The Texas Rangers suffered a 9-3 loss to the Houston Astros on Saturday at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.

The loss evens up the slate between the Rangers and their in-state rivals after Texas took the first game of the series on Friday, 7-3. So, what went wrong for the home team?

The Rangers gave the starting nod to right-hander Kumar Rocker, and in a season of tough outings for the 26-year-old, Saturday’s was the worst yet.

From the jump, it was an uphill battle for Rocker. After giving up a leadoff single to Jeremy Pena in the first inning, Rocker allowed a two-run home run to Yordan Alvarez, and the Rangers immediately found themselves facing a deficit.

Rocker then gave up a double to Isaac Paredes before finally getting the first out of the inning, which also doubled as his first strikeout. Rocker added another strikeout before the end of the frame, but it was not a precursor for a bounce-back outing.

After Rocker and the Rangers’ defense retired the Astros in order during the second inning, disaster struck in the top of the third.

After forcing Pena into a lead-off out, Rocker lost the battle to Alvarez again when the latter hit a double to right field. Subsequently, Rocker walked Paredes before striking out Christian Walker.

With just one out needed to escape the inning without any damage, Rocker gave up a single to Jose Altuve. That set up a grand slam by LaMonte Wade Jr., and what was once a manageable two-run deficit for the Rangers was suddenly a six-run hole.

After the grand slam, Rocker allowed a double to Yainer Diaz before finally getting out of the inning, but the damage he endured was not yet over.

In the top of the fourth, Christian Vazquez hit a leadoff home run off Rocker to make it a 7-0 game. Rocker also walked Alvarez with one out, but consecutive strikeouts ended the frame.

Rocker remained in the game through the fifth inning, and the Rangers were able to get the Astros out in order. In the sixth, Rocker helped secure the first two outs of the inning via strikeout and groundout before hitting Pena with a pitch, and that marked the end of his evening.

Through 5.2 innings, Rocker struck out six batters while allowing eight hits, a season-high seven earned runs, a season-high three home runs and two walks. He was also assessed his fourth-straight losing decision, which pushed him to 2-8 on the season.

Conversely, the Rangers’ offense could not do enough to try and get back in the game.

After falling behind 6-0, Texas was able to score its first run in the fourth via a solo home run by Ezequiel Duran. In the ninth, the Rangers added two more runs, but the Astros did as well.

By the end of the game, Texas had gone 7-for-33 at the plate and struck out 12 times. The Rangers will have a chance to win the series on Sunday and go into the All-Star break with a winning record.

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