ARLINGTON — The intent, Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said before the start of this series vs. the New York Yankees, was to find a “soft spot” to reinsert left-hander Robert Garcia into the bullpen flow.
“But,” Bochy said Monday on the Rangers Sports Network pregame show, “I may not have that luxury.”
It took three days, but, Bochy did not.
Garcia, who was stripped of his full-time closer status after consecutive blown saves against the Seattle Mariners last weekend, allowed a go-ahead home run to right-handed pinch hitter Paul Goldschmidt in a 3-2 loss vs. the Yankees Wednesday afternoon at Globe Life Field.
Rangers
Related:After Robert Garcia’s struggles, could the Rangers turn to a closer-by-committee approach?
He was thrown into the seventh inning of a tied game — his first appearance since Saturday in Seattle — after the Texas bullpen was forced to work overtime after right-handed starter Jack Leiter couldn’t pitch past the fourth due to command issues.
The Rangers would’ve moved into sole possession of the American League’s third Wild Card spot had they completed the sweep. Instead they’ll lick their wounds after another errant Garcia outing.
Garcia replaced left-hander Hoby Milner, who tied a career-high with 2 2/3 no-hit innings, in the seventh inning and retired pinch hitter Ahmed Rosario on five pitches before the Yankees inserted Goldschmidt into nine-hole. Garcia threw a fastball high-and-inside the strike zone; Goldschmidt, who has slugged .454 on four-seamers this year, drove it 395 feet into the left field seats to break the tie.
The 29-year-old has allowed three home runs in his last 1 1/3 innings since Seattle’s J.P. Crawford hit a walk-off blast off of him Friday night. He allowed a game-tying home run to Seattle’s Randy Arozarena in the 10th inning of Saturday’s win and exited soon after with back spasms. Each of the three home runs he’s allowed in his last three games came on his fastball.
Leiter allowed one earned run in 3⅓ innings and exited with runners on the corner that Milner cleaned up. The 25-year-old former first round pick threw more balls (55) than strikes (53), walked four batters and allowed high school teammate Anthony Volpe to score the game’s first run with a single off of him in the fourth inning. A second run scored that frame on an errant Kyle Higashioka throw that third baseman Josh Smith couldn’t handle.
The Rangers, who scored on a Sam Haggerty single in the third and a Marcus Semien sacrifice fly in the fifth, squandered multiple opportunities at the plate. Right fielder Adolis García, in particular, squashed multiple rallies. He grounded into a force out to end the fifth inning with two runners on, flew out on two pitches to strand the bases loaded in the seventh and struck out to end the game with two runners on in the ninth.
The Garcia problem: Struggles of Texas Rangers’ key pieces prove costly in loss to Yankees
Adolis García and Robert Garcia both came up short for the Rangers Wednesday as both of their woes continued.
Rangers’ Jack Leiter has elite stuff, but command is still very much a work in progress
Leiter’s command was lacking as he walked four New York hitters and was unable to complete the fourth inning of his start Wednesday.
Find more Rangers coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
Click or tap here to sign up for our Rangers newsletter.