Clock Ticking on Slumping Texas Rangers as Max Scherzer Takes Ball

The Texas Rangers traded for Max Scherzer for moments like these.

Well, maybe not exactly like this.

An eight-game losing streak has the Rangers feeling as it the season in hanging in the balance. Even though there’s 34 games to go and Texas (72-56) is still tied for the American League West lead, there’s a sense of urgency to get things turned back around.

“When it rains, it pours,” Mitch Garver said after Friday’s 12-2 loss at the Minnesota Twins. “We haven’t been good on any part of the ball. We haven’t pitched well. We haven’t played defense well. We haven’t hit well, especially with runners in scoring position.

“It’s just been a tough stretch. Eventually, we’ll come out of it, but the clock’s ticking a little bit. We’ve got to get out of this sooner rather than later.”

Scherzer was one of several big pieces acquired for the stretch run, as the Rangers appeared to be rolling to their first postseason since 2016. The Seattle Mariners are now considered the favorites to win the division after moving into a tie with Texas, with the Houston Astros only one game back.

The Rangers have been out of first place in the AL West for only one day this season – April 8.

“There’s a bright side to it, but there’s nothing we can do about it now,” Garver said. “You can’t go backwards. We’ve let some games slip out and we’re kind of on a little skid, so it’s on us. It’s on us to bring it back together and do what we can do to scratch out some wins.”

If anything, the Rangers still control their destiny. There’s still more than a month’s worth of games.

“That’s baseball, man,” Garver said. “There’s no bad teams in the league. You run into a stretch of good teams who get hot and it’s tough. That’s why you play 162 to really see by the end.”

So the Rangers are now counting on Scherzer going into Saturday’s third game with Minnesota. The three-time Cy Young Award winner is making his fifth start for Texas, going 3-1 with a 2.66 ERA and .169 opponents’ batting average (14-83) through four outings.

The Rangers need an ace performance to help snap their season-high skid. First pitch from Target Field is scheduled for 6:15 p.m.

“You can’t think about what’s happened the last week and a half, whatever,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “We’re still in a great situation. That’s how we’ve got to feel. We have baseball left. This is a tough rut to be in. There’s no getting around it. But like I said, it’s time to bow our necks, find a way to win a ballgame and get this thing turned around.”

You can follow Art Garcia on Twitter @ArtGarcia92.

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