Former Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman blew another save for the Rangers, and this one cost Texas a chance to clinch a playoff berth.
Taking the mound Thursday in Seattle against the Mariners with a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning, Chapman faced three batters and all of them reached base, thanks to a pair of hits and a walk.
Yanked after throwing a total of eight pitches, only three of which were strikes, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy turned to Jonathan Hernandez, who gave up a walk-off double to Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford.
Despite the loss, the Rangers still have a two-game lead over the Houston Astros and a three-game lead over the Seattle Mariners, giving Texas a 97.5 percent chance of qualifying for the playoffs.
But Chapman, who fell to 6-5 with a 3.09 ERA, didn’t do much to instill confidence in the Rangers bullpen.
“Nobody thought this would be easy,” Bochy said, per the Dallas Morning News. “Sure, this is a tough one. We’ve got to bounce back. We’ve said that all year. It’s tough when you lose like this, but you just have to come back the next day and get it done.”
Chapman’s meltdown blew the game for former Yankees teammate Jordan Montgomery, who gave up one run in six innings of work to lower his ERA to 3.20.
“We’re still a good team, (Chapman’s) a really important part of our team, and baseball’s hard some time,” the left-handed Montgomery said. “We’re just going to be good teammates to him, and keep supporting everybody, and keep doing what we do.”
Chapman, 35, left the Yankees after the 2022 season, which ended in disaster for the southpaw when he was left off of New York’s 2022 playoff roster after missing a team workout.
The seven-time All-Star signed a one-year, $3.75 million contract with the Royals in January, who flipped him to the Rangers in June.
Chapman has three blown saves and a 3.72 ERA in 30 appearances for the Rangers.
As a team, the Rangers have 33 blown saves this season, which leads the majors.
Despite that, Texas remains in control of its own playoff fate, with a magic number of one to clinch a wild-card and a magic number of two to win the division title.
The Rangers and Mariners continue their four-game series Friday in Seattle.
However, according to the Dallas Morning News, Thursday’s loss kept alive a “nightmare scenario” for the Rangers.
If Texas, Seattle and Houston all finish the identical 89-73 records, the Rangers would miss the playoffs.
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