtani’s other hit in the finale was his 42nd home run of the season, a 1st inning solo shot that proved to be the difference maker on Wednesday, but the feared lefty was held in check for the majority of the series.
The anticipated face-off between Scherzer and Ohtani resulted in two Ks for Shohei. The next night, Montgomery allowed one infield single to Ohtani, totalling three during the series, and nothing more. Holding Ohtani in check was a huge reason for why Texas was able to win the series.
Corey’s Corner – On the shoulders of Rangers Nation founder, 20-year old Jake Dupre, there was unprecedented crowd noise in Globe Life Field on Tuesday night. Citing inspiration from the fraternity crowd that was in house a couple of weeks ago, Dupre and a bunch of his followers bought out section 133 and brought the kind of crowd life to Arlington that is normally reserved for Yankee Stadium, Camden Yards, or even Oracle Park during a Dodgers series.
Between a New York style Roll Call at the start of the game and chants of “Come to Texas” whenever Ohtani, the impending free agent, came to bat, Globe Life Field felt like a true Baseball Town. Going down the stretch, the Rangers, who own an MLB-best 42-21 record at home, are hoping the spirit of section 133 takes hold to give them a noise-related home field advantage.
Three Down
Faulty finale – In 2023, the Rangers have lost seven total final games after winning the first two in the series. The loss to the Angels on Wednesday night marks a third of these instances in a row – Oakland, San Francisco, and now Los Angeles.
In this particular game, Jon Gray did his part, throwing seven innings of one-run ball. The offense, in each of those game three losses, has scored 2 or fewer runs. In being shut out by the Angels, Texas has also been shut out in two of those game threes.
Taveras’ trials taking a toll – With the rise of rookie J.P. Martinez, Leody Taveras’ offensive struggles stand out a little more severely. Baseball, especially baseball in a tight playoff race, is a “What have you done for me lately” sport. Lately, Leody Taveras has been hurting at the plate.
In the month of August, Taveras is slashing .170/.182/.283. Even though he went 2-for-4 in the series opener, Taveras was the last man at the plate with the tying runs on base in the finale which produced a game-ending strikeout with Marcus Semien waiting on deck.
Whether Taveras just isn’t making the adjustments based off of the adjustments the league is making off of him or if playing every day in the majors for the first time has taken a toll physically, Taveras has quickly developed into the black hole in the offense that Texas hasn’t had for most of the season.
Meanwhile, Martinez has reached base in every single game he’s been in since being called up last weekend, is riding a five-game hitting streak, and, if the Rangers had won in the finale, Martinez’ appearance as a pinch-hitter would have been marked as the key plate appearance of the inning. It’s possible that Martinez, as the hot hand, needs to be ridden in place of Taveras.
A game of inches – With runners on first and second and one out in a 2-0 game in the finale, Travis Jankowski stepped to the plate. Pinch hitter Jonah Heim had just struck out one pitch after a would-be game-tying double landed an inch on the foul side of the right field line after challenging Angels’ reliever Carlos Estevez to a nine-pitch battle.
Jankowski sent a fly ball 381 feet into the night, but the ball died on the warning track and rested in Hunter Renfroe’s glove. The ball, according to the Rangers’ Radio Network, would have been a home run, a game-winning three-run Jimmy Jack, in exactly one Major League Ballpark – Angels Stadium.
While Texas has only lost three games in August, each one of them can be classified as “easily winnable” games. An inexplicable loss to Oakland, a loss to San Francisco in which they led with one out remaining, and now a loss to the Angels despite outsourcing Los Angeles 19-3 in the first two games of the series.
Now the Rangers head into a showdown with the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers, while they try to keep the Houston Astros at bay, having maintained a 2.5 game lead in the AL West.
Do you have plans to join the raucous crowd in section 133 at Globe Life Field? Share your thoughts with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.