Texas Rangers: Recapping The Series Against Seattle

The Texas Rangers wrap up their series at home against the Seattle Mariners. However, for the third straight time, the Rangers lose a series. They’re 3-6 in their last nine games. Furthermore, they’re in fourth place in the American League West standings and sit at 18 games behind first place.

It’s been a rough past few days for the Texas Rangers. Ace pitcher Yu Darvish gets shipped off to Los Angeles, much to the dismay of Adrian Beltre, and the Rangers lose another series at home. The Rangers now start a road trip and their first stop is Minnesota for a four-game series against the Twins followed by a two-game series in New York City against the New York Mets. In any case, a sweeping of the Mets can really help Texas.

The Rangers really could have won this series. Let’s review each game of the Texas-Seattle series…

More from Texas Rangers News

• Early 2023 MLB mock draft has Texas Rangers selecting an Ohtani-lite
• 3 Texas Rangers outfield trade targets not named Bryan Reynolds
• Did Jacob deGrom really mean what he said at his Texas Rangers press conference?
• Martin Perez accepting the qualifying offer looking like solid deal for the Rangers
• 4 outfielders the Texas Rangers can still pursue this winter

Game One: What started out a good game for the Rangers ended as a loss. Taking a 4-0 lead in the second inning, Seattle made it 4-3, and Texas could not score any runs to prevent the Mariners from coming back. Seattle won 6-4, scoring the last two runs in the ninth inning. Cole Hamels took the mound, pitching 6.0 innings, allowing six hits, four runs, and striking out a season-high seven batters, earning a no decision. Matt Bush relieved Hamels, holding off Seattle, but Alex Claudio’s allowing two runs in the ninth, allowed Seattle to take the lead and winning the game, thus giving Claudio the loss, his first this season. The offense finished 6-for-32, striking out 13 times. The offense started out well, but all of a sudden disappeared. The bats’ disappearance is a significant reason for this loss.

Game Two: Texas lost 8-7, thus increasing their losing streak to four games. Seattle took a 5-0 in the third, only for Texas to make it 5-3 in the fourth. In the sixth, Seattle made it 8-3, only for Texas to again respond by making it 8-6. In the seventh, Texas scored one more run, making it 8-7, but the bats could not pull through at the end. Nick Martinez made the start, pitching 5.1 innings, allowing eight hits, seven runs, and striking out zero batters, falling to 3-4. A very good performance by the bullpen. Alex Claudio and Keone Kela each pitched one full inning, pitching shutouts, each striking out one batter and allowing no hits. The offense finished 12-for-39, striking out 12 times. Three home runs were blasted, two of them by Joey Gallo. Gallo’s three-run homer in the sixth sparking a comeback, but Texas ultimately came up short.

Game Three: Texas wins 5-1, snapping their four-game losing streak. Seattle had the lead once and as soon as Texas grabbed the lead, Texas found a way to hold on to it. Andrew Cashner took the mound, pitching 6.0 innings, allowing six hits, one run, and striking out four batters, winning his third straight game. Cashner is on a three-game winning streak for the first time since 2014. Tremendous pitching is the main outcome of this game. The bullpen pitched a shutout allowing no hits. The offense finished 9-for-31, striking out seven times. Two late home runs by Gallo and Elvis Andrus helped seal the game. This win is a result of pitching and the bats both doing their jobs respectively. In any case, this must keep up.