ARLINGTON -- Runs haven't exactly been coming in bunches for the Texas Rangers in the first two games of the postseason, where the American League West champs have been unable to continue what worked so well for them during the regular season.
Though they scored two runs in the eighth to make things more interesting, the Rangers' offense again mostly eluded them in their 5-3 loss to the Blue Jays in Game 2 of the AL Division Series on Friday afternoon. Texas is now one game away from being swept by a Toronto club that slugged four home runs to inch closer to the series win.
"We just came up a little bit short," Ian Desmond said. "We put ourselves in some good positions today. We just weren't able to capitalize."
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Desmond did his part, however. The center fielder logged three hits and drove in two of the Rangers' three runs, matching his career high in hits and becoming the 15th player in franchise history to log three or more hits in a postseason game.
It was little consolation, however, given the situation the Rangers now find themselves in. After dropping two games at home, the only hope they have to bring the series back to Globe Life Park is if they win both games in Toronto, starting with Game 3 on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. CT on TBS.
There is a precedent for this -- in fact, it happened just last year. The Rangers won the first two ALDS games at Rogers Centre, but then came home to lose two, sending the series back to Toronto, where the Blue Jays won Game 5.
"We've come back from a lot this year," Desmond said. "We've got a good team, we all believe in each other. Just keep fighting."
If there's pressure, Desmond is seemingly immune to it. He led off the third inning with a single to right-center, then he singled to left-center in the fourth and doubled to right to lead off the seventh. The hit in the fourth drove in the Rangers' first run of the game and represented the team's only scoring until the eighth, in which Desmond contributed an RBI groundout.
Desmond also had an opportunity to score in the seventh on a slow roller by Adrián Beltré, but he was called out at the plate when Josh Donaldson's throw beat Desmond's slide by mere inches.

The difference was a slight hesitation on Desmond's part as he looked to see what Donaldson was going to do.
"Obviously, I have to score," Desmond said. "It was a tough play. He made a judgement call to throw it home there. The ball got chopped on the ground. If he comes charging in, I probably don't go. He stayed back, and I took off. It was a gutsy play by him. You tip your cap. He made a good play."
Instead of a possible momentum-changer, that play was just another one of several missed opportunities for the Rangers.
"We gave ourselves opportunities. We didn't get the hit when we needed it," Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. "Our guys continue to go up there -- I felt like their approaches were good. We just didn't come away with any type of hit that would break anything open for us."