Thoughts on a 7-6 Rangers loss
DENVER, COLORADO - MAY 18: Ezequiel Duran #20 of the Texas Rangers hits a 2 RBI single against the Colorado Rockies during the eighth inning at Coors Field on May 18, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) | Getty Images Rockies 7, Rangers 6 Sometimes, you gotta mix it up a little, just to keep people on their toes. Take the Rangers, for example.
The Rangers have gotten us used to close losses where the Ranger pitchers do their job, but the offense lets them down. You do that often enough, though, and it becomes rote. Routine.
Unremarkable. So sometimes, you want to have a game where the offense does good things, but the Rangers still lose by one due to lousy pitching, with some crappy defense mixed in. And thus we have this display.
Texas was down 6-1 after four, with MacKenzie Gore allowing two runs in the first (and being lucky it was only two), then being replaced by Peyton Gray for the second due to left lat tightness. It was like 40 degrees in Denver and rainy, so if you’ve got a pitch with tightness or whatever, get him out of the game. It just would’ve been nice if Gore hadn’t been bad in his limited amount of work.
Gray ended up allowing four runs in his 2. 2 innings, with two of those being directly attributable to the defense, with an Ezequiel Duran throwing error and a Josh Jung booted ball leading to two unearned runs. Gavin Collyer ended up allowing the final Rockies run in the sixth, which made it what was then a 7-3 game.