The Texas Rangers fell 7-2 at the hands of the New York Mets in the second game of their huge series on Wednesday in Arlington.
ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Texas Rangers postseason chances were dealt another tough blow on Wednesday night at Globe Life Field.
Texas fell to the New York Mets 7-2 as the bullpen surrendered a pair of huge late-inning home runs.
With the game tied at two in the eighth, it was former Rangers hero Marcus Semien who took Jacob Latz deep to give New York a 3-2 lead.
Williams surrenders Baty grand slam
Needing to put up a zero in the ninth to keep the game close, Trevor Williams surrendered a pinch-hit grand slam to Brett Baty to make it 7-2 and put the game away for good. Williams came on in relief of Jordan Montgomery, looking to get the final out of the inning and keep the deficit at one, but walked Bo Bichette before allowing the grand slam.
“With two outs, you’re sending the righty in to get Bichette; that’s the out you want to go get,” Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said after the game.
“We wanted Williams vs. Bichette, and he had him ahead of the count but just couldn’t put him away, and the walk ended up hurting him.”
For much of the night, the Rangers offense was troubled by Mets starter Nolan McLean, who went seven innings, allowing just three hits and two runs. Both of the Texas runs came in the fifth inning in an effort that saw them tie the game after a Juan Soto home run off Cody Bradford in the third.
Schumaker appreciated team's fight
“It was a good fight back in the fifth inning to tie it up, but we had a tough time on the offensive side,” Schumaker said.
“We just couldn’t catch up to the fastball again," he continued. "Two nights in a row, the fastball has beaten us, and [McLean] is a really good young pitcher; he’s going to be good for a long time.
"His fastball was really good, and he can spin the ball as well as anyone in the league. We had our chances a couple of times, but for the most part we just couldn’t catch up to the fastball on back-to-back nights."
Highlighted within the Rangers' offensive struggles were Wyatt Langford and Corey Seager, who combined to go 0-for-8 with four strikeouts at the top of the order.
“The strikeouts are adding up a little bit, and we’ve gotta do the best we can to move the ball forward, and we just haven’t done it," Schumaker said. "The top of the order has to carry us, that’s just the reality of it, and they know it, they’re frustrated, you can sense and feel it in the dugout."
