The Rangers opened their final homestand of the 2023 season on Monday night when Texas welcomed the Boston Red Sox to town for the first of a three-game set.
The stakes could not be any higher for the Rangers.
Coming into play today, Texas was in second place in the AL West for a seventh consecutive day but trailed the Astros by just 1.5 games.
In the Wild Card standings, the Rangers owned sole possession of the AL’s 3rd and final spot but were just one game ahead of the Seattle Mariners. The Rangers would be getting a huge extra boost tonight as both Josh Jung and Adolis Garcia were activated from the IL and in the lineup.
Marcus Semien would waste no time getting the party started as he lined the first pitch he saw into the left-field seats to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead.
Jordan Montgomery got the start for the Rangers after going seven shutout innings in his last outing north of the border. Montgomery cruised through four before A double from Bobby Dalbec, and a single from Luis Urias tied this game at one in the fifth.
Montgomery still had another great start overall as he would leave after seven strong innings, finishing with a final line of 7.0 IP 5H 1E 8K 0BB.
With the game still tied at one in the bottom of the sixth, Evan Carter led off with a standup triple to put the Rangers in business. The very next batter was Marcus Semien, who would single Carter home to drive in his second run of the night at put the Rangers up 2-1. It would be up to the bullpen to close this one out as the Rangers led by that same 2-1 score heading to the 8th.
Will Smith would come on to pitch the 8th, and unfortunately, things would not go his or the Rangers’ way. With one out and the bases loaded, former Ranger Rob Refsnyder delivered a single to bring home two and give the Sox a 3-2 lead in the 8th.
When asked why he decided to use Will Smith in the 8th, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said:
“We always talk about pockets and stuff where guys are gonna pitch, and we planned this out, and it set up really well for Smitty [Smith] just ended up walking the first guy.”
Texas’s last hope came in the bottom of the ninth with Mitch Garver, Josh Jung, and Adolis Garcia due up.
The Rangers got the tying run to the plate with one out in the ninth after a Josh Jung since, but nothing came from it as the Rangers fell 4-2.
Once again, the Rangers bullpen struggled en route to yet another loss. Texas has now lost four in a row; Bochy said:
“We’ve got some guys not locked in, if I’m being honest. We’re not getting the at-bats that we’re used to getting [and] we’ve seen some good pitching too; just didn’t create a lot of chances there; we’re just not getting a lot of guys on base, some strikeouts involved, the rest of the way we’re gonna have to find a way to get this offense clicking.”
The Rangers offense came up with just two runs, and it is no secret they’ve been struggling lately.
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