'That's On Us': Rangers' Bats Shutout, Swept By Padres

The Texas Rangers bats went cold on Sunday, failing to capitalize on early opportunities.

Chris Halicke | Apr 11, 2021

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers might not play the San Diego Padres until the 2024 season (depending on how/if scheduling changes after the new CBA is ratified). That might be just fine for the Rangers.

The Padres completed their three-game sweep of the Rangers on Sunday with a score of 2-0. San Diego improved to 7-3 while Texas fell to 3-6.

The Rangers weren't no-hit but struggled mightily to get baserunners early in the game. Texas didn't get their second hit of the ballgame until Isiah Kiner-Falefa led off the sixth inning with a single.

Eventually, Texas hitters began to create chances, but couldn't drive home any runs. Jose Trevino led off the seventh inning with a double, and the Rangers loaded the bases during a two-out rally in the eighth inning.

While Texas failed in both instances, manager Chris Woodward was more disappointed with the struggles early on. San Diego starter Adrian Morejon was forced to leave the game with a forearm strain in the first inning, turning the game over to their bullpen for more than eight innings.

The combination of six San Diego relievers shut the Rangers out for 8 1/3 innings.

"We didn't do anything," Woodward said. "We were chasing. We were expanding. We did everything that we don't want to do. That's where I was most disappointed.

"In the seventh and eighth inning, you're not always going to get the big hit. But if that's what you're relying on — we had a chance to win the game well before that. They had their starter go out in the first inning, and we had their bullpen the whole game. That's on us."

The young Rangers hitters are learning what it takes to compete at a high level for 162 games. They performed well before San Diego came to town. They were no-hit on Friday, out-slugged on Saturday, and were thrown a curveball when Morejon went down with an injury on Sunday.

The Rangers will continue to search for consistency, especially against the better teams in the game. This weekend represents the growing pains that are part of the learning process

"It's something we talk about a lot," Woodward said. "Obviously, we're going to have that conversation many times on. We have to be ready for those and be able to adjust on the fly. We have to do a better job. The bottom line is we've had a lot of success early on. I like where our hitters' mindsets are at. But today is one of those games where we look back and say, 'We should have won this game.'"

Mike Foltynewicz kept the Rangers in the game, pitching seven strong innings — the furthest a Texas starter has gone into a game this year. His only mishap was a solo home run by Trent Grisham in the fourth inning that broke the scoreless tie. Foltynewicz allowed only the one run on two hits, walked three, and struck out three.

Chris Woodward came out of the dugout with the intention of taking Foltynewicz out of the game after walking Tommy Pham with two outs in the seventh inning.

"The baseball guy in me didn't want to take him out," Woodward said. "But when I was walking out there, I looked at him. He said, 'No, I've got this guy.' I told him, 'Give it everything you've got right here. Let's end this day on a good note and go after this guy.' And he did. He got him out."

Behind Foltynewicz, Kyle Cody pitched a clean eighth inning, while Ian Kennedy struggled for the first time this season. He gave up a lead-off homer to Manny Machado, which double the San Diego lead. He was able to limit the damage, but the Texas offense went out quietly in the bottom of the ninth inning.

The Rangers travel to Tampa Bay for a quick four-game series against the Rays before coming back home next weekend to face the Baltimore Orioles in a three-game series at Globe Life Field.

Chris Halicke covers the Texas Rangers for SI's InsideTheRangers.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisHalicke.
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Published Apr 11, 2021

CHRIS HALICKE