The Texas Rangers are beginning to see their playoff hopes drift away.
They’ll try to start reeling them back in when they host the Tampa Bay Rays in the finale of their four-game series on Sunday afternoon in Arlington, Texas.
The Rangers (70-73) have lost two in a row and three of four since pulling within a half game of the final wild-card spot in the American League.
Texas will head into Sunday two games back of the Cleveland Guardians and Toronto Blue Jays for the final wild-card berth and three games back of the Houston Astros atop the AL West.
“We’re going to do whatever we can to try and get this right because time’s running out here,” Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said following a 6-3, 10-inning loss to the Rays on Saturday. “We’ve got to start collecting some wins because we’re digging ourselves a little bit of a hole right now.”
The Rangers identified Junior Caminero and Jonathan Aranda as players to stop heading into the series, but they’ve come up short the past two games.
Caminero is 4-for-10 with a double, home run and three RBIs, and Aranda is 4-for-9 with two home runs and five RBIs.
“Caminero and Aranda have done some damage against us and we’ve got to make sure they’re not beating us,” Schumaker said. “We’ve got to take a look at exactly what we’re doing wrong because they’ve been slugging and doing damage in the wrong time of the game.”
Aranda has four home runs overall in the past 11 games after hitting just one in the first 34 games following the All-Star break.
“The home runs will come,” Aranda said through an interpreter after hitting a three-run homer in the 10th inning of Saturday’s win. “I’ll take them whenever they do, but I’m a contact hitter first and foremost. So, just being able to feel myself in the box, feeling comfortable and being able to put the ball in play, is the big thing.”
The Rays (85-57) will try to find some run support for Ian Seymour when he takes the mound on Sunday.
Seymour (9-6, 4.21 ERA) has lost his past three starts, but didn’t pitch poorly in any of them as the offense scored just two runs while he was in those games.
He most recently allowed three runs over 6 1/3 innings in a 3-2 loss to the New York Mets on Monday, going without walking a batter for the second straight outing, and striking out 10.
Seymour has faced the Rangers just once in his career. He threw 4 2/3 innings of scoreless relief on July 29 to earn the win in the 3-0 victory. He won his next two outings as well, both starts, before beginning his current winless streak.
MacKenzie Gore is penciled in to start for the Rangers on Sunday.
Gore (8-10, 4.31) beat the Athletics his last time out. The left-hander held them to one run and five hits in 5 1/3 innings of the 8-5 win.
Gore made his only career appearance against the Rays in that July 29 matchup, going seven innings as the starter and taking the loss after allowing all three runs. He allowed first inning home runs to Yandy Diaz and Ryan Vilade.
-Field Level Media
