DETROIT — Bruce Bochy celebrated his 69th birthday Tuesday. He continues to provide incredibly astute and up-to-date information on some of the latest metrics and data points that can validate, invalidate, excite, and infuriate any on-field happening within the parameters of a ballpark. Masu.
for example.
“BABIP helped us win today,” Bochy said after the Rangers lost 4-2 to the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.
He's right. BABIP, or batting average for balls in play, or the best way to describe it, is complete luck for the team, but it wasn't on the Rangers' side. It was a different story when Corey Seager hit a 97.8 mph flyout in the fourth inning, one step short of a three-run homer. That certainly wasn't the case when the Tigers collected back-to-back singles of 63.3 mph and 67.4 mph to take the lead in the eighth inning. Or when Zach McKinstry's routine single soared under the glove of right fielder Evan Carter for Detroit's first run of the game in the third inning.
Texas was predictably unlucky on Tuesday. But that's not the biggest problem, and a seasoned manager would recognize that.
“We have to get the bats out. There's no getting around that,” Bochy said. “We just haven't been able to drive the ball like we're used to.”
The Rangers scored two runs on seven singles Monday. The first came in the fifth inning when Josh Smith reached with a single, scored his second run on a wild pitch, and scored on Ezequiel Duran's single. In the second, four at-bats later, Marcus Semien scored Duran with his own single. Seager popped out in his next at-bat, ending the inning.
By doing so, you will complete an aggressive highlight. Somehow, surprisingly, it's a longer reel than Monday's 1-0 win when Texas' only score came on a ground ball that Semien took to avoid a double play. It was similar to Saturday, when the Rangers lost by two points to the Houston Astros, and Thursday, when they lost a shutout to the Oakland Athletics.
“At the end of the day, they have good hands,” Semien said. “We need to shorten and reduce the zone a little bit more.”
Texas had eight strikeouts on Tuesday and 10 on Monday. Tuesday could have exposed some batters to a wide strike zone, but that didn't help. In the first inning, Carter appeared to be in the zone and was called for a strike, but he struck out on a low slider. Wyatt Langford and Ezequiel Duran both went for second on controversial pitches to the outside and got strikeouts.
That's bad luck, so to speak. The Rangers' batting lineup has just stalled. Since April 8, they have been a league-average hitting team (.246 batting average) and have not driven the ball for any kind of power during that span. All six of their hit songs on Tuesday were singles. They only had one extra-base hit on Monday (Jonah Heim's double). Their slugging percentage (.348) ranks 22nd in the league since April 8, when the Rangers began their current 3-7 losing streak. He hit just five home runs during that span, including two in Sunday's 9-5 loss to Houston.
Texas led the AL in slugging percentage and home runs in 2023 and was second in total doubles. This was the basis of their run to the World Series and the reason the Rangers made it to the postseason in the first place. Even if the pitching is erratic, the batter can pick it up.
Well, Monday's pitching was a little stagnant, but it wasn't stagnant. Starting pitcher Jon Gray pitched six innings and allowed only one earned run, but the Tigers scored two runs in the eighth inning on two soft singles and a wild pitch by Jacob Lutz.
The bats just weren't there to cheer.
“Keep it mixed up. I'm going to tweak the lineup and keep things going,” Bochy said. “You're trying to rest guys. Get them off your feet and keep them fresh. You knew it was going to be a tough losing streak here. I was worried before it started, but you just… I continue to work and stay behind them.”
The Rangers' lineup remains in flux, partially due to injuries and partially due to reluctance to add. Third baseman Josh Jung (fractured wrist) and first baseman Nathaniel Rowe (oblique strain) are out. With the Rangers in the midst of playing 17 games in 17 days, Bochy gave Seager and rookie Wyatt Langford the day off on Monday, and right fielder Adris Garcia and catcher Jonah Heim on Tuesday. was given leave.
Still, the Rangers lead the American League West with a .500 batting average with nine wins and nine losses. I'm hoping that when the bats return, they look pretty comfortable.
“Sometimes you get into a rut of not scoring as much,” Bochy said. “But we're too good of a team to shut down.”
twitter: @McFarland_Shawn
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