ARLINGTON, Texas – The Rangers reached the season’s ceremonial halfway point on Sunday, but they looked fully done.
They limped into the All-Star break, humbled for the fourth straight time by a Seattle team that began July looking up at them in the standings. Seattle. On Sunday, the final was 6-2. The score didn’t matter. The Mariners, now winners of 14 straight, simply outclassed the Rangers at every juncture of the weekend. Second-place Seattle now leads the Rangers by eight games. Houston? You can’t see the first-place Astros from here even with the James Webb telescope.
The Mariners delivered two-out hits throughout the weekend; the Rangers did not. The Mariners got solid relief work; the Rangers’ bullpen is hanging on for dear life. The Mariners created havoc on the bases; the Rangers stood there.
And that was before the game.
At that point, he also didn’t disagree with the notion that it wouldn’t necessarily be terrible if somebody decided they wanted to make a mess out of the palatial home clubhouse at Globe Life Field.
But by the end of the day, he acknowledged the All-Star break, even one shortened to three days by MLB’s winter-long lockout, might be what the Rangers needed most. A few days off to forget the first two weeks of July, in which they went 5-11 and watched the weight of the first half come crashing down on the bullpen. The Rangers enter the break at 41-49, on pace for 74 wins.
“I’m just looking to see the fight that we have,” Woodward said. “This group is a group that can be pushed. I have high expectations for these guys. No, we didn’t finish off great. But hopefully a little rest, a little resurgence and we can come out guns blazing in the second half. I know we have the character to do that. For me, hopefully the biggest thing for me is that we’re learning along the way and how to be better in everything in every way.”
If that’s the case, there was plenty of learning over a very long four days. And by “learning,” we mean pain. The Rangers suffered a four-game home sweep. Even in the wretched misery that was 2021, the Rangers didn’t suffer a four-game home sweep. Minnesota, from Aug. 15-18, 2019, was the last team to do it. That was a whole stadium ago.
Over the weekend, Seattle was constantly a step ahead of the Rangers. If it wasn’t one thing, it was another. The Seattle series laid bare again that the Rangers have significant deficiencies all across the roster.
In the first two games of the series, a tired bullpen made messes of close games. If there was an overarching juxtaposition to the series, it was in bullpen performance. The Mariners allowed three runs in 15 2/3 relief innings, including 5 1/3 on Sunday; The Rangers allowed 11 in 17 innings – and that’s only if you don’t count “bulk” pitcher Taylor Hearn’s outing against the bullpen.
On Saturday, Seattle executed in big late situations, particularly on the bases, where the Rangers, who pride themselves on creating chaos, did not. Seattle’s Sam Haggerty stole third base in the 10th on Saturday against temporary closer Brett Martin, who simply did not pay close enough attention. In the Rangers’ half of the inning, with Leody Taveras at second, the Rangers couldn’t steal third and couldn’t advance him, either.
On Sunday, young starter Glenn Otto pitched admirably but allowed a pair of two-out homers to the geographically named duo of Cal Raleigh and Ty France that put the Rangers in a hole out of which they could not climb.
Raleigh’s two-run homer in the fourth, which gave Seattle the lead for good, was particularly emblematic of the struggle the Rangers pitchers have had this year. It came after Otto had hit a batter and then run the count to two strikes on Raleigh. On Friday, the game turned on a two-out, full count grand slam by Julio Rodriguez, a rookie with enough talent to tilt the balance of power in the AL West.
“They are playing well,” Woodward said of Seattle. “They play clean defense. Their at-bat quality has been tough. They are tough to pitch to. And that’s kind of my point to our team. That’s what I expect.
“We’ve got to come back, ready to roll in the second half,” Woodward added. “We’ve got a lot of games to play, and the whole organization has a lot to prove.”
All that got proven over the weekend was the Mariners have left the Rangers behind.
