Rangers' second-half premiere lackluster in lopsided loss

ATLANTA -- The Rangers went into the All-Star break on a high, walking off their in-state-rival Houston Astros in the series finale on Sunday and ultimately taking two of three from them during the final weekend of the first half.

The Rangers fell back to earth on Friday, opening the second half at Truist Park against 2024 National League Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale and ultimately falling, 15-1, to the Braves.

Sale dominated a Rangers offense that has found its footing of late, even while missing superstar shortstop Corey Seager. But Atlanta’s ace dealt seven scoreless innings, allowing just two hits while striking out six.

Meanwhile, Cal Quantrill, making his fifth start in place of an injured Jack Leiter, was knocked around by the Braves' offense, capped off by homers from Drake Baldwin and Matt Olson in the fourth inning.

By the end of the sluggish night for Texas' bats, the Rangers had been outhit by the Braves, 19-5.

"We faced a really good pitcher tonight,” said manager Skip Schumaker. “That's number one. Chris Sale is, again, a Hall of Fame pitcher. 2,700 strikeouts. He's really, really good. That's with some injured seasons too. ... If you fall behind, you know four, five, six [runs], to Chris Sale, it's going to be tough to fight back there. So it's just kind of one of those nights."

The Rangers went into the break 1 1/2 games up in the American League West, carrying all the momentum for a second-half surge. But with that comes the feeling that every game for the next two weeks leading into the Trade Deadline is a referendum on the team’s deservingness of buying or selling.

After a loss like this, it’s easy to see the Aug. 3 Trade Deadline looking more like the Rangers could be sellers, however big or small you want to envision it. But blowouts like that don’t happen every day. And one game on July 17 isn’t going to make that decision. And Texas (49-48) is still one game ahead of Seattle (48-49) for first place in the AL West.

“It's only one game,” said infielder Nicky Lopez. “Obviously, winning in general is really hard in the big leagues. It only counts as one game. It's one of those that's like we can just forget about it, or we can sulk on it. I think we're just going to forget about it and know that our whole season's still ahead of us. No one likes -- obviously -- losing in that fashion, but you gotta look at the positives and everything.”

For positives, there weren’t many, to be fair.

Quantrill, who entered with a 2.12 ERA in four starts this season, got blooped to death before the two homers blew the game open. A trio of rookie relievers in Emiliano Teodo -- making his MLB debut -- Gavin Collyer and Ben Peoples got knocked around behind him. And the offense produced just two baserunners against Sale.

It’s fair to say it could be a bit deflating. But that’s over now.

“I mean, we got our butt kicked tonight,” Schumaker said. “In all facets. We did so. We've had this before, and we've come back and had some really good games the next day. That's what you hope for. So as far as deflating, I wouldn't say every loss is the same, but a loss is a loss.

“But if you want to be a playoff-caliber team, it's how you respond. I've said that before. You don't want to lose like this coming out of the break. However, what will define us is kind of how we look tomorrow, and I think that's gonna be the real test for us.”