Rangers get one hit with a bat, two with a pitch. And the Yankees win.

It is an accepted truth, recorded in both sacred writings and more ordinary prose, that there is a time — good and bad — for everything.

In baseball, there is definitely a good time for a hit, particularly if it turns out to be your only opportunity against three good New York Yankees pitchers.

There is also never a great time to hit a batter, but there are certainly worse times, for sure. Such as the leadoff hitter of the eighth inning in a one-run game, or in the top of the ninth to load the bases with one out in a tied game.

The Rangers got their fill of both in a 3-1 loss to the Yankees on Saturday afternoon in a game with postseason feel against the 27-time World Series champions. The Rangers and Yankees are even 1-1 after two games of the three-game series.

Losses this time of year for teams such as the Rangers, who are scratching and clawing to stay in postseason contention, are always untimely.

Texas fell to three games back of Minnesota for the second wild-card berth in the American League, pending Saturday night’s results, with 21 games remaining and the Los Angeles Angels also in front of them. The Yankees, meanwhile, fortified their hold on the first spot, increasing their lead to two games.

The Rangers gave up two runs in the ninth, both charged to lefty and losing pitcher Alex Claudio (4-2), on two hits, a hit batter and a walk by right-hander Ricky Rodriguez. One of those hits, from Tyler Austin, knocked in the go-ahead run. The walk, to Chase Headley, brought another in.

All of that was the wrong place, wrong time, but the No. 1 issue Saturday was the ill-timed run-in with Yankees starter Luis Severino, who was eating up Texas hitters like Pac-Man dots.

The Rangers were unable to touch the right-hander, who over seven innings allowed only one hit, a very timely run-scoring double from Texas catcher Brett Nicholas in the fifth, and struck out 10.

Severino has shown no discriminating tastes recently.

He has allowed one earned run or fewer in nine of his 11 starts since the All-Star break. Of the other base runners Severino allowed — he walked three, and Delino DeShields reached on an error in the third — he seemingly ignored them.

David Robertson (7-2) worked a scoreless eighth for the victory, and lefty Aroldis Chapman, appearing to be spraying burning fuel, worked the ninth for his 17th save.

“Sometimes you have to tip your hat,” said Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus, 0 for 4 on Saturday. “There’s a reason he’s having such a great year. When he’s on his game … .”

Said Nomar Mazara, a victim of three strikeouts, two against Severino, another against Chapman in the ninth: “He was on today. He lost a little bit at the end, but the first six innings he threw whatever he wanted to.”

The only problem with Texas starter Andrew Cashner’s day was the timing of his exit.

After getting a 1-0 lead in the fifth, Cashner shut down the middle of the Yankees’ order in order in the sixth and seventh.

He came back out to face one batter in the eighth. It was probably one too many. On his first pitch, he plunked Todd Frazier, who wound up scoring on Headley’s sacrifice fly to tie the game off Claudio.

Nonetheless, Cashner extended a run of good starts, giving up one run on four hits and a walk while striking out four in seven innings. Cashner turned in a quality start for the 15th time in 21 outings this season and lowered his ERA to 3.19, the lowest it has been since June 9 (3.17). In his last 11 starts, he has an ERA of 2.48.

“I thought Frazier was going to come out swinging,” Cashner said. “I tried to throw a sinker in there, white-line it, try to get him to roll over something. I wasn’t trying to throw a strike and it just sailed on me.

“Unfortunately it hit him.”

Rodriguez relieved Claudio in the ninth with runners on first and third and one out. He then promptly hit Frazier with a pitch to load the bases.

The loss was the Rangers’ 17th in the final at-bat this season and 10th loss when leading after seven innings.

“They pretty much shut us down today,” Andrus said. “We can only come back tomorrow and try to win the series.”

For the Rangers, they are running out of time for any other outcome.

AL wild-card standings

This story was originally published September 9, 2017 at 3:33 PM with the headline "Rangers get one hit with a bat, two with a pitch. And the Yankees win.."