'Worn Down' Texas Rangers Fall After Season-Saving Winning Streak

The Texas Rangers had their six-game winning streak snapped in predictable fashion Friday at the Cleveland Guardians.

Call it a letdown. Or a trap game. Or inevitable.

The Texas Rangers weren’t going to win every game for the rest of the season. At some point they were going to lose. Their season-saving winning streak would end.

And it happened Friday night at Progressive Field to the sputtering Cleveland Guardians.

A starter that would have certainly fit with the Rangers ended up beguiling the Texas bats. Lucas Giolito was claimed by the Guardians after the great Los Angeles Angels purge of August 2023.

Since Cleveland had a worse record, the franchise was able to stock up waiver cuts. The thinking was the Guardians could make a run at the Minnesota Twins.

That never happened.

Sam Huff's homer was one of the few bright spots in the Rangers' loss at Cleveland / © Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Giolito is good, but not that good. The Rangers had just piled 35 runs on the Toronto Blue Jays over the previous four nights. That’s a club playing for something. Just like the Rangers.

So perhaps the emotional, mental and physical energy expended in the Canadian sweep left the Rangers all kinds of exhausted by the time they arrived on the banks of Lake Erie after a night game in Toronto.

“It’s part of it. You get it,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “It’s not an excuse, but I know the boys were probably worn down.”

Not to mention the toll of Max Scherzer being lost to injury.

Texas (82-65) was going to lose at some point. Even to a bad team like Cleveland. The trick – especially if the Rangers want to keep their Wild Card spot and make a run at that AL West – is not letting losing spread.

(Texas held its playoff positioning as both the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners also lost Friday night.)

Bochy recently said that a rut can become “contagious.” That’s a virus the Rangers can’t afford in the clubhouse, especially with help (Josh Jung and Adolis García) on the way.

They worked too hard over the last week to salvage their season and hope.

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