It’s hard to hit hen you’re down 0-2 in the count.

Yet, that’s what the Rangers did last night against Terik Skubal, last year’s American League Cy Young winner, and in the running for it this year. Every time they came up to the plate, they were down two strikes.

They were facing a left-handed starter. Strike one.

They decided to face him with a third-string lineup. Strike two.

Look, it’s hard enough to beat a pitcher as dominating as Skubal with your best hitters. But why compound the problem by running out a lineup with Cody Freeman, Justin Foscue, and Ezequiel Duran?

Cody Freeman had never had a major league at-bat. So, he gets his first start against the toughest pitcher in baseball. Not surprisingly, he went 0-3 with one strikeout.

Foscue came into the game with one hit to his credit this year. That hit had stopped an 0-for-45 slide. He went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.

Duran was the heavy hitter of the three. He came into the game batting .150. He went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts.

The bottom of the Rangers starting lineup was 0-for-9. That’s not noteworthy, that’s what was expected. The Rangers raised the white flag before the game even started.

Look, facing Skubal is hard enough. But maybe one of the reasons he keeps winning games is because teams keep throwing out weaker lineups against him.

If this was a playoff game, you’d have to think Smith, Carter, and Tellez would have started and taken their chances with a tough lefty. They’re chances would have been better than zero, which is what the Rangers had by starting Freeman, Foscue, and Duran against Skubal.

With last night’s 2-1 loss, the Ranger are now 50-50 on the season. Which is fitting, because they have a 50-50 chance of making the playoffs.

But last night, they had a 0-100 chance of beating Skubal with that lineup.

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