<\/p>\n
Texas Rangers manager Skip Schumaker (55) in the first inning of a baseball game Monday, May 18, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo\/David Zalubowski)<\/p>\n
David Zalubowski\/AP Photo\/David Zalubowski<\/p>\n
ANAHEIM, Calif. \u2014 The Rangers left Globe Life Field with a record one game under .500. They’ll return with a record four games under .500.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It must’ve been quite the slate of opponents.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
You know what, on second thought, let’s just get right to\u00a0this week’s installment of five things that we learned.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Road trip blues<\/p>\n
The best way to process a relatively unproductive road trip?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Make Dallas News a preferred source so your search results prioritize writing by actual people, not AI.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The Rangers lost six of nine games to three teams who began the trek with the three worst records in baseball. They lost two games to the Houston Astros, one in which they were no-hit through seven-plus innings, to start it. They lost one to the Colorado Rockies, in a game decided by defensive follies, in the middle. They were swept by the Los Angeles Angels in an ugly finish when their ace allowed a season-high amount of runs<\/a>, their offense\u00a0stranded the bases loaded<\/a> four different times and\u00a0some middle infield mayhem led to perhaps their ugliest finish to any game yet this season.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n They started the road trip tied for the third American League Wild Card berth. They ended it a game-and-a-half back. If the league weren’t so middling this season \u2014 and, boy, it sure is \u2014 the Rangers might’ve taken a bigger hit.\u00a0<\/p>\n The tune would be a tad different if they recorded a few more of this this last week.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The wild ride of Justin Foscue<\/p>\n Foscue, the club’s first-round draft choice six years ago, was and remains a bat-first prospect. The two-and-a-half week sample size since his recent promotion \u2014 one in which he’s slashed .318\/.367\/.523 with five extra base hits \u2014 explains why the Rangers have given the 27 year old another big league runway after his first two seasons yielded empty figures.\u00a0<\/p>\n The rest has been a reminder that baseball is, indeed, not necessarily a bat-first sport.\u00a0<\/p>\n Foscue has swung his well, but in this window, he’s done a near equal amount of damage in the game’s other phases<\/a>. He’s been picked off at first base twice in a one-week span in critical situations. He collided with shortstop Corey Seager on a pop fly effort. He made an error in Sunday’s 2-1 loss to the Angels that changed a would-be double play into an error that allowed the walk-off run to score.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n