PHOENIX -- It looked like the Diamondbacks were going to pull off another late-inning comeback Sunday, but they wound up coming up just a bit short, stranding the tying run at second and the potential winning run at first in a 7-6 loss to the Rangers at Chase Field.
Here's what you need to know about the game:
Any loss at this time of year hurts
As the regular-season schedule ticks down, every game is crucial for the Diamondbacks. They are 2 1/2 games behind the Padres in the race for the third National League Wild Card spot after San Diego defeated the Giants on Sunday night for its seventh consecutive win.
It's important to remember that the Diamondbacks will play the Padres three times to close out the season at Petco Park, with the winner of that series owning the tiebreaker, but the Diamondbacks do not want to fall too far behind before then.
"Every loss is tough," Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. "We gotta find our way. That's all there is to it, and tomorrow's another day. Everything's a challenge right now. Everything's a little bit more intense. Everything's amplified, and we know what we're capable of doing. We do that, we're gonna be fine."
Pair of errors in the fifth proved costly
The Rangers led, 2-1, heading into the fifth when, with one out, third baseman Nolan Arenado couldn't handle a grounder to third that seemed to have taken a bad hop on him.
"It kind of bounced back toward me," Arenado said of the ball that he initially went to backhand. "I don't know. I think it hit the turf and the dirt and it just shot a little that way. Disappointed. Still think I probably should have made it, but I don't know what happened. It's unfortunate because then those runs scored, and so I feel bad about it because I thought I got myself in the right spot, but things happen unfortunately."
After a single by Corey Seager, Josh Jung hit a sinking liner to left. Lars Nootbaar started in on the ball, then pulled up before it squirted by him and rolled all the way to the wall as two runs scored.
It wound up being a three-run inning for the Rangers, and it was the second straight game where defensive miscues cost Arizona a chance at a win.
"Pretty frustrating because I know that we're very good defensively," Lovullo said. "That's part of our DNA, and that's our standard. Those are my demands -- to go out there and make plays, and get back in the dugout. And it's two consecutive games where I feel like we could have done a better job. So we got to tighten that up."
They still showed fight at the end
After the three-run fifth, the Rangers tacked on another two in the sixth to go up 7-1 and seemingly take control of the game.
But the Diamondbacks managed to claw their way back into it when Arenado hit a three-run homer off the foul pole in left in the seventh inning.
Then in the ninth, the Diamondbacks got back-to-back doubles to lead off the inning off closer Jacob Latz to score one run and with one out, Jordan Lawlar drove in another with a double off the wall in left-center.
Suddenly, the Diamondbacks had the tying run at second and the potential winning run at first with Ketel Marte at the plate.
The Rangers walked Marte and Latz got Gabriel Moreno to pop up to third to end the game.
"We started to fight the way we know how to and made it a game," Lovullo said. "So hopefully that's a catalyst for tomorrow. We just got to start to play more consistent, better baseball all the way around in every area. And if we do that, we're going to be just fine."