The Rangers walked into Yankee Stadium hoping to close out their road trip on a high note, but instead left New York with a frustrating 9-2 loss that felt all too familiar for Texas fans.

Let's give the offense some credit here—they actually made solid contact all afternoon. It just so happened that every well-struck ball found a glove. Take the very first batter of the game: Brandon Nimmo crushed a deep fly to left that Jasson Dominguez tracked down with a spectacular catch. The problem? Dominguez crashed into the wall and had to leave the game, forcing a defensive shuffle that brought Ryan McMahon into the action.

The first inning set the tone for what would be a day of missed opportunities. Ezequiel Duran walked, then got caught stealing. Corey Seager walked. Josh Jung got hit by a pitch. Joc Pederson grounded out. What should have been a productive inning turned into a big fat zero on the scoreboard.

Meanwhile, the Yankees came out swinging in the bottom of the first. Paul Goldschmidt led off with a triple—his sixth since 2019—and the hits kept coming. Both triples went to right field, where Joc Pederson was making his first outfield start since 2023. It was one of those moments where any reasonable observer would say, "Yeah, this isn't our day."

But we're Rangers fans. Reasonable isn't exactly our strong suit.

Credit where it's due: Texas hung in there for a while. Duran launched a solo homer to put the Rangers on the board, then drove in another run with a groundout. For a moment, it felt like they might actually steal this one and head home with a .500 road trip.

Then came the sixth inning. And it all fell apart.

MacKenzie Gore, Jalen Beeks, and Cole Winn each managed to retire exactly one batter. Combined, they allowed six runs to cross the plate. The game went from competitive to out of reach in the span of a few batters.

To add insult to injury, Peyton Gray gave up his first run of the season in the ninth inning—on a comebacker that hit him in the wrist and knocked him out of the game. It was the kind of ending that perfectly summed up the afternoon.

Funny enough, I had a dream last night that the Rangers blew a game by sending Duran to pitch the ninth inning with a lead. He allowed 14 runs (13 earned) before Gray came in to get the final out. Reality wasn't quite that bizarre, but for Rangers fans, it sure felt close.