ARLINGTON – Even on a good day this year, Bruce Bochy has had limited bullpen options.
And Monday was not a good day.
The Rangers’ beleaguered and burnt-out bullpen, fried beyond recognition by a Labor Day weekend heavy on labor. Bochy’s plan for the key series opener against Houston was to close the game with former starter Martín Pérez, if given the chance. He ended up closing with Austin Hedges. Yeah, the catcher. You can imagine how things ultimately went.
But seriously, it went worse.
In a 13-6 wipeout of the Rangers, the Astros hit five homers and scored 10 runs over the final four innings against relievers. It left the Rangers alone in third place in the AL West and hanging on to a wild-card berth by the thinnest of threads with 25 games remaining. Toronto, the first team out, trails them by a half game.
It has perhaps even pushed Bochy to the breaking point on a bullpen beyond description. Even he sounded a little disgusted when the bullpen came up. Corey Seager made a big — albeit rare — error. Rallies died at the end of the Rangers’ lineup. Didn’t matter.
“Tonight, we got caught a little short-handed in the bullpen,” Bochy said. “You hope those guys come through for you, and they struggled. And that was the story tonight. That was the difference.”
He was talking about Monday. Might as well be talking about a season that is slipping away from the Rangers, as well. We’ll get back to the bullpen. Unfortunately. But first: More on the dire circumstances watch.
The loss officially clinches the season series for the Astros, who are 7-4 against the Rangers with two games remaining. With MLB’s expanded playoff schedule, tiebreakers determine everything from seeding to eligibility, meaning, yeah, it’s possible if these two teams tied for the final wild-card spot, the Astros would be in and the Rangers out based on Monday’s outcome. Which means a little more than the Silver Boot trophy, wherever that is. Haven’t seen it in these parts since 2016.
The Rangers had hoped Monday would give them a chance to gain some momentum. They’d won the series finale against Minnesota on an Adolis García walkoff homer that felt like the lifting of a burden. Houston, having been swept at home by the New York Yankees, arrived in Arlington late Sunday night for an afternoon game the next day. And the Rangers jumped out to an early lead on the first of Seager’s two homers. It grew to 3-0, though the Rangers failed to add on, which has been another recent problem.
They also needed starter Andrew Heaney to pitch deep into the game because blown leads over the weekend left Aroldis Chapman, José Leclerc, Chris Stratton, Will Smith and Cody Bradford unavailable.
Heaney ran into trouble in the fifth, unable to get Yordan Alvarez to chase a second slider with two strikes and ended up walking him to load the bases and force his exit in a tie game. It made three consecutive days in which the Rangers took a lead of at least three runs and then lost it. When the bullpen got involved, trouble wasn’t far behind.
Glenn Otto, who worked out of a bases-loaded jam to end the fifth, gave up back-to-back homers with two outs in the sixth on hanging sliders. Josh Sborz failed to retire any of the first six batters he faced upon entering a one-run game. All six scored, the last three on a homer by No. 8 hitter Yainer Diaz. Sborz has allowed 22 runs in 15 1/3 innings over his last 16 games. It seems improbable to think he could be given another opportunity with leverage this season. It may sound improbable to think he’ll be given another opportunity at all.
The inning also included an error by Seager, screened by a runner on a ground ball that ultimately got through his legs. Two runs scored on the play.
A key moment in the game? Not according to Bochy. Which says more about the bullpen than anything else. Probably it says it all.
“You are going to make errors in this game,” Bochy said. “The guy has been so good out there. I want the ball hit to him. It happens. He’s played unbelievable baseball. That wasn’t the game. … It’s up to the pitching to come through and pick a player up that makes error. We couldn’t do it. That’s what happened.”
The bullpen numbers are nothing short of grotesque. And the inability to close out leads has robbed the Rangers of the chance to regain late-season momentum. The current 47.3% save conversion percentage would make it the worst all-time for a team with at least 25 saves. The ERA is now approaching 5.00 (it sits at 4.86).
“It’s going to take one swing of the bat or one big play,” Seager said of the Rangers’ 5-12 stretch. “That’s just the situation we are in right now. Everything is amplified right now because of where we are in the season. We’ve got to be able to handle the big moment.”
There really isn’t much more to say. And, yet, it keeps coming back to being the story: The bullpen threatens to scuttle the season.
Twitter: @Evan_P_Grant
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