\u201cThey probably needed a day and it showed,\u201d Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said, \u201cbecause they have been doing such a great job.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bullpen has, to Bochy\u2019s point, been stable. It entered Monday\u2019s 10-6 loss vs. the Baltimore Orioles at Globe Life Field with a 3.33 ERA that ranked second-best in the American League. But, in Monday\u2019s 11-inning loss, the results were less predicated on the quality of their past performances and more so on the quantity of their past performances. <\/p>\n
Rangers<\/p>\n
Because, in the club\u2019s franchise record-tying fourth-straight extra innings game, the impact of the latter was evident. Robert Garcia, on for his third time in four days, left a slider middle-middle to Baltimore shortstop Gunnar Henderson for a two-run home run in the top of the 10th inning. Shawn Armstrong, who\u2019d also pitched Friday and Saturday, threw a down-the-middle fastball that left fielder Colton Cowser drilled 425 feet for a solo home run three at bats later. <\/p>\n
It came to a head in the 11th inning when Hoby Milner, whose 13 appearances in June were tied for the second-most among American League relievers, was rocked for two doubles, two walks and a single in his third time out in a four-day span. The four-run frame nullified Adolis Garc\u00eda\u2019s game-tying three-run home run in the previous half inning<\/a>. Milner, a 34-year-old left-hander, entered Monday\u2019s game with a 1.94 ERA and left it with a 2.57 ERA. <\/p>\n Garcia (41), Armstrong (42) and Milner (37) have combined to throw 120 pitches since Friday\u2019s extra innings loss to the Seattle Mariners. The entire bullpen combined for 301 pitches in that span and threw more innings than the rotation did despite the fact that the Rangers received three consecutive quality starts from Kumar Rocker, Jack Leiter and Patrick Corbin. Corbin threw a team season-high 110 pitches in Monday\u2019s loss to gut through six innings of three-run ball. <\/p>\n \u201cThe bullpen\u2019s running out there a bunch,\u201d Corbin said of the bullpen, which has still only pitched the 15th-most innings among all relief staffs. \u201cIt\u2019s tough right now. A lot of innings. These extra inning games are adding up in a short period of time.\u201d<\/p>\n The state of affairs is no secret. It leaves the Rangers \u2014 who will play twice more vs. the Orioles at home before they embark on a pivotal 10-game road trip against the San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Angels and Houston Astros to close the season\u2019s first half \u2014 in an inauspicious predicament. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen you log that many innings, that\u2019s always a concern,\u201d Bochy said. \u201cI have to be concerned about it because you get to that point where it takes a few days to get them back, freshen them up and get them back to who they are.\u201d<\/p>\n Bochy said after Monday\u2019s game that he\u2019ll meet with Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young and the club\u2019s pitching brain trust to discuss how best to manage the bullpen in the immediate future. <\/p>\n The easiest solution to the bullpen crunch, of course, is the one that the Rangers have sought all season. The Rangers were forced into four consecutive extra inning games because of offensive inabilities that\u2019ve plagued them all season. <\/p>\n The Rangers hit 9 for 50 with runners in scoring position in the four extra inning games and were 3 for 13 in Monday\u2019s loss. A two-run home run from second baseman Marcus Semien in the fifth inning and a mad dash from Michael Helmen in the seventh<\/a> accounted for the entirety of the Rangers\u2019 runs before Garc\u00eda\u2019s big blast in the 11th inning. <\/p>\n They left two men on base in the eighth inning after Jonah Heim and Josh Smith struck out in successive at-bats. They stranded Ezequiel Duran at third base in the ninth inning after he pinch ran for Kyle Higashioka and stole both second and third. <\/p>\n The bullpen was forced to pick up the slack. <\/p>\n \u201cIt caught up with them,\u201d Bochy said. \u201cNo getting around it.\u201d<\/p>\n Now they\u2019ll need to find a way around it. <\/p>\n Madness in Arlington: See photos from Texas Rangers’ wild 11-inning loss to Orioles<\/p>\n Find more Rangers coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Texas](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/GM4DBNH3P5AFBDIXXG3E5RMJ4M.jpg\")
View GalleryMichael Helman describes bizarre, game-tying play in first start with Texas Rangers<\/a>Inflection point is coming for Texas Rangers, Josh Jung as his struggles continue<\/a><\/p>\n