The Texas Rangers' mediocre season came to an end on Sunday with a 6-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins.
The Texas Rangers' season came to an end on Sunday with a 6-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins at Target Field in Minnesota.
With the loss, the Rangers miss the playoffs for the third year in a row and finish with a losing record for the second time in three seasons.
Gore, bullpen struggle
In Game 162, the Rangers put left-hander MacKenzie Gore on the mound, and he opened his brief outing by allowing a leadoff walk, a single, and a sacrifice fly RBI that put Texas behind 1-0.
Gore got through the inning, and he retired the Twins' side in the bottom of the second, but in the bottom of the third, after the Rangers tied the game thanks to a solo home run by Danny Jansen, right-hander Chase Silseth replaced him.
For Gore, Sunday was the final act in a below-average season in which he went 8-11 with a 4.58 ERA through 34 starts. On Sunday, he only pitched 2.1 innings and allowed a hit, an earned run and a walk.
Silseth was worse off, as he hit Luke Keaschall, the first batter he faced, with a pitch before giving up a two-run home run to Josh Bell and a ground-rule double to Ryan Jeffers before getting out of the inning.
After Silseth’s afternoon was over, Robert Garcia and Tyler Alexander took the mound and combined for 1.1 innings. Alexander allowed two hits, a walk and an earned run.
Jakob Junis took the hill next and also struggled, giving up three walks and one earned run while striking out one batter.
Jordan Montgomery and Cody Bradford were the last two relievers to pitch for the Rangers, and they combined for 3.2 innings, four strikeouts, five hits and one earned run. All the while, the offense could not keep up with Minnesota’s.
Preparing for the offseason
This was a fitting end for a Rangers team that failed repeatedly to find a way to win consistently. Over and over again, Texas found itself battling to just remain .500, let alone secure a winning record.
The Rangers have been hanging on to a thread of mediocrity since their magical run to winning the World Series in 2023, and their first season with manager Skip Schumaker at the helm did not alleviate the problems they have.
The holdovers from the championship team, such as Corey Seager, Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi, are aging and becoming less effective. Additionally, the young stars have been injured or inconsistent, which puts Texas between a rock and a hard place.
The front office has some decisions to make before next spring, and they will not be easy.
