Rangers Notes: Division Series again goes Blue Jays’ Way

Texas players watch from the dugout as the Blue Jays storm the field following a 7-6 walk-off win on Sunday. Toronto swept the Rangers in three games.

It had to happen this way, of course. In Toronto, in a pivotal A.L. Division Series matchup and – in the end – in the most heartbreaking fashion possible.

For the second straight year, the Rangers’ playoff run came to an abrupt halt at Rogers Centre against the Blue Jays. The Texas infield botched a potential inning-ending double play in the bottom of the tenth Sunday, allowing Josh Donaldson to score from second base with the game-winning run.

The 7-6 victory gave Toronto a clean sweep after the club had taken Games 1 and 2 at Globe Life Park, knocking Cole Hamels and Yu Darvish around early and often while knocking the Rangers to the ground with a quick 2-0 series lead.

Hamels was rocked for seven runs (six earned) in three-plus innings of work Thursday afternoon as the Blue Jays cruised to a 10-1 rout, and Darvish permitted a career-worst four homers in a 5-3 defeat on Friday.

For Toronto in the series, Donaldson batted .538 with four doubles, Edwin Encarnacion posted a .917 slugging percentage and Troy Tulowitzki led the team with five runs batted in.

Polarizing Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista was held to just 2-for-12 (.167) at the plate, although one of his hits was a ninth-inning long ball off Jake Diekman in Game 1.

It’s all too much to write about right now. Maybe someday, but not yet.

Lucroy’s Option picked up

On Tuesday, the Rangers picked up the team option on Jonathan Lucroy’s contract for next year, giving them a clear-cut No. 1 catcher before the winter shopping season officially begins.

Lucroy, 30, split the 2016 campaign between Milwaukee and Texas, for whom he batted .276 over the final two months of the season while collecting 11 homers and 31 RBIs.

Although Lucroy is under contract for 2017 (at a bargain price of $5.5 million, no less), potential free agents Carlos Beltran, Ian Desmond, Derek Holland and Mitch Moreland may have already played their last games in a Rangers uniform.

Coaching Staff Stays Intact for 2017

All members of Jeff Banister’s coaching staff – including third-base coach Tony Beasley, who was limited to dugout duties this year while undergoing cancer treatment – are expected to return next season.

Interim coach Spike Owen filled in for Beasley on the third-base line this season. Owen had been tabbed to manage the Class-A Hickory Crawdads before the big-league opportunity arose.

Others on Banister’s staff include pitching coach Doug Brocail, hitting coach Anthony Iapoce, bench coach Steve Buechele, bullpen coach Brad Holman, assistant hitting coach Justin Mashore and first-base coach Hector Ortiz.

And in a kind farewell gesture, the Rangers presented former player, coach, minor-league manager and replay coordinator Bobby Jones with a red 1965 Ford Mustang convertible prior to the ALDS against Toronto.

The 67-year-old Jones is retiring after logging 50 seasons of service in professional baseball, 29 of which were spent with the Washington Senators / Texas Rangers franchise.

Rangers Exact Painful Revenge on Bautista, Blue Jays

Rougned Odor delivered a clean right hook to the jaw of Toronto outfielder Jose Bautista on Sunday following Bautista’s hard slide into second base.

Tensions that had been mounting between Texas and Toronto since last October came to a boil Sunday in a wild benches-clearing brawl at Globe Life Park.

In the eighth inning of the rubber game of the series (as well as the final regular-season game of the year between the two clubs), Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista was drilled by an inside fastball from Rangers right-hander Matt Bush.

Although Texas was clinging to a one-run lead at the time and Bautista represented the potential tying run, the pitch from Bush was thought to be a retaliatory gesture for Bautista’s gaudy bat flip in the 2015 ALDS.

The hit-by-pitch also could have marked the end of the issue. Instead, when Justin Smoak followed with a ground ball to the left side of the infield, Bautista went into second base with a high slide aimed at the legs of Rougned Odor.

Odor’s throw sailed wide of first base, and he turned to confront Bautista after the slide. After an initial shove knocked Bautista back a couple of steps, Odor clocked him with one of the most accurate punches leveled in the history of American team sports.

The well-placed wallop sent Bautista’s head, helmet and sunglasses flying in three different directions, and he was quickly restrained from behind by Adrian Beltre while both benches and bullpens emptied around them.

Rangers manager Jeff Banister and Toronto skipper John Gibbons – who had been ejected from the ballgame in the third inning and, therefore, should not have returned to the field – were soon engaged in a heated shouting match, which only ended when Banister was physically led back to the dugout by third-base umpire Lance Barrett.

