The no comeback kids. 142 comments


Rangers starter Miguel Gonzalez gets out of a bases-loaded, no-outs jam, but his offense couldn’t keep him from taking on the loss.

 

The Rangers have shown a remarkable inability to come back late in a game, something that was their specialty last season.

But of the 76 games the Rangers have won, they have come from behind in the seventh inning or later just eleven times. And the last time it happened was July 23 in a game against Tampa Bay when they scored three in the eighth to turn a 5-3 deficit into a 6-5 win.

(They’ve had just two walk-off wins in 2017, and those came back-to-back nights in May, in oddly similar fashion. Both from scoring 4 runs in the bottom of the ninth in 5-2 wins.)

It’s been two months since the Rangers came from behind to win a game. When they are down late, they fold up their tent and call it a night. That team whose motto was “Never Ever Quit” always ever does.

It’s a function of having too many players who are one-dimensional, either hit a home run or strike out. Gomez, Odor, Gallo, Napoli. There are too many holes in a lineup for a come-from-behind victory to fall into and not get out.

The Rangers couldn’t find a home run last night, so they couldn’t find any offense. Couple that with an offense that packs it in after six-innings, and it’s easy to see what the culprit of a 76-78 season is.

*****
TODAY’S GAME:

Martin Perez (12-11, 4.70) vs. Jharel Cotton (8-10, 5.81)
Game time: 3:05

How the Rangers hit against Cotton.
How the Athletics hit against Perez.