CHICAGO — For the Texas Rangers to win the most winnable division in baseball since baseball started slicing and dicing up the leagues nearly 60 years ago, there is one absolute: Their best players must play well.
When given the chance to do that this week and win a road series for the first time since the start of July, they simply failed. No other way to describe it. In consecutive lopsided losses to AL Central-leading Chicago on Tuesday and Wednesday, the club’s highest-paid players and its biggest offseason acquisitions mostly disappeared.
All that really happened on Wednesday was that the names and numbers changed. It still added up to another lopsided 10-4 loss. It cost the Rangers a chance to retake first in the AL West and it dropped them two games back of red-hot Cleveland in the wild card race with 28 games to go. Just another failure.
But there was a litany of them these last two days.
Just consider the back-to-back pitching performances of Jacob deGrom, the highest-salaried player on the roster, and MacKenzie Gore, the single biggest offseason pitching acquisition. Both failed to get through four innings in successive starts. Their composite line: 7 ⅓ innings, 12 runs and nine walks. It put more pressure on the middle of the bullpen, filled with tired, inexperienced arms who could not keep games close.
“It starts with starting pitching,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “I’ve said that from day one. The health and production of our starting pitching was going to carry us. The last two starts were not what they wanted, not what we were thinking was going to happen after winning the first game here. We felt pretty good about having deGrom and Gore. Not even getting eight innings out of them, I didn’t think that would be the case.”
DeGrom struggled with the command of his slider, his best pitch, on Tuesday, which got him into trouble. He called it “absolutely terrible.” On Wednesday, the velocity was down more than a mile per hour on Gore’s four-seam fastball, his go-to pitch. It led to four doubles in the first four innings. Gore said he felt fine physically, despite the drop in velocity. So, hey, at least there was something about which to not feel awful.
“Obviously, I did not pitch well today,” he said. “It just seemed like we all didn't play well, and it’s not a good time for it. I’m tired of saying it. I’m sure y’all are tired of hearing it. We’ve just got to be better. We’ve got to use this off day coming up and play better.”
But, look, the theme of the series didn’t only apply to the highest-paid and biggest acquisition on the pitching side. There was symmetry with the offense.
The same applied to Corey Seager, the highest-paid position player, and Brandon Nimmo, the biggest offseason acquisition among hitters. They combined to go 2 for 18 over the last two games, with both hits coming by Nimmo. None of them came with runners in scoring position, though. They combined to go 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position, striking out three times. This after Seager had rolled off seven multi-hit games in the eight prior to Tuesday.
“You're always frustrated anytime you can't [come through],” Seager said. “I could have changed a game or two around, but so it could always be. Obviously, you want to come through in the situation.”
But, then again, failure had plenty of company on the offensive side Wednesday, particularly early in the game. The Rangers took eight walks in the first four innings. Only one of them scored, on Joc Pederson’s two-run homer.
CHICAGO, IL - AUGUST 26: Joc Pederson #3 of the Texas Rangers rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run in the third inning during the game between the Texas Rangers and the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field on Wednesday, August 26, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Kyle Sheridan/MLB Photos via Getty Images) (Kyle Sheridan/MLB Photos via Getty Images)More: The Rangers ended up walking 10 times, the 36th time since moving to Texas that they’ve reached double figures in walks in a game that didn’t go to extra innings. It’s only the sixth time they’ve lost such a game, the first since 2019.
This is not a recipe for success, especially against good teams. Speaking of which, the Rangers haven’t been good against them, either. The Rangers are now 25-33 against teams that began Wednesday at .500 or better. Almost all of that deficit has come since the All-Star break. The Rangers are 4-11 against .500 or better teams since the break.
They’ve also lost six consecutive road series dating back to the first of July. It’s the longest road series losing streak since 2021 when the Rangers lost eight straight and ended up with 102 losses.
Both dire numbers, considering this road trip seems to go on forever. After an off day Thursday, they visit Milwaukee, which holds the best record in the majors.
“We’ve put ourselves in a little bit of a hole to start this road trip, but there's a lot of games left,” Schumaker said of the 28 games left in the season. “The division is where it's at right now and we still have a chance. A lot of guys are fighting it and frustrated. You can feel and you can sense it. I get it and I understand it. Hopefully, we regroup and come out and win the series in Milwaukee.”
Which is always the aim, but the task becomes exponentially more difficult if the best and highest-paid players simply don’t perform.
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