Shocking loss keeps Rangers from clinching West

All the furniture in the middle of the Texas Rangers’ clubhouse had been removed in anticipation of a celebration.

Why not? The Rangers were up four runs entering the ninth inning. The American League West title was in their hands. A party was three outs away from breaking out.

Oh, there were storylines. Putting at ease those unnerved by the possibility of a 2012-like fold. Josh Hamilton hitting two homers against the team whose manager and owner would have rather had a colonoscopy than have him on their roster.

Then, a familiar storyline reared its ugly head, and the ninth inning turned into something that was, well, so Rangers.

There was no Rangers celebration at Globe Life Park on Saturday afternoon. Instead, there was shock and stunned silence as the Los Angeles Angels scored five times in the ninth inning to win 11-10 and keep the Rangers’ title hopes on hold.

Those hopes appear to be fading, and a Monday tiebreaker for the West crown is a more realistic possibility. So, too, is the Rangers having to settle for the second wild card and a trip to New York on Tuesday.

“It was a fun game to be a part of, but a tough game to be on the losing end of,” Hamilton said. “They did a good job not giving up and not quitting. It’s a tough one, but we get a nice afternoon off, can go home and not think about it too much, and come back tomorrow and try to get after it again.”

The Rangers’ magic number held at one after the loss and Houston’s 6-2 win at Arizona. They need a win Sunday in their regular-season finale or an Astros loss to win the West and advance to the division series against either Kansas City or Toronto.

If the Astros and Rangers finish tied at 87-75, the two will play one game for the title Monday at the Globe. For that to happen, the Rangers will have to lose their final three games of the season.

The Rangers lost their final three games in 2012 at Oakland to lose the division title and settle for the wild-card game, which they promptly lost to Baltimore. That was a year after twice surrendering two-run leads with two outs in Game 6 of the World Series.

The Rangers will have Cole Hamels, the pitcher they traded to win big games and one of the top left-handers in the game, pitching Sunday against Angels ace Garrett Richards, who will be working on three days’ rest.

“I feel like we’re in a good position,” manager Jeff Banister said. “That’s why we set it up the way we did. We knew that this was going to be a tough series. We have the front of the rotation, our guy going in a big game for us tomorrow.”

The Rangers were leading 10-6 when they went with closer Shawn Tolleson in the ninth, even though he was pitching for a fifth consecutive day for the first time. Setup man Sam Dyson also pitched for a fifth straight day, also the first of his career, and posted a scoreless eighth inning.

Tolleson quickly surrendered homers to the first two batters, Erick Aybar and Kole Calhoun, and was lifted for Ross Ohlendorf.

“I told them I felt good, that I was good to pitch,” Tolleson said. “Down in the ’pen my stuff felt really good. I went with changeups, and it seems like they were just sitting all over that.”

Ohlendorf got Mike Trout for the first out of the inning, but Albert Pujols reached on a double after his popup down the right-field line hit off first baseman Mike Napoli’s glove and then off the end of second baseman Rougned Odor’s glove.

Odor had been shifted to the shortstop side of second base against Pujols, a notorious pull hitter, and had a long run while also having to account for Napoli as he tried to make the catch.

“I ran a lot, but I couldn’t get it,” Odor said.

Ohlendorf, though, got David Murphy swinging for the second out before the Angels unleashed four consecutive singles. The last two came with two strikes, a broken-bat single by Carlos Perez to tie it and a single by Johnny Giavotella to push home the go-ahead run.

“I felt like my fastball and slider were both really good,” Ohlendorf said. “I’ve got to find a way to get the last three outs there. They did a good job hitting, but I need to get them out there.”

The Rangers fell behind 5-1 as Colby Lewis allowed four runs in the fifth, but Adrian Beltre drove in two in a four-run fifth by the Rangers. After falling behind 6-5 in the sixth, Shin-Soo Choo drove in two and Beltre had another RBI hit in the Rangers’ half.

Hamilton and Odor homered in the seventh for a 10-6 lead. It turns out they needed two more in a game that was, well, so Rangers.

“It was tough to swallow,” Beltre said. “We got ahead, we came back and tied the ballgame, they’d score and we’d come back. It was just back-and-forth. They were able to score five in the ninth and, yes, it’s tough to swallow because of the situation. We were just one out away. It’s baseball, and it’s happened before.”

This story was originally published October 3, 2015 at 6:16 PM with the headline "Shocking loss keeps Rangers from clinching West."