Following their heavy 10-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday, Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy made some pointed remarks about his team’s underperformance.

His comments followed a dominant display by Cardinals outfielder Tommy Pham and rookie pitcher Michael McGreevy, who played key roles in the significant defeat of the Rangers. This match marked the Cardinals’ largest victory margin of the season and was the Rangers’ fifth loss in their last six games, a stark contrast to their previous five-game winning streak.

When asked what the Rangers need to address after the loss, Bruce Bochy provided candid feedback to the media. “We need to play better baseball than what we showed,” he stated. He elaborated, “We’ve got to get these bats going. It’s as simple as that.”

In addition to the offensive struggles, the Rangers’ pitching also had significant difficulty keeping up with the Cardinals.

Rookie Michael McGreevy outperformed Andrew Heaney, who was pulled in the fifth inning after recording just one out.

This loss dropped Heaney to 0-2 against the Cardinals in his three career starts. Jose Leclerc retired only one batter before giving up three hits and two runs. Dane Dunning took over pitching duties in the fifth inning.

Despite Josh Smith, Corey Seager, and Marcus Semien hitting three consecutive singles, the Rangers were restricted to only five hits as a team.

Semien had a double in the first inning, but McGreevy ultimately limited the Rangers to five hits and one run over seven innings, striking out three and receiving a standing ovation.

Echoing Bochy’s remarks, the Rangers’ bottom six hitters went just 1 for 17, with the sole hit coming from debuting catcher Carson Kelly. This game marked the 25th time in 2024 that the Rangers were held to five or fewer hits, just one short of their 26 games in 2023.