For the Rangers to have a chance in games like last night’s, Bruce Bochy is going to have to let his starters go longer. Once he took out Dane Dunning after five innings and went to his bullpen, he threw up the white flag.

The Rangers bullpen has an ERA over 9.00 in the second half. Bringing in anyone other than Chapman or Smith is throwing in the towel.

Last night it was Grant Anderson. Yes, he deserved better fate on the lazy fly ball hit to left center that Taveras and Jankowski surrounded, looked at, called for, and didn’t touch. That should have been an out.

But it could have also been pitched around. Instead, the inning cratered, and a 3-0 deficit turned into a 7-0 deficit and the Rangers just played to get back to the hotel.

You know your bullpen is bad when it contains Spencer Howard. Yes, he pitched two scoreless innings. But it’s Spencer Howard. He entered the game with a very Howard-like ERA of 27.00. His ERA as a Ranger, in bits of three seasons, is 8.37. Bringing Spencer Howard into a game is like putting pineapple on your pizza.

It really is remarkable the Rangers are in first place with a bullpen this horrible.

It’s like the car leading the Indianapolis 500 at the halfway point doesn’t have a steering wheel. 

It’s like the leader of the Boston Marathon has only one shoe.

It’s like winning a knife fight with only a butter knife.

The Rangers are in first with a bullpen of a 100-loss team. How is it even possible?

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