Finally, twenty-two innings later, the Rangers scored a run.

Corey Seager’s three-run homer on Monday in Game 1 of this three-game series against the Pirates came in the third inning. 

The Rangers didn’t score the rest of that game. Didn’t score at all in Game 2 on Tuesday. And didn’t score the first eight innings of Game 3 yesterday.

That was twenty-two scoreless innings.

Worse, take away the two home runs Seager hit on Monday, and the Rangers got twelve hits the rest of the way. Eleven singles and one double. 

Corey Seager went 3-for-10 in this series, with four RBIs. The rest of the Rangers went 11-for-83. That’s a whopping .133. With one RBI.

It’s like this team was engineered by ERCOT, it cannot supply enough power when needed. These aren’t rolling blackouts, these are steamrolling blackouts. 

Luckily, the Rangers played a team that is in as big of a freefall as they are. The Pirates are back to their customary last-place spot in the N.L. Central. So, the only run the Rangers scored today was the only run of the game. 

And it meant Texas won two out of three games. It was their first series win since they swept the lowly White Sox, and only their second series win since the All-Star break.

Had the Rangers lost, it would have been the first time since 2001 they would have lost eight series in a row. 

Now this team takes a day off before heading to play the Guardians, the team with the second-best record in the American League. 

But optimism follows them to Cleveland. They are on a hot streak. They have scored a run in one consecutive inning in a row. 

They scored a run. They’re on a run. What a great time to be a Rangers fan.

*****  
TODAY’S GAME: