ARLINGTON — Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy, in a rare critique of his team’s effort and intensity, declared that the club “looked dead” in an eighth-straight loss Tuesday night.
Their playoff hopes certainly are.
The Rangers were mathematically eliminated from postseason contention after a 4-1 loss vs. the Minnesota Twins Tuesday night at Globe Life Field. The Rangers, now at 79-78, cannot catch any of the teams currently seeded above them for an American League Wild Card berth with only five games left to play in the regular season.
They can still finish with the same record as the Houston Astros, who’re currently on the outside of the playoff bracket as well, but their in-state rival holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over them.
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The Rangers were swept by the Astros last week at Daikin Park to lose the Silver Boot Series for a fifth year in a row. Multiple players have singled that series out as a point in which the mood and momentum turned south.
“We were feeling good going into that Houston series and things didn’t go our way,” starter Patrick Corbin said. “I think there’s probably a let down after that, knowing where you are at that point. When you’re winning, you feel like you can’t lose. Now you feel like you can’t win no matter what you do.”
It’s the second-straight season in which the Rangers have missed the playoffs and the eighth time in nine years. They won the World Series in the one year that they did qualify for the postseason in that span.
They were within two games of a playoff berth at recently as Sep. 13, but after a late-season resurgence fueled by anonymous rookies, the Rangers ran out of steam and offered a season-long losing streak to tumble further from a playoff position. Their last four losses were vs. the Miami Marlins (an under .500 team on the brink of elimination) and the Twins (who held a fire sale at the July 31 trade deadline and have been one of baseball’s worst teams since.)
The Rangers scored their lone run on their second swing of the game when designated hitter Joc Pederson hit a leadoff home run vs. Minnesota right-hander Zebby Matthews in the bottom of the first inning. They were held to just three more hits, advanced a runner to second base just once and finished on an 0 for 18 skid.
“I know we’ve got some injuries and things,” Bochy said, “but we just couldn’t get anything going and made too many mistakes.”
Corbin allowed two runs in 3⅔ innings. The left-hander gave up three singles and a double in the third inning and was lifted at 65 pitches in the fourth. Left-hander Hoby Milner was tagged for Minnesota’s last two runs when he allowed a walk and two singles to the first three — and, only — batters that he faced in the sixth inning.
They must now win three or more of their last five games to finish the season with a record above .500.
“I think that’s a super big deal,” center fielder Wyatt Langford said. “We’re not really playing for the playoffs now, but, to end with a .500 record is better than not.”
It’s the best thing they have left to play for.
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