Rangers’ road to postseason not impossible, but harder with series loss to Seattle

The Texas Rangers won't have much time to lick their wounds after a 2-5 road trip that included losing 3 of 4 to division rival Seattle over the weekend.

The New York Yankees come to town, and the Rangers will have to start winning again as soon as possible, as the poor showing against the Mariners has put them behind the eight-ball in the playoff hunt.

The Rangers could just as easily have won the series

After an ugly 6-0 loss in the series opener on Thursday, the Rangers played the Mariners tough in the final three contests. Robert Garcia blew a ninth-inning save opportunity, giving Seattle a 4-3 win. Blown saves happen, but it was a tough one to take given the importance of the game.

The Rangers scratched out an impressive 6-4 extra innings win in the second game to claim their only win of the series. Wyatt Langford came up big in that one.

Sunday's 5-4 loss was the second consecutive poor outing for ace Jacob deGrom, as he gave up three no-doubt homers to Jorge Polanco, Julio Rodriguez, and J.P. Crawford. He continues to give up the long ball to left-handed hitters, but will look to rebound on the homestand starting Monday.

Still, the Rangers battled in a back-and-forth tilt that featured homers from Corey Seager and Adolis Garcia.

The Rangers' path to the playoffs is still there, but it just got a little narrower

Going into the Seattle series, the Rangers were tied for the final AL wild card spot. After dropping 3 of 4, they are now 2 games behind the Mariners in the wild-card hunt and just a single game ahead of the chasing Cleveland Guardians.

The schedule doesn't get much easier either, with Cy Young candidate Max Fried and the Yankees coming to Globe Life Field on Monday, followed by the Philadelphia Phillies and then the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Rangers are a much better home team, and they will look to get back in the playoff picture over the nine-game homestand.

The Rangers will look to rebound immediately versus the New York Yankees

It will be a tougher road to hoe now, and it starts with the Bronx Bombers, who are also right in the middle of the wild-card race, just 2.5 games ahead of the Rangers. A sweep of the Aaron Judge-less Yankees would mean the Rangers would leapfrog them in the standings and get right back into the thick of it.

The trade deadline has come and gone, so the Rangers will look to get hot again with some question marks in the lineup. They will need more consistency from guys like Adolis Garcia, Robert Garcia, and deGrom moving forward.

Undoubtedly, the Rangers will need to look to have a winning homestand to right the ship, and if they could get hot, a 7-2 or 8-1 nine-game stretch would have them back in good standing with less than 50 games left on the schedule.