ARLINGTON -- Rangers manager Bruce Bochy was hoping that a return home would get the club back on track after dropping six of nine games on the past road trip.
Like clockwork, the first game of the homestand went much like the entire trip.
Texas starter Max Scherzer dealt six scoreless innings while striking out seven batters. Corey Seager launched a solo homer in the fourth inning to give the Rangers the lead. Then the bullpen collapsed, with relievers Brock Burke and Josh Sborz combining to give up five runs on three home runs in two innings as Texas fell, 5-1, to open the series against Minnesota on Friday night at Globe Life Field.
- Games remaining: vs MIN (2); vs HOU (3); vs OAK (3); at TOR (4); at CLE (3); vs BOS (3); vs SEA (3); at LAA (3); at SEA (4)
- Standings update: The Rangers entered the day in third place in the American League West, one game back of the Mariners and the Astros. All three teams lost on Friday, so the standings remain the same.
“We do have to get it right down the stretch here,” Bochy said of the bullpen. “We've just got to make better pitches. It's as simple as that. It's not just giving up the hits, we're giving up slug from that bullpen. We've got to execute the pitches better, because they're going to get used. The starters aren’t going to go nine [innings]. All those guys are going to be used down there now. We have to tighten it up.”
The starting pitching has been one of few bright spots for the Rangers as they’ve gradually moved further down the standings over the past two weeks. Texas starting pitchers had an MLB-best 3.15 ERA in August. The relievers ranked 12th with a 4.13 ERA.
Since joining the Rangers at the Trade Deadline, Scherzer has posted a 2.21 ERA with 47 strikeouts through 36 2/3 innings.
Though he was removed at just 88 pitches (53 strikes) before the seventh inning, Scherzer said he felt like his location and mechanics were starting to fall off in the previous frame due to a bit of "forearm tightness.” After communicating with pitching coach Mike Maddux, they felt like he was at his limit for the day, though Scherzer emphasized multiple times that he is not hurt.
“Obviously, you want to go out there and compete and win, but you have to be smart,” Scherzer said. “You can't be just running through a brick wall at any given cost, at any given time. You have to respect when you do have some fatigue somewhere, especially when it's on your arm.
“You have to respect that and know how to navigate that. And specifically, you’ve got to know where your limit is. You’ve got to know when you're on the cusp of something. Even though I'm not hurt, [I] just didn't know where my line was. I didn't know where my limit was, and so for that reason, they went in a different direction.”
That being said, six strong innings from a potential Hall of Fame starter should have put the Rangers in a perfect position to win the game.
The bullpen has been Texas’ one weak link all season, though it’s gone through stretches of success.
“More than anything, it’s just not getting the pitches where you want them,” Bochy said. “It’s one thing giving up hits, but we're giving up the long ball. These guys have done a lot of good things, and right now they're struggling a bit, let's be honest here. We have to get it right. We have the guys out there that have done a good job for us. It didn't happen tonight. They need to get their confidence back, because we need them. And we're going to need all of them down there.”
While another bullpen collapse is the story of the day, the Rangers’ offensive struggles also continued. After a fourth-inning single from Nathaniel Lowe, only one batter reached base for the remainder of the game: a Marcus Semien hit-by-pitch, which was then erased by a double play.
Bochy said he can't point to a specific reason why the entire lineup is struggling, just that a couple of guys are cold and it’s been hard for the offense to string hits together.
“We have to get that clicking,” Bochy said. “We can't live on the edge, which we've been doing a lot. You have to keep believing and keep working. It's going to come down to us finding a way to get those runs that we used to get and take a little pressure off this bullpen.”