Rangers 'trying to find it' as key season set goes to rivals

ARLINGTON -- The Rangers and Astros entered Wednesday tied in the season series at 6-6, with Texas seeking its first win in the Silver Boot Series since 2016 (15-4).

The final three-game set between the Rangers and Astros in the 2024 regular season opened on Monday night with a bang for Texas, when Josh Smith walked it off in the 10th inning. For less than 24 hours, it looked as if the reigning champs could pull through.

The series concluded with a bit of a whimper on Wednesday, when the Rangers fell, 6-4, to the Astros to finish the season series between the two in-state rivals. The Astros now hold the tiebreaker over the Rangers in the event that the two teams finish tied for a playoff spot -- last year, both teams won 90 games and Houston won the division because it held the head-to-head advantage.

At this juncture of the season, every game is important for the Rangers. It’s even more important when they’re facing one of the two teams they’re chasing in the AL West standings. This week was a big opportunity for Texas, no matter what way you look at it.

They couldn’t quite grab hold of that opportunity.

“We show up ready to play every day, no matter who it is,” said Marcus Semien, who had a solo homer on Wednesday. “Did we play our best baseball? No. They had our number this series. I think that that's a good team, but we've shown that we can be a great team. We just need to find it within ourselves.”

After nearly being no-hit the previous night, the Rangers had a little more offensive juice flowing on Wednesday, collecting nine hits and four runs. But they also went 3-for-12 with runners in scoring position, stranding nine runners on base.

Texas had the winning or tying run up to the plate multiple times over the last few innings, but was ultimately unable to scratch enough runs across.

“I don't think -- it's definitely not lack of effort,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “You see these guys working every day and putting their time in to get ready for the game and their preparation. They’re just trying to get that mojo back. This team has it in them. I've seen it, and so I'm gonna keep believing that we're going to come out of this.”

Asked about the lack of energy in the dugout, third baseman Josh Jung was honest about the team’s disposition throughout the series, and even throughout losses all season long.

“I just feel like we get frustrated,” Jung said. “I think that's the biggest thing. We get frustrated with losing the [at-bats] or not winning the [at-bat] or not hitting the pitch we think we should, and that carries over. It felt like that. I mean, we were getting no-hit until two outs [in the ninth] last night. I think we were just frustrated with not executing.”

Though this is not the final nail in the coffin for the reigning World Series champs, the chance to repeat has been slipping away for weeks as the Rangers continue to struggle to get above .500 and close the gap between themselves and both the Astros and Mariners above them in the standings.

When asked if this was one of the more head-scratching seasons for him, Bochy agreed. The four-time World Series-winning manager has never been back to the postseason in the year following a trip to the Fall Classic.

“I think [it’s baffling], only because we're not quite doing what we're capable of doing, offensively, pretty much across the board for a lot of guys,” Bochy said. “They're trying to find it. They're trying to get it going. I don't think anybody saw us sputtering offensively the way we have been. It's not just us. A lot of teams are, but the only thing you can do, as I say, is keep working, keep pushing, and try to find your way through.”

The Rangers and Astros will not face each other for the rest of the regular season. But there is still a lot of baseball left. There is time for the Rangers to catch the Astros and Mariners, and put themselves in a position to win the division.

But none of that really matters unless Texas finds a way to go on a streak, sooner rather than later.

“Why do you need to look at the scoreboard when you need to win games?” Bochy said.

“It’s pretty simple,” he added. “We have to win games. When you're behind, it’s more critical. Now, we still have [47] games somewhere in there, but still you get too far behind. Now, we're not playing very well right now. When you lose the series, that's not gonna work. We're going to have to find a way to start taking some series.”