The hit that went about 45 feet put the Rangers behind in the ninth. The hit that went about 500 feet put the game out of reach.

After the Rangers tied it at 4-4 with a two-out, two-run RBI from Jake Burger in the bottom of the eighth, the Pirates went to extremes in the top of the ninth to put the game away 8-4.

Two singles put runners at first and third with no outs. A strike out kept the runners where they were. The Rangers really needed a double play ball. Instead, what they got was a nightmare of a swinging bunt that Josh Jung fielded and made a valiant attempt to throw the runner from third out at home, but to no avail. The Rangers clung to the hope that being down one run wasn’t insurmountable.

That hope lasted two pitches. The Pirates next batter, Oneil Cruz, slugged a towering drive that was so high and so deep, it hit the top of the foul pole. Had the roof been open, it might have gone out of the ballpark. Instead, it just took the Rangers out of the game. 

Down 8-4, they went out meekly in the bottom of the ninth for their twelfth loss of the season, against twelve wins. 

You win some, you lose some. Which is the exact definition of a .500 team. You give up a 45-foot RBI. You give up. 500-foot RBI.

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