ARLINGTON, Texas — Between superb play and the fortunes of a playoff schedule, the Rangers were experiencing a dream postseason.
In the era of the 13-man pitching staff, they had needed to use just seven to win their first seven games of these playoffs, owing to how quickly they dispatched the Rays and Orioles and how infrequently they had played. Nathan Eovaldi and Jordan Montgomery had started six of the seven and that duo plus Texas manager Bruce Bochy’s relief trio of trust — Aroldis Chapman, Josh Sborz and Jose Leclerc — had thrown 55 ²/₃ of the 63 innings going into Wednesday night’s Game 3.
But if the Astros were searching for an avenue to believe they could rally from down two-games-to-none, it was two-pronged:
- Bochy could not camouflage the worrisome length of his pitching staff forever.
- Houston is miserable at home, but has a road-field advantage.
And the Astros got away from home and into the soft underbelly of Texas’ pitching staff. How amazing that the Rangers’ worrisome contingent was led by a future Hall of Famer.
For Max Scherzer is not Max Scherzer. He last pitched on Sept. 12 and had been out with a shoulder strain. After a recent simulated game and bullpen session even he did not know how far he could go in a game and at what quality. The answer was not very long and not very good.
After managing just four runs in 18 innings at Minute Maid Park exclusively against the Rangers’ main pitching fivesome, the Astros blitzed Scherzer for five runs in four innings at Globe Life Field en route to an 8-5 triumph Wednesday. That put the first loss on Texas this postseason and exposed its main shortcoming — that the Rangers will need all their pitchers to, well, pitch in.
The Rangers’ modern-day Spahn and Sain — Montgomery and Eovaldi — are lined up for Games 5 and (if necessary) 6. Thus, Texas will probably start Dane Dunning in Thursday’s Game 4 and the righty has thrown two innings since the regular season ended Oct. 1.
Dunning will have a throaty home crowd behind him, which is to say the Astros have him just where they want. Houston is 7-1 at Globe Life this year as part of a 54-30 road record (17-3 in the last 20) compared to 40-45 at home, which includes 1-3 in this postseason. The defending champs are attempting to become just the second team to lose the first two games at home in an LCS and rally to win — the 2020 Dodgers did so against the Braves.
The Rangers suddenly are in a position similar to what got the Mets ousted in the Division Series last year — they are not getting enough from Jacob deGrom and Scherzer. In deGrom, they are getting nothing since he needed Tommy John surgery after six starts in the first season of his five-year, $185 million free-agent pact. His absence contributed to the go-for-it Rangers obtaining Montgomery and Scherzer at the trade deadline.
Scherzer joined David Wells in tying a major league record by making a postseason start for a fifth team. And he had life on his fastball and consistently worked ahead of hitters. But hitting Yordan Alvarez with an 0-2 cutter to lead off the second, walking the struggling Kyle Tucker, throwing a run-scoring wild pitch and allowing a two-run single to No. 9 hitter Martin Maldonado allowed Houston to gain a 3-0 lead and the Rangers could not catch up after previously trailing at the end of only one full inning this postseason.
Scherzer was generally hit hard, allowing seven balls in play at over 100 mph. He lasted 63 pitches and, if this series goes seven games, will the 39-year-old be Bochy’s choice? In the present, the short start forced Bochy to those who seemed to be in pitcher witness protection. Will Smith, who had not pitched since Sept. 29; Chris Stratton, who had not pitched since Sept. 28, and Jon Gray, who had not pitched since Sept. 25, allowed Houston to add on and negate the impact of two two-run homers by Texas rookie Josh Jung.
The Astros, in the comfort of the road, worked back into this series while the Rangers had their Achilles’ arm exposed — to the Max.