The Rangers Unable to Take Advantage of Rough Week for AL West
The Rangers went 2-5 over their last seven games, while the Astros went 2-5, and the Mariners went 1-6.
They were unable to capitalize on the struggles of their division rivals.
This could have been the time when they were able to get back in the hunt for the division. They currently sit 7.5 games back of the Astros and 5.5 games back of the Mariners.
They lost two out of three games against the Toronto Blue Jays and three out of four against the Kansas City Royals. They posted a negative 10-run difference over this time.
Poor Pitching
The pitching has started to hit a wall as they have not been as sharp. Patrick Corbin has a couple of rough starts in this stretch and the bullpen blew a couple games that the Rangers could have won. Leiter has not been as sharp recently, and even when they get a good start from a pitcher, they may not even win.
Jacob deGrom threw a five-inning shutout, and that was not enough as Danny Coulombe and Phil Maton blew it with four runs scored against them in an inning. The only games that the Rangers managed to win were a game started by Nathan Eovaldi, where the offense scored 10 runs, and a game where the bullpen threw six scoreless innings with late game heroics from Kyle Higashioka.
Bats Still Struggling
The Rangers scored five or more runs three times in this seven-game stretch, which is solid for them, but with the pitching staff’s struggles, it wasn’t enough. Corey Seager has been his dominant self, hitting .370 over the last week with two home runs and three RBIs.
Marcus Semien has also been on fire with a .333 batting average and two home runs with five RBIs. Wyatt Langford has also been good with a .280 batting average, two home runs, and three RBIs. It has been good to see these guys get their bats going, but they need the rest of the lineup to step up to help them.
Outlook
The Rangers are still in the wildcard picture despite this week.
They are 5.5 games back of the Mariners for the final wild card spot, 2.5 games back of the Guardians, and 3.5 games back of the Royals.
If they want to get back on track, it starts with their upcoming series against the Guardians.
Texas needs to win the series if they want any chance of the postseason.
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