ARLINGTON -- Since Aug. 1, the Rangers have been prone to streaks.
They opened that month with an eight-game winning streak, almost immediately followed by an eight-game losing streak from Aug. 16-25. Then there was a six-game winning streak from Sept. 9-14. And on Monday against the Red Sox at Globe Life Field, the Rangers lost their fourth game in a row, 4-2, to open the final homestand of the season.
“I wish I had a reason, that’s just baseball,” manager Bruce Bochy said pregame of Texas’ streaks. “Some things are just hard to explain. I don't have a good answer for you to be honest. It’s hard to explain.”
- Games remaining (12): vs. BOS (2); vs. SEA (3); at LAA (3); at SEA (4)
- Standings update: The Rangers (82-68) are one game behind the Blue Jays (83-67), who beat the Red Sox on Sunday, for the second spot in the AL Wild Card race, and tied with the Mariners (82-68) for the third Wild Card spot. Texas is one and a half games behind AL West-leading Houston (84-67).
- Tiebreakers: Lose vs. Houston; win vs. Toronto; lead vs. Seattle.
Despite leading from the very first pitch on a Marcus Semien home run, Texas' bullpen faltered once again, as Will Smith surrendered three runs in the eighth inning and Boston stormed back to take the lead and eventually secure the victory.
“It’ll take a while for me tonight,” Smith said. “Nobody wants to be the guy that coughs it up. It’s just not very well located pitches. This one definitely falls on me. … It’s just not good right now.”
Semien singlehandedly carried the Rangers’ offense, notching both RBIs and two of the four hits against Boston starter Kutter Crawford. The Red Sox's bullpen shut down Texas’ offense over the last three innings, allowing just three baserunners -- one single and two walks.
Texas has scored three or fewer runs in all four games of its losing streak.
“I think it’s fair to say we’ve got some guys not locked in, that’s just being honest,” Bochy said. “It’s not quite the at-bats that we’re used to getting. It's a case of good pitching too, but at the same time, we're a really good hitting ballclub and we're not clicking. We didn't create a lot of chances there and we’re just not getting a lot of guys on base and some strikeouts involved. The rest of the way, we’re going to have to find a way to get this offense clicking a little better.”
But even as the offense goes through one of its worst stretches of the season, most of the Rangers' losses over the past month and a half have had a common denominator: late-inning bullpen collapses. Since Aug. 13, Texas is 3-for-16 in save opportunities. Since Aug. 1, the bullpen has a 5.26 ERA in the seventh to ninth innings.
After Monday, the Rangers are tied for the 11th most blown saves in a single season with 31. The record belongs to the 2021 Nationals with 37. Even when the offense was clicking, the bullpen has consistently struggled to be effective all season long. It’s become a more prominent issue as the offense has slumped in recent weeks.
“Like I said, it's not for lack of effort,” Smith said. “We're trying our hardest every single day. It's just that we can't finish late in the game right now. It's hard. It's just hard to process.”
Smith shouldered the blame for Monday night’s loss, as he moved to 22-of-27 on save opportunities this season, but it’s not a one-man fix in the bullpen. And Bochy, known as a bullpen genius of sorts during his time with San Francisco, has struggled to find the solution.
“What do I do?” Bochy asked postgame. “Well I keep putting them out there, that’s what I have to do. I keep working with them. I wish I had [a magic wand]. They're trying, trust me. It's a great group here. This was a tough one again. We’ve lost a few of these.”