Texas Rangers Manager Sounds Out of Answers During 'Contagious' Rut

Manager Bruce Bochy admits the losing skid is getting "tough," but adds that the Texas Rangers are still in the thick of the playoff hunt.

Getting blown out of the water by the Houston Astros was bad enough for the Texas Rangers. But those three days of misery could be somewhat justified.

The Astros are the defending World Series champions. They’ve soared to the top of the American League West. Houston had a point to prove against their instate rivals.

What happened Friday has no excuse.

Facing the lowly Oakland Athletics, widely considered the worst team in baseball, after a day off, with one of your best starters on the mound and on your field should have been a recipe for a win. Instead, it was just another loss in a sea of demoralizing setbacks since mid-August.

It might have been rock bottom for a Rangers club that’s in downward spiral with no end in sight.

Texas manager Bruce Bochy dismissed the notion that club is running out of gas, but admitted that the losses are getting harder to stomach.

“These are getting tough,” he said after the 6-3 defeat. “You keep fighting. That’s the only thing that we can do. That’s what we’ll do. Sure, we’re a little banged up.”

The Rangers are without a pair of All-Stars in Adolis García and Josh Jung, but they team has overcome injuries throughout the season. Corey Seager has missed significant time. Jacob deGrom was lost for the year.

Somehow, the Rangers made it through with others stepping up. The Rangers called up top prospect Evan Carter and the rookie held his own in his debut.

Texas was 24 games over .500 (72-48) on Aug. 15. In just three weeks, the Rangers have lost half of that cushion during a mind-numbing 4-16 stretch. Texas (76-64) is third in the American League West and on the outside of the Wild Card race.

Oakland should have afforded the Rangers the opportunity to at least notch a win. Jordan Montgomery, the other starter acquired before the trade deadline, had been solid since arriving in Texas.

Instead, the lefty allowed five runs in 5 2/3 innings, extending a dubious record streak for Texas starters. Rangers starting pitchers are winless (0-8) in the 20 games, the longest such run in club history.

“I let everybody down,” Montgomery said.

Texas now has less than a 40% chance to make the playoffs, according to FanGraphs. The postseason odds were 95% before the current collapse.

Bochy is almost at a loss of words trying to explain all the losses.

“What else can you say? You keep pushing,” he said. “It’s amazing with what’s going on and we’re right there [in the playoff race]. We need to get on a roll. We just can’t seem to break out, have that big inning, maybe to loosen things up because they are trying hard. You get in a rut like this, it gets contagious.”

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