ARLINGTON -- It’s not mathematically over for the Rangers just yet. They won’t be able to clinch the American League West or be eliminated from contention until Friday at the earliest.
But inning by inning on Wednesday night, you could feel it slipping away.
The Rangers fell, 7-2, to the Mets at Globe Life Field, dropping their first series at home since July 20-22 against the White Sox.
Entering play on Wednesday, the Rangers and Astros were tied atop the American League West, though Houston owns the tiebreaker. No matter the record, the Rangers need to be one game better than the Astros if they want to see postseason baseball.
But it’s the Mets, officially eliminated from postseason contention already, playing spoiler in the AL West race.
Mets starter Nolan McLean was perfect through four innings against the Rangers, as the home ballclub could get literally nothing going offensively. Nothing much changed after that, even after Brandon Nimmo became Texas’ first baserunner with a leadoff single in the fifth inning.
McLean allowed five baserunners in that fifth inning, when the Rangers tied the game with a string of singles, a walk and a fielder’s choice mixed in there. He was perfect through all other frames, as was reliever Devin Williams in the eighth.
Meanwhile, the Rangers’ patchwork pitching staff tried to navigate its way through yet another tight game. Manager Skip Schumaker went to his bullpen after just 4 1/3 innings from starter Cody Bradford and immediately turned to his high-leverage relievers in Tyler Alexander, Chase Silseth and Jacob Latz.
It was the ever-steady Latz that gave up the dagger, a two-out solo homer by old friend Marcus Semien in the top of the eighth inning to break a 2-2 tie.