Rangers search for answers as losses add up

Frustration is the word of the day and has been lately for the Rangers. That grew more pronounced on Sunday afternoon, when Texas received a better performance from starter Mike Minor and still dropped its eighth straight in a 4-1 loss to the Mariners at T-Mobile Park.

“I don’t know if we have to do something drastic like sacrifice a chicken,” said manager Chris Woodward. “Things aren’t going our way right now. The one thing we can’t do is hang our head. We have to keep working, we have to keep fighting through it, and hopefully something will go our way. We can’t rely on that, we have to make things happen.”

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The Rangers lost all five on their road trip to San Diego and Seattle, leaving them 3-11 away from Globe Life Field.

“I don't know if anybody's feeling defeated right now,” Minor said. “It's still early. I think it's more frustrating. Everybody wants to do well, so you know when nothing's going our way, guys are getting frustrated. Guys are getting mad, they're getting pissed off. Everybody wants to be a winner. So unfortunately it's, you know -- in this game, it's hard and doesn't always go our way."

Minor, 0-4 with a 6.94 ERA coming into Sunday's tilt, pitched six complete innings for the first time this season. His changeup was better, he used his curve and his fastball had sufficient velocity. But he still referred to it as a “bad” outing because of three home runs -- the most he's allowed in a start this season.

The Rangers once again found themselves trailing early when Kyle Lewis hit a solo home run off Minor in the first and Austin Nola did the same in the second. Sam Haggerty hit his first Major League home run with a runner on in the fifth to give the Mariners a 4-0 lead.

"As soon as the other team scores first, you just hear like a kind of a sigh,” Woodward said. “Anytime we hit a ball hard and make an out, you hear the same. But we have to erase that.”

The Rangers offense managed just five baserunners on the afternoon against Mariners starter Justin Dunn and three relievers on three hits, a walk and an error. Texas avoided the shutout only on an eighth-inning home run by Jeff Mathis.

“We didn’t swing the bats well,” Woodward said. “Yesterday I thought we swung the bats pretty good, today we didn’t.”

Woodward said Dunn used his fastball well and pitched “pretty good.” But the Mariners right-hander also had a 7.80 ERA over his first four 2020 starts before holding the Rangers scoreless on one hit and a walk through six innings. Texas didn’t get a hit until Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s one-out double in the fifth.

“I was disappointed today,” Woodward said. “I thought against that guy we had a chance to make things happen, and we just couldn’t get anybody on base. It doesn't look good when you're not hitting; you look like you have no energy. Guys are in there chirping and talking, but until you start actually getting some success and getting some baserunners and doing those things, it looks like you're dead.

“I'd prefer to do it the other way. Let's put a bunch of baserunners out there and start looking like we have a bunch of energy, because I feel like they do. We just need a little bit of momentum going our way.”

Even then, maybe sacrificing a goat is not the answer.

“Bring a goat in the clubhouse or something, I don’t know,” Woodward said. “We’ll come up with something. At this point it’s not laughable, because everybody is frustrated and we need to win a game. At the same time, you put too much pressure on yourself and guys start tightening up."