After Robert Garcia’s premature exit, will the Rangers go a different direction at closer?

SEATTLE – Before Saturday’s game, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy waved off any questions about who would close games for him. It was Robert Garcia. Period.

Insert question mark now.

Or question marks.

Not only does one exist about his performance after he quickly blew a save with a homer for the second straight day, but there is also a question about his availability after he left Saturday’s 6-4 11-inning win over Seattle with what was later described as a “mid-back spasm.”

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After the game, in which Garcia allowed a two-run homer to Randy Arozarena three pitches into the 10th-inning, Garcia said the area near the center of his back below his shoulder blades was still knotted up.

Garcia entered the game with the Rangers leading 4-2 in the bottom of the 10th inning. He gave up a game-tying 2-run home run to Randy Arozarena before retiring Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez.

He faced one more batter, allowing a single to Josh Naylor, before he was removed from the game with a 2-0 count against Eugenio Suárez. Luis Curvelo entered and fought back from a 3-0 count to get the strikeout. Curvelo also pitched the 11th.

Garcia, 29, has grown into the Rangers’ closer role this season after he was acquired from the Washington Nationals in the Nathaniel Lowe trade last offseason.

Garcia ascended to the closer’s role early in the year after Luke Jackson struggled. He performed well for the first two months of the year, but as the pressure of the race has ramped up, his performance has been shakier.

Since June 1, he’s allowed nine runs, including four homers, in 18 innings. He’s blown four saves in that span. When asked Saturday morning if he’d considered anybody else for the role, Bochy dismissed the question.

“No, this guy’s done a really nice job,” Bochy said before the game. “He has a rough outing and now everybody wants to make a move. So, no, [he’s the guy] and if it does become something we’ll discuss it and talk about it then.”

Well, it appears that time is now.

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