CLEVELAND -- With one out in the fifth inning Wednesday night, the Rangers were down four runs, but looked to be cooking something up offensively with a chance to put runs on the board.

Adolis García hit a leadoff single and Nathaniel Lowe followed with a one-out single of his own. Then the rain delay happened.

Steady rain at Progressive Field on Wednesday delayed the game against the Guardians for just over two hours, and Texas hoped to carry that early momentum over into the second part of the game.

Instead, García was picked off second base and Ezequiel Duran struck out swinging to end the inning nearly as soon as play resumed. It wasn’t the last opportunity for Texas to put runs on the board in the 4-0 loss to Cleveland, but it was the most glaring.

“I don't think [García] kept his eyes [on the pitcher],” said Rangers manager Chris Woodward. “We know they have that play. We know how that play operates. We talked about it at length before the series, so we shouldn't have been shocked by it. He just got caught. It's a little deflating, coming out of a rain delay for a while. Obviously, guys are gonna make mistakes at times, but that's not the reason we lost the game.”

While the pickoff wasn’t the main reason for the Rangers’ third shutout loss of the season, it was a microcosm of the entire game for Texas.

Facing Guardians ace Shane Bieber, Texas had just three hits across 4 1/3 innings and struck out six times. They had just three more hits against five more strikeouts against four relievers once the game resumed.

Even when the Rangers got on base, nothing came of it.

“I don’t think either team could [get anything going out of the delay],” Woodward said. “We were hoping, with a couple guys on base, to add some pressure. I think getting picked off there didn't help things. It kind of took the wind out of the sails a little bit. Our guys felt like they were ready when we got back out there.

“[When] you're sitting around for a couple hours like that, it's never easy. And then you're facing arguably their best arms. We just couldn't get the big hit obviously to get us back in the game. The damage had already been done at that point.”

The big hit isn’t always a home run, but it seems like it should be when looking at the Rangers’ offense in recent weeks.

Prior to the shutout loss, Texas had hit at least one home run in 11 consecutive games, winning four of them. Woodward insisted that the club isn't reliant on the long ball, but the Rangers are 5-13 when they don’t homer and 21-17 when they do.

“I don't think our team was designed to just hit homers,” Woodward said. “When we’re good, we can do all parts of the game. Our philosophy isn't built around them having to hit homers. They are a product of our process, so it’s a more recent thing, but it's not something we envisioned.”

The Rangers have hit a lot of home runs, but many of those were solo shots, and they have struggled with runners in scoring position in recent weeks. Over the three-game series in Cleveland, they went a combined 0-for-15 with runners in scoring position, which is even more perplexing considering Texas avoided a three-game sweep.

“I think overall we’ve just got to be more consistent in our at-bats,” Woodward said. “We’re trying to get as much production as we can one after another after another and just continue to take good swings at good pitches. We do that, we'll be fine. But we just haven't walked very much, we haven't driven pitches in the middle of the plate like we normally do. We gotta get back to doing those things. That's the only way you can score runs.”