WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Skip Schumaker tried changing things up Friday. By the end of the night, the Texas Rangers manager was already looking for something else.
Texas lost 8-3 to the Athletics at Sutter Health Park for its fourth straight defeat, continuing a slide that has cost the Rangers ground in the American League West. Schumaker said the conversations held before first pitch were intended to take some tension out of the clubhouse and bring more energy.
It didn’t have the desired effect.
“Obviously, the stuff I tried to do today didn’t work,” Schumaker said. “We’ll try to circle back and do other things to see if we can get this thing righted a little bit.”
The Rangers recalled infielder Cody Freeman before the game, and Schumaker changed the look of his lineup against Athletics left-hander Gage Jump.
Wyatt Langford moved into the leadoff spot, followed by Brandon Nimmo and Corey Seager. Ezequiel Duran hit cleanup for the first time this season against a left-handed starter.
The Rangers still spent most of the night trying to catch up.
Texas Rangers Miss Early Chance Before Jake Burger Breaks Through
Texas had an opportunity immediately, loading the bases in the first inning. Justin Foscue popped out to second on the first pitch he saw to end the threat.
The Athletics made the Rangers pay in the bottom half.
Kumar Rocker was one strike away from getting through the inning when Carlos Cortes drove a two-out, three-run double into the right-center field gap.
Jump took it from there. The rookie left-hander held Texas without a hit until the fifth, and the Rangers remained scoreless until Jake Burger finally changed the game in the sixth.
Burger hit a three-run homer to pull Texas even at 3.
The tie lasted only a few minutes.
Jeff McNeil homered off Chase Silseth in the bottom of the sixth to put the Athletics back in front. Lawrence Butler added another solo homer in the seventh, and Oakland scored three more times against Tyler Alexander in the eighth.
Rocker allowed three earned runs on four hits over five innings. He walked five and struck out three, but kept Oakland off the board after Cortes’ first-inning double.
Luis Medina worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings for the win. Silseth took the loss after allowing McNeil’s go-ahead homer.
For Schumaker, it was another night when one problem seemed to give way to another.
“It’s one thing after another right now,” Schumaker explained. “We know we’ve got to stop the bleeding somehow, and hopefully it starts tomorrow.”
Texas Rangers’ Losing Streak Costs Them Ground In AL West
Texas fell to 60-63, matching its largest division deficit of the season at three games behind the Houston Astros. Houston beat the Seattle Mariners 10-7 in 10 innings Friday night.
The Rangers have 39 games remaining, but their problems away from home against division opponents are becoming harder to overlook.
Friday marked their 16th loss in 21 AL West road games. Their .238 winning percentage in those games is the second-worst mark in the majors. Texas is 3-9 on the road against the Los Angeles Angels and Athletics, the two clubs at the bottom of the division, and is 2-3 this season at Sutter Health Park.
Baseball-Reference listed the Rangers’ postseason odds at 21.4% entering Friday.
Four consecutive losses have made the race tighter for a team that was only a half-game out of first place earlier in the week.
Texas Rangers Turn To MacKenzie Gore On Saturday
Texas gets another chance to end the skid Saturday night at Sutter Health Park.
MacKenzie Gore is scheduled to start opposite Athletics right-hander J.T. Ginn, with first pitch set for 8:40 p.m. CT.
Cody Bradford is listed for Sunday’s 3:05 p.m. CT series finale against Jacob Lopez.
After that, the Rangers return to Globe Life Field for a three-game series against the Washington Nationals beginning Tuesday.