Odor and Bautista were ejected immediately for their roles in the fracas, as were Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson and Texas bench coach Steve Buechele. In addition, warnings were issued to both teams, which meant an automatic ejection for Toronto’s Jesse Chavez (as well as acting manager DeMarlo Hale) when he hit Prince Fielder with a pitch in the bottom of the eighth.

After the game, Bautista said the Rangers were “pretty cowardly” for waiting until his final at-bat to hit him with a pitch.

“It shows at least the apparent lack of leadership they have over there when it comes to playing baseball the right way,” Bautista continued. “Baseball plays are supposed to be taken care of by baseball plays.”

Gibbons repeatedly called Banister and the Rangers “gutless” when he was on the field following the fight, and he reiterated that sentiment in his postgame comments. “The other 29 teams, if they have an issue with you, they come at you right away,” he said.

For his part, Jeff Banister said his club is “far from gutless” and continued to defend his second baseman, especially against claims that Odor is a dirty ballplayer.

“He is such a team player,” Banister said of Odor. “He does everything to be able to play for the team. He plays hard for the team, to win for the team. It’s never individualized for him. It’s always about the team.”

Discipline was handed down from the Major League Baseball offices on Tuesday, with Odor receiving the longest suspension (eight games) as well as a $5,000 fine. Odor will appeal both the fine and suspension.

Elvis Andrus was also suspended one game (which he served Tuesday) for throwing a punch at Toronto’s Josh Donaldson. On the Blue Jays’ side, Gibbons and Chavez were penalized three games apiece while Bautista and first-base coach Tim Leiper both received one-game suspensions.

For Texas, individual fines were also levied against Bush, Buechele, Sam Dyson, A.J. Griffin and Robinson Chirinos – the latter two fined for being on the field while on the disabled list.

Lost amid the in-game fireworks Sunday was the fact that Matt Bush earned his first big-league victory as the Rangers won two out of three versus Toronto over the weekend.

Bush, whose contract was purchased from Double-A Frisco when Delino DeShields was optioned to Round Rock, made his long-awaited MLB debut Friday and retired all three batters he faced in a 5-0 loss at the hands of knuckleballer R.A. Dickey.

Bobby Wilson connected for his second grand slam in less than a week Saturday off Blue Jays starter Marco Estrada, giving Texas an early 4-0 advantage in the bottom of the second.

After Shawn Tolleson coughed up a three-run lead and allowed Toronto to tie the score in the ninth, Drew Stubbs provided the Rangers’ first walk-off victory of the season when he homered off Gavin Floyd in the bottom of the tenth inning.

And on Sunday, Bush was the pitcher of record when Ian Desmond launched a go-ahead three-run shot against Chavez in the seventh, giving Texas a 7-6 come-from-behind win to clinch the series.

Tolleson Stripped of Closer’s Title

Hard-throwing reliever Sam Dyson earned his second save of the year Sunday, and he’ll get more chances going forward after Shawn Tolleson was bumped from the closer’s role on the heels of another blown save.

Given a 5-4 lead Tuesday courtesy of Ian Desmond’s two-out homer in the top of the ninth, Tolleson allowed a pair of base hits and an intentional walk before Khris Davis lifted a walk-off grand slam to left-center field – Davis’ third home run of the game.

“Any time you go out there and don’t get the job done, it stinks,” Tolleson said. “It hurts. No matter how many times you have success, if you have a few bad outings, it hurts a little more. Like [Tuesday], our guys battled and took a lead in the ninth inning. To go out and give it back up, that stinks.”

Jeff Banister announced that Dyson will be used in save situations for the time being, with Tolleson moving into a less prominent role in the Texas bullpen.

Tolleson’s meltdown Tuesday was the low point of a three-game sweep by the Athletics this week in Oakland, leaving the Rangers one game behind Seattle for first place in the American League West.

Wilhelmsen Optioned, Jackson Recalled

Right-handed reliever Tom Wilhelmsen was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock on Monday as hard-throwing Luke Jackson was recalled from the Express, a move made following a string of spotty outings by Wilhelmsen.

After being rocked in his season debut and working to get his ERA below 10.00 ever since, Wilhelmsen has allowed multiple earned runs in four different appearances this season, including each of his last two against Toronto.

In other pitching news, 37-year-old right-hander Kyle Lohse was signed by Texas to a minor-league contract and assigned to Round Rock. He made his first start for the Express on Tuesday and gave up three earned runs in five-plus innings of work versus Albuquerque.

