Texas Rangers news: Scherzer dominates before forearm fatigue ends day, Corey Seager all the offense, and more
The Rangers dropped another game to the Twins on Friday night, which is the fourth loss in the last week to the AL Central leader. Max Scherzer had an outstanding performance, but the bullpen was unable to hold Minnesota down.
The Texas Rangers lost to the AL Central leading Minnesota Twins for the fourth time in the past week last night. The night started out promising as the Rangers had future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer with the ball and entered the night only a game out of first in the AL West behind both Seattle and Houston.
Max Scherzer dominated the Twins through six innings before being removed with forearm fatigue
Scherzer dominated the Twins over six innings, holding them to zero runs, on only one hit, while walking two, and striking out seven. It looked like he would come back out for the seventh inning, as his pitch count was only at 88 through six innings of work, but that would not be the case.
Citing forearm fatigue, Scherzer was removed from the game with a 1 to 0 lead and gave way to Brock Burke and the bullpen. Part of being a veteran pitcher is knowing your body and how it feels and where the limits of it are on a particular day. With no extra day between last night and his next schedule start, the Rangers and Scherzer decided to play it safe and get the power righty out of the game instead of pushing him into what could have become a serious injury.
This is a situation that will no doubt be monitored by everyone going forward. The major league season is long, and pitchers of all ages can have fatigue from time to time, so hopefully this will not be an issue that hurts Scherzer's ability to pitch down the stretch and into any possible playoff run.
Corey Seager remains hot while rest of offense scuffles
For all of the talk about the Rangers bullpen struggles this season, the offense has been equally as bad as of late. Last night Texas managed just three hits and works zero walks while striking out nine times. The team was 0 for 3 with runners in scoring position and left two runners on base.
The only offensive highlight came off of the bat of Corey Seager. He had one of the all-time franchise great statistical months in August and started September with a bang. His solo home run in the fourth inning gave the Rangers the lead, which they would not relinquish until Burke gave it up in the seventh.
On the season, Seager is slashing .345/.410/.655, has 26 home runs, scored 69 runs, has 81 runs batted in, and boasts a 185 OPS+. Despite his time missed due to two different injuries this season, Seager is having one of the best seasons in Rangers history. He is a tough out and hits the ball hard, making him fun to watch each and every game.
Battle of the lefties on FOX: Jordan Montgomery vs Dallas Keuchel
Tonight, just like last Saturday, the Rangers will be facing off against the Twins at 6:15 CT on FOX. Jordan Montgomery will aim to get the Rangers back in the win column, while Dallas Keuchel will look to keep the Rangers off balance as he did on Sunday. In that outing, Keuchel pitched five innings of relief work and gave up zero runs, on only five hits.
With the AL playoff race being super tight, each game is becoming more and more significant. The Rangers need to win and win often as they navigate the final stretch of the 2023 regular season. Perhaps tonight is the night that things turn around for the Rangers.