ARLINGTON, Texas — Homecomings haven’t exactly been kind to the Texas Rangers so far in 2024. With the loss to Detroit on Monday, Texas has now lost three of the five games immediately after coming back home from a road trip.
In losing the second game on Tuesday night, the Rangers’ streak of series wins ended at just two as their momentum was halted nearly as soon as they had built it. Even though Texas got some cheerful news regarding the Futures Game to be hosted in Arlington this summer, with Michael Young and Adrian Beltre being named managers, and even though they received positive updates regarding their rehabbing pitchers, the on-field product is still stuck in struggle mode. That was apparent in this series against Detroit.
Game 60: Detroit 2, Texas 1 (W: Brieske, 1-0, L: Leclerc: 3-4)
Game 61: Detroit 3, Texas 1 (W: Flaherty, 3-4, L: Dunning, 4-4, Sv: Foley, 12)
Game 62: Detroit 1, Texas 9 (W: Ureña, 2-5, L: Wentz, 0-1)
So much for that theory
Coming out of the series against Miami, the Rangers had finished that three-game stint with a .276/.322/.391 slash, racking up 29 hits. The hope was that the momentum of scoring 7 and 6 runs in the last two games in respectively would carry over to the series against Detroit in Arlington.
That was not the case, though, as the Rangers could only muster one run apiece in each of the first two games, both close losses. It wasn’t for lack of hits, however, as Texas put up eight hits throughout the first game, including two each from Marcus Semien, Corey Seager and Wyatt Langford. But the one run that Texas scored happened on a leadoff homer from Semien.
Nobody crossed the plate after that and the Rangers left eight on base while going 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. On Tuesday night, Texas didn’t score a run until the ninth, on a two-out RBI misplayed blooper off the bat of designated hitter Ezequiel Duran. That put the Rangers at a total scoreless streak of 16 innings.
There was a breakthrough in the finale, as Texas was able to plate nine runs, scattering their productivity all throughout the game. They also racked up 12 hits. It would be nice to imagine this as a turning point, but until a streak is established, it was just a nice game to watch.
Pitching prowess
Nathan Eovaldi, making his second start since coming off an injury that kept him out for most of May, gave the Rangers 5 ⅔ innings of one-run ball. He gave up just three hits and struck out seven. All in all, it was a really good, high-quality line and one that could have been good enough for a victory had the bats been connecting.
The bullpen pitched decently that night as well, with Jose Leclerc pitching 2 ⅔ innings and Jonathan Hernandez pitching a clean inning. Leclerc gave up just one run, the second home run to Jake Rogers – that, however, proved to be the winning run, as Texas didn’t score beyond Semien’s leadoff homer.
Tuesday night, Dane Dunning was less effective, giving up three runs in five innings, but those three runs came off two homers. He only gave up four hits and struck out four – not the best line, but Texas again didn’t do much at the plate which doomed their starter. The bullpen would shut down the Tigers after Dunning left, with Grant Anderson shouldering the last two innings of the game, with Jesus Tinoco and Jake Latz taking care of the other two frames.
Ureña league of your own
Jon Gray is on the verge of returning to the Rangers rotation. Max Scherzer may not be too far behind him. Tyler Mahle is throwing and is set to return at some point after the All-Star break. Dunning and Andrew Heaney are in good shape for the long haul. Jacob deGrom will come back towards the later part of the year. All of that appears to leave Jose Ureña without a spot in the rotation.
But, even if Ureña is relegated to the bullpen for the rest of the season, one of the season’s highlights will be his start in the finale against the Tigers on Wednesday night. For five innings, the Dominican was quite simply perfect with 15 up and 15 down.
Utilizing a slider to complement his fastball instead of the changeup, Ureña ran through the Detroit lineup efficiently, coming in at just over 60 pitches going into the sixth inning. The first batter he faced in the sixth though, erased any drama about the perfect game, no-hitter or even a shutout; Justyn-Henry Malloy, who made his MLB debut on Monday, took a 3-1 pitch deep to the left field seats for not just his first big league home run, but also the first hit of his career. While it was an impressive way to reach that milestone, it was also a very impressive showing for Ureña and a strong case to continue to stay in the rotation.
Seager serious?
Texas’ $325 million shortstop Corey Seager has only had two seasons of more than 150 games in his career. The first was his second season in the majors, a 157 game season with the Dodgers. His second came two years ago in his first year with Texas, as the reigning World Series MVP played in 151 games. Every other year has been riddled with injuries, including last year. Seager hit the IL twice last season, potentially preventing a regular season MVP, as both stints came in the middle of a hot streak at the plate.
On Wednesday night, after bouncing a single to the left side to score the game’s first run, Seager extended his on-base streak to 28 games. Unfortunately, as that single bounced through, Seager appeared to grab at his left hamstring.
Seager exited with the trainer despite some debate about staying in the game that manager Bruce Bochy put a stop to out of caution. For what it’s worth, after the game, Bochy said the team didn’t think it was a serious strain and with a day off on Thursday, Texas has time to evaluate their star shortstop.
Nevertheless, the injury doesn’t come at a great time as the Rangers are looking for any sort of consistency in their lineup. Seager was one of the bright spots in Texas’ unsteady offensive production. When Seager exited the game, Ezequiel Duran was called upon, just as he was last year when Seager went down with a hamstring issue.
Duran wasted no time in reminding fans of how much he stepped up last season when the starter was out for an extended period of time. While Seager was out last season, over the course of 27 games, Duran slashed .327/.365/.541 with five homers and 19 RBI. This time, as Duran took over for Seager in the third inning, he reached on a fielding error in his first appearance and drove in a run in the eighth on a sharp single.
If Seager ends up needing to be out for any significant amount of time, that will hurt the stability of an already fragile offense. In a lineup where big guns like Adolis Garcia, Jonah Heim, and Wyatt Langford have been inconsistent or not producing at all, having a constant like Seager to complement Marcus Semien at the top of the lineup was essential to help Texas tread water. Now, the uncertainty looms large, especially as the season enters the summer months.
Do you think the Rangers will fare better in the season’s final 100 games? Share your thoughts with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.