Rangers Notes: Season Unravels in Sloppy Seventh Inning

Elvis Andrus makes the first of three Texas errors during the bottom of the seventh on Wednesday in Toronto.

The Rangers’ unlikely playoff run came to an unforgettable end Wednesday at Rogers Centre when Jose Bautista powered the Blue Jays to a 6-3 victory in Game 5 of the A.L. Division Series.

Bautista’s three-run, tiebreaking homer off Sam Dyson in the bottom of the seventh came after Texas had committed three straight errors to begin the inning. Incredibly, shortstop Elvis Andrus was involved in all three defensive miscues.

Ranging to his left, Andrus booted a ground ball that allowed leadoff batter Russell Martin to reach safely.

Kevin Pillar then hit a sharp grounder that was fielded by Mitch Moreland at first base, but Andrus could not handle Moreland’s one-hop throw attempting to get the force out on Martin at second.

The next batter, Ryan Goins, laid down a bunt that was gathered in by Adrian Beltre, who turned and threw to Andrus covering at third. Andrus dropped the throw, however, to load the bases with nobody out.

“I can make those plays 100 percent of the time,” Andrus said. “I’m in a lot of pain. I feel like I let down my team and my city. It hurts. You play this game hard, and when that happens, it hurts.”

Texas recorded a force out on the next play to maintain a slim 3-2 lead, but Josh Donaldson followed with a pop up that fell just beyond the reach of Rougned Odor to tie the game.

Although Odor recovered in time to throw to second base for the second out of the inning, Bautista then launched a mammoth home run into the left-field stands that essentially put the game on ice.

Bautista’s long homer was overshadowed only by the monstrosity of his ego, as the 34-year-old slugger stood and admired his blast before turning to face Rangers pitcher Sam Dyson and then flipping his bat away.

Dyson soon became engaged in a discussion with on-deck batter Edwin Encarnacion, which drew the attention of home-plate umpire Dale Scott and caused both dugouts to empty.

“I told [Encarnacion] Jose needs to calm that down,” Dyson said after the game. “Just kind of respect the game a little more … He’s a huge role model for the younger generation that’s coming up and playing this game.”

The Rangers’ defensive meltdown – and Bautista’s subsequent home run – came after they had taken a 3-2 lead when Odor was awarded home plate during a wild top half of the seventh.

Odor was on third base with two outs when Russell Martin’s return throw to the pitcher careened off the bat of Shin-Soo Choo. The ball rolled across the left side of the infield as Odor scampered home.

Dale Scott initially indicated it was a dead ball and the run did not count, but Texas manager Jeff Banister convinced him to discuss the play with the rest of the umpiring crew.

Scott’s call was reversed and Odor was credited with scoring the go-ahead run, which prompted Blue Jays manager John Gibbons to ask for a video review of the play.

Parts of the outfield and area near the foul lines were soon littered with items thrown by fans in the crowd, and their displeasure only increased when Odor’s run was upheld by the MLB replay command center in New York.

Gibbons indicated he was playing the rest of the game under protest, but that became a moot point when Toronto completed its dramatic comeback victory.

Teams Split First Four Contests

Texas had won each of the first two ALDS games at Rogers Centre before the Blue Jays took two in Arlington to set up Wednesday’s decisive fifth game.

Robinson Chirinos provided the difference in the Rangers’ series-opening 5-3 victory with a two-run homer off David Price, and Yovani Gallardo earned the win for Texas with five effective innings of work.

Utility infielder Hanser Alberto, filling in for Adrian Beltre (strained back) at third base in Game 2, delivered a go-ahead RBI single in the top of the 14th inning that paved the way for a 6-4 Rangers win.

The Texas offense was kept in check Sunday by Marco Estrada and the Toronto bullpen as the Blue Jays rolled to a 5-1 victory in Game 3, and Derek Holland was hammered in his Game 4 start on Monday afternoon.

Holland allowed six earned runs in just over two innings pitched, getting victimized by home run balls from Josh Donaldson, Chris Colabello and Kevin Pillar as Toronto evened the series with an 8-4 win.

Hawkins, Magadan Depart Coaching Staff

It was announced Friday that bullpen coach Andy Hawkins and hitting coach Dave Magadan will not return to the Texas staff next season.

Hawkins, who had been with the Rangers for the past seven years, is expected to pursue opportunities with other ballclubs, while Magadan will seek coaching options closer to his Florida home.

The other six members of Jeff Banister’s coaching staff – Tony Beasley, Steve Buechele, Bobby Jones, Mike Maddux, Hector Ortiz and Jayce Tingler – were all asked to return in 2016.

