Inside The Rangers

A 'Frustrating' Day Quickly Puts Rangers Under Microscope

Coming out of the All-Star break, the Texas Rangers were given a painful gut check with an embarrassing sweep by the Toronto Blue Jays in Buffalo.

Chris Halicke

It was not a good day for the Texas Rangers. It might have actually been the worst day of the season — one where the Rangers are now 23 games under .500 at 35-58.

After being blanked by a score of 5-0 in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader with the Toronto Blue Jays, the Rangers were pummeled in a 10-0 rout that was essentially over with a six-run first inning by Toronto.

"[It's] frustrating," said Rangers manager Chris Woodward. "I expect a lot more out of our ballclub. I honestly do."

Rangers starter Mike Foltynewicz was tagged with all 10 of Toronto's runs, giving up four home runs in the process. Foltynewicz already led all of Major League Baseball in home runs allowed heading into Sunday's action. Now his 28 home runs are seven more than the player with the next-highest total — which happens to be teammate Jordan Lyles.

In all fairness, Foltynewicz was dealt a band hand in the first inning. The Rangers had a couple of defensive lapses that extended the inning, then home plate umpire Ryan Addition botched what should have been a called third strike against Cavan Biggio that would have been the final out of the inning. 

Instead, Foltynewicz walked Biggio on the next pitch, then gave up a grand slam to Lourdes Gurriel Jr. that made it 6-0.

Foltynewicz was visibly frustrated with the missed call. But as has been the case with Foltynewicz this season, he was not able to contain his emotions and put it behind him. And with each home run allowed today, his body language seemed to worsen.

"I feel like overall, emotionally, he's been controlling it a lot better than he did earlier in the year," Woodward said. "He was clearly frustrated after the first inning. He looked a little defeated. I think anybody would after giving up six and a grand slam in the first inning. ... I understand his frustration. But at the same time, you've gotta go back out [there]."

As much as Foltynewicz struggled on Sunday, the Rangers lineup failed to do anything is either game of the doubleheader.

"Offensively, we had chances in the first game and the second game," Woodward said. "Against a guy like [Hyun Jin] Ryu, we had a runner on third with nobody out. We have to find a way to score there. We have to put a run on the board in a seven-inning game. It's too important."

That was just one instance where the Rangers offense failed in either game on Sunday. Not only did they record six hits in both games combined, they squandered scoring opportunities, going 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

"Those are things we have to cash in on," Woodward said. "We're not a juggernaut offense. We have to put some more pressure on guys."

On the bright side of things, the Rangers bullpen combined for five scoreless innings over both games of the doubleheader. In game two, Taylor Hearn stopped the bleeding with 1 2/3 perfect innings, then Demarcus Evans — who was called up as the Rangers' 27th man for the doubleheader — logged two scoreless innings in relief.

The second half of the season is just as important as the first half when it comes to the club's evaluation of their big league talent. They have to decide who will be part of the next contending core of players and who won't be. After being outscored 25-2 and getting swept in the first series after the All-Star break, this very inexperienced team has its first hurdle of a critical stretch of 72 games.

"I want to see how they respond," Woodward said. "I want to see when we're down 10-0 who is hanging their head and who continues to fight. I want guys to be frustrated. I don't want guys to be happy or content. I want to see a little bit of frustration, but you've gotta have some emotional maturity about you and continue to fight. I want to see who is going to do that.

"If a guy gets a bad call, how do they respond to that? How do they react? We challenged [Demarcus Evans] when we sent him down. I saw a different guy today. And that's good. I want to see progress."

Progress, ideally, will come with results. Maybe not in the win-loss column, but maybe in more instances like what happened with Demarcus Evans on Sunday. 17 of the 27 players in uniform on Sunday have two year or less of MLB service time. There is a lot of growing that has to take shape over the remaining 69 games this season. 

And even if the Rangers aren't ready to compete in 2022, expectations will likely increase. This group of players will only get so many chances.

"We're watching with eyes wide open," Woodward said. "To see who's got the grit and resiliency to just keep on fighting."

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Chris Halicke
CHRIS HALICKE

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