Texas Rangers 'Pressing' With Runners on Base
The Texas Rangers still lead Major League Baseball in scoring. And hitting with runners in scoring position.
But when runs are down and losses pile up – as has been the case of the last week-plus – some worry naturally sets in.
The general concern, even when the Rangers topped out at 40-20, was pitching. The loss of Jacob deGrom, bullpen meltdowns and the need to acquire arms were the overriding issues for the first two months of the season.
The offense? That was just fine. Marcus Semien, Corey Seager and Adolis García led a lineup drawing comparison to the Murderers’ Row New York Yankees.
Not lately.
In the 2-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night, the Rangers were 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
That hurts.
“That’s the story of the game,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “We just couldn’t get a hit with a runner in scoring position, but you keep pushing. We did get spoiled there and I said at one time you’re going to have a rough patch and that’s what happened.”
The Rangers (42-27) are in their first serious downtown this season, going 2-7 since June 7. The RISP and scoring numbers in that stretch reflect that slump.
In the last nine games, Texas is hitting .187 (14-75) with RISP. For the season, the Rangers lead baseball at .270. Texas is also the top scoring team at 6.1 runs per game, but that’s dropped to 3.7 to coincide with the current slide.
Has something changed lately in the overall team approach with runners at second and third?
“You can look at something like that, they’re doing something different,” Bochy said. “I don’t see anything different now. They all want to come through, believe me, and they’re all good with runners in scoring position.
“It’s a very good lineup, we’re just going through a little patch here getting those big hits. I don’t think they’re doing anything different.”
Bochy acknowledged that perhaps a little pressure has set in.
“Could they be pressing a little bit? Maybe because they really care,” he said. They want to win. We’ll come out this. You just have to keep pushing forward and put these games behind you.”
The track record is there over the course of the season. The Rangers currently have three of the top four American League RISP hitters – Seager (1st, .457), Jonah Heim (3rd, .429) and Semien (4th, .426).
The AL West-leading Rangers continue their series with Toronto on Saturday at 3:05 p.m. Dane Dunning (5-1, 2.76) goes for Texas, with the Blue Jays undecided on a starter as of Friday.
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