Phil Maton’s latest appearance was one he’ll want to erase from memory in the Texas Rangers’ most recent crushing defeat.
All year, fans have been waiting for the defending 2023 World Series champions to finally hit their stride. After a productive offseason that addressed roster weaknesses and saw key players return from long injuries, expectations were sky-high.
Instead, the Rangers stumbled out of the gate, and the sluggish pace never changed. Now, in mid-August, they sit at .500 and face the real threat of missing the playoffs for the second straight year.
Their latest loss summed up their entire season — strong starting pitching undone by a lack of offensive support and a late-inning collapse. This time, the late blow came from Maton.
Brought in at the trade deadline to bolster the bullpen, he had been outstanding for Texas until Wednesday, when he surrendered two ninth-inning home runs to blow the save.
Maton Explains What Went Wrong During His Performance
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Phil Maton’s night unraveled quickly. The right-hander gave up a solo homer, hit the next batter, walked another, and then surrendered a three-run blast that sealed the Texas Rangers’ latest crushing loss.
“Just complete loss of feel for the curveball and the cutter in the zone,” Maton told Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News. “Losing my primary weapons… obviously a spiral happened after that.”
It was a stunning collapse considering how sharp he looked just minutes earlier. Entering with two outs in the eighth, Maton struck out Tyler Locklear to protect a 3-2 lead. Back for the ninth, he fanned two more hitters and had Texas one out away from victory.
Then came the breakdown. After missing with two pitches to James McCann, Maton hung a sweeper that was launched 361 feet to left. He followed by missing a sinker high, then hit Blaise Alexander after losing control of a curveball. Four errant pitches later, he walked the next batter.
Against Ketel Marte, he briefly regained command with a first-pitch curveball for a strike, but missed with a cutter before leaving another curveball over the plate — this one crushed 413 feet to right-center for the walk-off.
For the Rangers, time is running out to mount a postseason push, and losses like this only make the climb steeper.