Rangers Notes: Texas Stumbles into Break on Long Skid

Robinson Chirinos tries to catch a high relay throw Saturday as David Freese scores below him.

With a roster ravaged by injuries and an everyday lineup representing a shell of what was projected over the winter, the Rangers enter this year’s All-Star Break occupying an unfamiliar spot in the standings – last place.

The team has lost eight games in a row and 22 of its last 25 dating back to mid-June, dropping all seven contests on its just-finished homestand against Houston and Los Angeles.

Texas officially fell behind the Astros in the American League West division last week after Houston completed a three-game sweep at Globe Life Park, and the Rangers currently hold the worst record (38-57) in the major leagues.

Making just his second career start on Monday, right-hander Miles Mikolas was hammered for nine earned runs on 12 hits in less than four innings pitched as the Astros cruised to an easy 12-7 victory.

Houston’s Chris Carter connected for a pair of home runs off the Texas bullpen as part of an 8-3 win on Tuesday, and the Astros wrapped up the sweep Wednesday with six runs on 10 hits against Yu Darvish, taking the finale by an 8-4 margin.

Whereas Mikolas and Darvish were merely rocked in their outings, Colby Lewis was absolutely pummeled in his start Thursday versus the Angels. Lewis allowed four runs in the first inning, six more in the second, and three in the third before he was mercifully removed as part of a 15-6 rout by Los Angeles.

The Rangers did receive a quality start from right-hander Nick Tepesch last Friday in Arlington, but he was outpitched by Angels hurler Garrett Richards in a 3-0 shutout, and Jered Weaver beat Texas the following night, 5-2, to help L.A. clinch the series victory.

The Angels then pulled off the first four-game sweep of the Rangers in club history with a 10-7 win on Sunday afternoon, chasing spot-starter Scott Baker after four innings and adding on at least one run against each of four subsequent Texas relievers.

Prior to their 0-7 homestand, the Rangers had dropped two of three games to the Mets in an interleague series at Citi Field, beginning with a 6-5 loss Friday when Travis d’Arnaud hit a go-ahead two-run double off Jason Frasor in the eighth.

Texas snapped what had been a six-game losing streak on Saturday with a 5-3 victory behind homers from Robinson Chirinos and Adrian Beltre, but New York teed off against Tepesch en route to an 8-4 win in Sunday’s series finale.

Beltre, Darvish Headed to All-Star Game

Beltre, who leads the club with 13 home runs and 51 RBIs at the ceremonial halfway point of the season, will be joined by starting pitcher Yu Darvish as the Rangers’ representatives at this week’s All-Star Game in Minneapolis.

While Oakland’s Josh Donaldson won the fan vote and will therefore start at third base for the American League on Tuesday, Beltre finished first in the players’ vote and joins Buddy Bell as the only Texas third baseman to make as many as three All-Star teams.

As for Darvish, the club leader in most pitching categories, he is heading to his third straight All-Star Game but will be looking to pitch for the first time, having not seen action in 2012 and missing last year’s game due to injury.

Near-Daily Moves Keep Roster in Flux

Injuries and ineffectiveness over the past few weeks have meant a very transitory status for the Rangers’ roster, which underwent no fewer than seven different transactions in recent days.

Last Monday, infielder Donnie Murphy was designated for assignment and Michael Choice was optioned to Triple-A while right-hander Roman Mendez and outfielder Jake Smolinski were both called up from Round Rock.

Right-hander Nick Martinez was placed on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday as Phil Irwin was summoned from Triple-A as a spot-starter, and Donnie Murphy was granted his outright release the following day.

Irwin was then sent back down Friday as reliever Matt West had his contract purchased from Round Rock, and left-hander Aaron Poreda was optioned to Triple-A Saturday in favor of southpaw Ryan Feierabend.

Also on Friday, Texas signed veteran righty Jerome Williams to a minor-league deal and assigned him to the starting rotation at Round Rock.

Soto Arrested on Drug Charges

Catcher Geovany Soto was arrested and charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana last week in Grapevine, getting released on $500 bail and resuming his rehab assignment with Double-A Frisco.

Soto, who was slated to be the Rangers’ everyday backstop heading into spring training, has been on the disabled list since undergoing surgery in March for a torn meniscus in his right knee, leaving the catching duties to J.P. Arencibia, Robinson Chirinos and Chris Gimenez.

In six rehab games for the RoughRiders, Soto is batting .368 (7-for-19) with two doubles and four runs scored, and he is expected to return to the Texas lineup soon after the All-Star break.

