ARLINGTON, Texas — Texas Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said moral victories are over for his club after Friday’s 7-6 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, in which Texas came back from 6-1 down and got the tying run to third base in the ninth inning.
Schumaker spoke with Rangers Sports Network before Saturday’s game at Globe Life Field.
Texas fell to 70-72 with the loss. The Rangers trail Houston by 3 games in the American League West, which matches their largest deficit of the season, and sit 2 games behind Cleveland for the third wild card with 20 games left. Tampa Bay is 84-57, the best record in the American League.
Schumaker said the clubhouse is a veteran group with some young players mixed in, and that a lot of teams down 6-1 would have cashed the game in.
“The comeback, the fight back was awesome. But we lost. And I think that’s what we’re at. It’s a veteran clubhouse in there with some young guys mixed in. They know where we’re at in the season,” Schumaker said. “And there’s no more, like, moral victories anymore. It’s like we got to win games. And I think it was nice to see the guys fight back. A lot of teams, 6-1, would just maybe cash it in.”
“We fought back and were within a run against a really good bullpen, so that was encouraging, and you always want to think, have some positives going into the game the following day so that the offense does feel a little bit better about themselves, for sure,” Schumaker continued. “But we got to start winning those games and finishing those games.”
How Friday’s Comeback Fell Short For The Texas Rangers
Texas opened with Trevor Williams and Robby Ahlstrom before turning to Kumar Rocker, who allowed 6 runs, 5 of them earned, on 9 hits over 5 innings. Ezequiel Duran homered leading off the second for a 1-0 lead. Tampa Bay scored 4 runs in the fifth to go up 6-1.
In the seventh, Elias Díaz hit the first Rangers grand slam of the season off Garrett Cleavinger to make it 6-5. Tyler Alexander worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings across the eighth and ninth. Junior Caminero singled home a run in the ninth to make it 7-5.
Bryan Baker, the major league saves leader, walked the first two hitters of the bottom of the ninth and left the game with a trainer. Tyler Wells came on, a sacrifice bunt moved both runners up, and Díaz hit a sacrifice fly to make it 7-6. Justin Foscue popped out with the tying run at third.
Texas had won four of five before Friday, including a 6-0 win over Tampa Bay on Thursday behind 7 scoreless innings from Cal Quantrill. The Rays had lost 10 straight games in Arlington before Friday.
What Comes Next In The Series
Jacob deGrom (10-9, 4.00 ERA) starts Saturday against Rays right-hander Drew Rasmussen (14-5, 2.95). First pitch is 6:05 p.m. CT on Rangers Sports Network. MacKenzie Gore (8-10, 4.31) is scheduled to start the series finale on Sunday.
Cleveland entered Saturday at 72-70 and holds the third wild card, 1 game ahead of Toronto. The Yankees and Red Sox hold the first two spots. Houston is 73-69 atop the West.
