Bench clearing ‘brawl’ is not the reason why the Rangers pulled a ‘Game 6’ in Game 5

What ultimately happened on Friday afternoon and early evening at Globe Life Field is that one sports franchise added another cruel chapter to a history full of them.

There will never be another “Game 6” for the Texas Rangers, but their Game 5 against the Houston Astros in 2023 the American League Championship will leave a mark for just as long as their infamous loss in the 2011 World Series.

No clue how the Rangers move past what went down here on Oct. 20, 2023.

It may not be as hard as moving on from blowing multiple late-inning leads in Game 6 of the World Series in St. Louis on Oct. 27, 2011, but it’s “in the ballpark.” That game would have given the Rangers the World Series title they still seek.

“It’s as simple as you have to move on,” Rangers shortstop Corey Seager said. “You can’t dwell on it.”

“Will be nice to have a day off,” Rangers first baseman Nathaniel Lowe said of the off day Saturday. “Just gotta flush it.”

You see ... it’s not that hard.

What happened on Friday afternoon is that Houston handed Texas a soul, heart, mind and body-crushing loss and is turning DFW into ChokeCity.

Rangers reliever Jose LeClerc took a two-run lead into the top of the ninth inning, only to serve Houston’s Jose Altuve an All-Star Home Run Derby pitch which he crushed for a three-run home run.

The Astros won this memorable Game 5 that featured brilliant defensive plays, dramatic home runs, a bench-clearing non-brawl and ejections, 5-4. Houston swept all three games in Arlington, and now lead the ALCS, 3-2.

“I’m not going to make an excuse,” Leclerc said. “Altuve is a great hitter, and something went wrong with my execution.”

No argument here.

Game 6 is 7 p.m. Sunday evening in Houston. Game 7, if necessary, is the same time on Monday at Enron Field.

The home team has yet to win a game in this series, so the Rangers have that going for them.

No matter what the Rangers say about this one, and specifically the eighth inning when the benches cleared, they blew it. Anything other than that is a weak excuse, which some members of the team offered up.

There are so many elements and threads to this game, but the threads that matter are what happened from the eighth inning on.

In the bottom of the eighth, “hero” Adolis Garcia, whose three-run home run in the sixth inning gave the Rangers their first lead at home in this series, was hit by a pitch from Astros reliever Bryan Abreu.

Garcia immediately confronted Astros catcher Martin Moldanado, and both benches cleared. The relievers sprinting from the bullpens towards home plate looked like the bulls from Pamplona running in the alley.

Know this: None of these guys wants to fight. This era of pro athlete makes far too much cash to really want to fight, the way players did back in the ‘70s and ‘80s, when they were all on one-year contracts.

“They like to talk a lot and make a lot of noise,” Rangers catcher Jonah Heim said of the Astros. “They try to get under your skin.”

Looks like it works. Or it works on Garcia.

If Garcia thought Abreu was intentionally throwing at him, he needs some more sleep. Or a drink. It was a 2-run deficit in Game 5 of the ALCS. Pitching tight and inside is a lot different than head hunting.

According to players, Abreu was saying, “My bad! My bad” as players pushed and shoved.

Garcia, Abreu and Astros manager Dusty Baker were all ejected.

Some members of the Rangers were sure that Abreu was throwing at Garcia. Crew chief James Hoye told a pool reporter that he felt Abreu was throwing “with intent” at the batter; Garcia was tossed for “being the aggressor.”

What really steamed the Rangers was the prolonged delay between the non-fight, the long umpire chat session, the ejections, and the time allowed new Astros reliever Ryan Pressly was given to warm up, which by rule is as long as he needs.

“I was concerned about that delay. I really was. It was a long one,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “It was taking too long, to be honest. The whole thing is a bunch of crap, to be honest, what happened there. Who knows what intentions are, but it’s not the first time it’s happened, and couldn’t get the game going again.

“And I’m sure it affected (LeClerc), because he came in to get an out there in the eighth inning. Maybe that played a part in it. But they came out -- like I said, we had our chances to tack on, we just couldn’t do it.”

The Rangers had two runners on with nobody out, but failed to score on a grounder, and followed that strikeouts from Josh Jung and Lowe.

“That gave them the momentum back,” Jung said.

What compounded all of this is LeClerc had entered the game in the top of the eighth inning with two outs, and just had to wait before returning to the mound to close it out in the ninth.

A closer normally never has to deal with these delays.

LeClerc wouldn’t use the delay as an excuse. He started the ninth inning off by facing the Astros’ eight and nine-hole hitters, and retired neither to set up Altuve’s series-tilting home run.

The Rangers put on the first two batters in the bottom of the ninth, but Marcus Semien lined out, Corey Seager flied out, and Evan Carter whiffed.

The final score reads the Astros won 5-4, but how the Rangers lost says something entirely different.

They led this series 2-0, and Game 5 by two runs in the ninth inning. They have blown both.

While nothing will ever be as painful as “Game 6,” now “Game 5” will have its own special place in the cruel history of the Texas Rangers.