Rangers Notes: Darvish, Perez Get Toppled by Oakland

In the shortest outing of his big-league career, Yu Darvish allowed four earned runs on six hits in less than four innings Monday.

Riding high after a three-game sweep last week in Oakland, the Rangers could not sustain that momentum as they lost two out of three in Seattle before dropping three straight against the Athletics this week at Globe Life Park.

The most troubling aspects of the losing skid were the performances of Yu Darvish and Martin Perez, who have helped keep the team afloat while waiting for key pieces to return from injury. Both pitchers endured their worst starts – and took their first losses – of the young season this week versus Oakland.

For Darvish, in fact, Monday’s outing was the shortest of his major-league career, as the right-hander lasted just three and one-third innings before getting lifted in the top of the fourth. He had made it through the first two frames unscathed, but Josh Donaldson broke through for an RBI single in the third.

Opposing Darvish was Athletics starter Sonny Gray, who looked every bit the ace in scattering three Texas hits while tossing a complete-game shutout, leading Oakland to a 4-0 victory in Arlington.

Perez was looking to extend his scoreless-innings streak beyond 26, but the A’s quickly put that possibility to rest with two runs in the top of the first. Coco Crisp doubled to lead off the game against Perez, and a two-out walk to Yoenis Cespedes opened the door for Derek Norris’ two-run double into the left-center field gap.

After he allowed single runs in both the second and third innings, the wheels came off for Perez in the top of the fifth, when Oakland tallied five more runs against he and Jason Frasor while cruising to a 9-3 win.

Given the task of salvaging the final game of the series on Wednesday, left-hander Robbie Ross was instead rocked for ten runs (six earned) in his three and one-third innings pitched, watching as Texas committed four errors and fell to the A’s by an ugly 12-1 final.

Prior to their sweep at the hands of Oakland, the Rangers had lost two out of three games versus the Mariners at Safeco Field, although Texas was in a position to win all three contests in the late frames.

Benefiting from a pair of run-scoring wild pitches uncorked by Seattle’s Roenis Elias and Dominic Leone, the Rangers carried a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the eighth on Friday, only to see the Mariners plate four runs off Neal Cotts and Alexi Ogando.

Texas was able to get two runs back against closer Fernando Rodney in the ninth, but Adrian Beltre lined out to Justin Smoak for a game-ending double play that gave Seattle a 6-5 win.

The Rangers proved to be the comeback team on Saturday, rallying from a 3-0 deficit to tie the game against Felix Hernandez in the fifth, then going ahead on Mitch Moreland’s RBI sacrifice fly in the eighth. Texas added two more in the top of the ninth for a 6-3 margin of victory.

It appeared the Rangers were well in control of Sunday’s rubber game, jumping to a 5-0 lead in support of left-handed starter Matt Harrison, who was making his first big-league start in more than a year following back and arm surgeries.

Harrison did his part, limiting the Mariners to two runs over six quality innings of work, but the Texas bullpen allowed four additional runs in the seventh and eighth, culminating when Kyle Seager slugged a three-run homer in the eighth to give Seattle another 6-5 comeback win.

Power Struggles Continue for Fielder, Lineup

First baseman Prince Fielder has struggled mightily in his first month-plus as a Texas Ranger, batting a mere .206 with two home runs, five doubles and nine runs batted in.

Part of the problem for Fielder has been a lack of lineup protection (he drew nine intentional walks while Adrian Beltre was on the DL and, thus, not hitting behind him), but he has also been held back by strikeouts and extreme defensive shifts employed by opposing teams.

“I’ve felt alright here and there,” Fielder said. “I feel good and all I can control is how I feel. I’d like to have 20 homers by now, but I don’t. It will definitely come around.”

The Texas lineup as a whole, meanwhile, hit only 14 home runs in the month of April, representing the club’s lowest first-month total since the Rangers managed just 12 homers in April of 1981.

Kouzmanoff Likely to Need Back Surgery

In a roster move that corresponded with the return of Adrian Beltre from a strained quad muscle, corner infielder Kevin Kouzmanoff was placed on the 15-day DL last Friday with a herniated disc in his lower back.

The news for Kouzmanoff got even worse this week when it was revealed that an operation on his back will likely be required, a surgery that could keep him out of action for up to three months.

Kouzmanoff’s back injury came on the heels of a terrific performance in Beltre’s absence, going 17-for-47 (.362) with eight extra-base hits and 10 RBIs while getting named the American League Player of the Week for Apr. 14-20.

In other roster news, infielder Luis Sardinas was optioned to Double-A Frisco to make room for Matt Harrison, and right-hander Hector Noesi was claimed on waivers by the Chicago White Sox.