Latest Texas Rangers Slide Attributed to Major Slump in Key Offensive Category

The addition of Bret Boone as hitting coach has given the Texas Rangers a spark at the plate. Well, mostly.

In his first game on the bench Sunday, the Rangers exploded for 16 hits, which led to a 6-1 win over the Boston Red Sox. Texas did have a respectable showing with eight hits in a 6-4 loss on Wednesday, but the club’s situational hitting had a lot to be desired.

The “same story,” as manager Bruce Bochy described it, was on display in Thursday’s 5-0 loss to the Red Sox.

Just How Bad is it for the Texas Rangers?

“We got to get a hit with runners in scoring position,” Bochy said. “We were 0-for-10 [Wednesday] and 0-for-7 … [Thursday]. You don’t win games unless you get those hits. So we did what we’re trying to do, get guys on. We had the right guys up. We couldn’t get that hit to keep it going there.”

Bochy was right about having the right guys at the dish with a chance to drive in run. But the trio of Marcus Semien, Adolis García and Wyatt Langford each went 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position. Joc Pederson had the other fruitless at-bat.

The 0-for-17 stretch in the last two games is the main reason the Rangers dropped their sixth consecutive series. Texas is 18-20 going into the start of a three-game series at the Detroit Tigers on Friday.

Bochy commended the effort of Thursday’s starter, Jack Leiter, who scuffled through 5.1 innings, while noting that Corey Seager and Jonah Heim were given the day off.  

“He kept us in the game,” Bochy said of Leiter. “We just couldn’t get things going. I loved the energy. I do. I know it’s hard to say that when you get shut out, but they’re fighting. They’re getting on. They’re doing some good things. We’ve go to keep going like this and it’s going to happen. Had a couple of guys that needed a day off [Thursday], so we were probably missing a couple of bats.”