ARLINGTON — The batted ball that sunk the Rangers into a deficit wouldn't have even cracked the speed limit on the highways that encircle their home city. The one that left them in a hole that even these rally-ready Rangers couldn't climb out of would've had state troopers in pursuit. The starter was great before he wound up head over heels while he watched an early lead fizzle. The team's most keen eye in the batter's box couldn't challenge a ghastly called strike three because he stepped outside of it.
Wednesday's 8-4 loss vs. the Pittsburgh Pirates at Globe Life Field, if the above doesn't do it justice, was "a weird game" from Rangers manager Skip Schumaker's vantage point.
That was true to the game's final inning, when with the go-ahead run at third base, the Rangers got the desired result in a high-leverage situation and still wound up on the wrong end of baseball's volatility. The Rangers, one inning after they tied the game on a two-run single from Jake Burger, sent right-hander Cole Winn to the mound. Winn allowed consecutive singles to third baseman Nick Gonzalez and first baseman Spencer Horwitz before he struck out shortstop Konnor Griffin with runners on the corners.
The Pirates then pinch hit left-handed hitter Jake Mangum, and though the Rangers had left-hander Jalen Beeks warmed up in the bullpen, they kept Winn on. Winn, who'd held lefties to a .176 average this season despite the perceived mismatch disadvantage, executed as planned and got Mangum to chop a 60 mph ground ball to third baseman Josh Jung with the defense in. Gonzalez got a quick start from third base, though, and the ball was hit "in a really tough spot" that forced a slightly-off target throw from Jung that allowed the go-ahead run to score.
"Cole's been excellent all year," Schumaker said. "I would've had confidence in Beeks as well coming in there, but I felt like with [Winn's] split-fastball combination at the top, that he was going to get it on the ground to our good infield defense, which he did. But, a tough play to be made, I don't know who makes that play that [Jung] had."
If unlucky bounces are an unsatisfactory finish, well, Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz left no doubt. The Rangers brought Beeks on to face him after the go-ahead run scored, and when he threw Cruz a middle-middle cutter, the 6-foot-7 basher launched a three-run home run 116.9 mph off of the top of the right field foul pole. It was the second-hardest hit home run in the history of the stadium. Only Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez, who hit a 117 mph home run two years ago, has registered a faster exit velocity.
Even Cruz homers are bigger in Texas ‼️ pic.twitter.com/d7RvGHbkwE
"He got a good pitch to hit," Schumaker said. "He hit a mistake. I'm guessing that [Beeks] wants that ball back."
And, if possible, Rangers right-hander Jack Leiter would like that fifth inning back. He cruised through four innings, settled in after he allowed one run on consecutive hits in the first and only needed 55 pitches to reach the fifth. The Pirates tied the game on two singles and a walk in the fifth, and with runners at first and second base, left fielder Bryan Reynolds drove in the go-ahead run with a single into right field. Right fielder Brandon Nimmo tried to rifle a throw to hold the runners in place, but the ball skated under Burger's glove, slid past the backstop and forced Leiter into defensive action. He gave chase, tripped over the visitor's on deck circle and tumbled to the ground while second baseman Brandon Lowe scored with ease in the midst of the fracas.
Leiter, who said his "ankle kind of got tweaked," remained in the game to finish the inning. He believes he'll be fine to make his next scheduled start but will see how his leg responds Thursday morning.
"You immediately worry that it's going to find a hole in the dugout and that's going to be an extra base," Leiter said. "Looking at the ball, sprinting after it, it didn't even cross my mind with stuff on the on-deck circle."
The 26-year-old had retired 10 of the 11 batters that he faced after designated hitter Marcel Ozuna singled in Pittsburgh's first run just three at-bats into the game. He'd pitched well enough to allow the Rangers, courtesy of a two-run home run from Jung in the second inning, to position themselves for a series win.
"That's where most of the frustration and disbelief is coming from postgame," Leiter said. "It just felt like it was a good one. Everything made a turn for the worse in the fifth inning."