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Rangers' Skip Schumaker Talks About Latest Loss
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- Rangers' Skip Schumaker Talks About Latest Loss
(© Jerome Miron-Imagn Images)
After winning four series in a row, the Texas Rangers have not just had that streak snapped, but they are in danger of being swept.
After losing to the Boston Red Sox on Saturday, 6-3 at Fenway Park, the Rangers have now lost two of the three games against Boston and have fallen to 34-36 after working hard to reach the .500 mark.
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After the game, manager Skip Schumaker talked with Rangers Sports Network about the loss, and started by highlighting the deflating nature of missed opportunities in the middle innings.
"Yeah, they do," Schumaker said. "From the other side, momentum. From our side, a little deflating. Some frustrating at-bats, you know, some frustrated guys in that clubhouse and, you know, during the inning for sure and you know, wanting to be the guy, wanting to provide the big hit or the big RBI and, you know, just couldn't come through.
"So, [Ranger] Suarez made some good pitches when he had to," Schumaker added. "And we just couldn't come up with the big hit."
In the top of the fourth inning, while trailing 2-1, the Rangers were able to load the bases off Suarez thanks to consecutive singles by Josh Jung and Ezequiel Duran followed by a walk from Jake Burger .
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It only resulted in one run for Texas, though, as Cody Freeman struck out before Michael Helman was able to hit a sacrifice-RBI fly ball to right field. After that, Elias Diaz grounded into a force out.
The good news for the Rangers is that they did not come away from the inning empty handed, and they were able to tie the game. In the fifth inning, more opportunities arose, but Texas could not capitalize.
With a chance to take the lead, Nicky Lopez hit a lead-off single before stealing second base. Wyatt Langford followed that up with a single of his own, and the Rangers suddenly had runners on the corners with no outs.
Subsequently, Justin Foscue hit a chopper to third base, and Lopez made the decision to try and get to home plate, which caused him to get caught in a rundown among Red Sox third baseman Caleb Durbin , shortstop Marcelo Mayer , catcher Carlos Narvaez , and Suarez before Lopez was tagged out near home.
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After the opportunity for Lopez to score was squandered, the Rangers still had a runner in scoring position after Jung walked, but two strikeouts to end the inning ruined their chance to take the lead.
On the flip side, Texas received six innings from Jacob deGrom in which he struck out five batters while allowing six hits and two earned runs. For his efforts, deGrom was praised by Schumaker.
"Yeah, he was fantastic," Schumaker said. "Six innings, two runs, against Suarez. They were like going back and forth with each other, and it was a really good job because it saved our bullpen and gave us a chance to win, and that's all you can ask for. But, you know, completing six innings is what we need during this stretch from a lot of our starters
"And, you know, Jacob DeGrom was Jacob DeGrom," he added. "Just on the attack all day and, you know, I expected exactly what he gave us and there's no surprise of, you know, giving us a chance to win again. I think the challenge for us is just providing more cushion on the offensive side for him and for our starting pitchers. We had the chance, just couldn't do it."
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The Rangers will have the chance to avoid the sweep when they face the Red Sox on Sunday at 7:20 p.m. ET.
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