3 Rangers to blame for heartbreaking Game 5 loss to Astros

The Texas Rangers needed three outs to take Game 5 from the Houston Astros. They had a 4-2 lead going into the top of the ninth. They were so close to taking a 3-2 lead in the series.

But almost only counts in horsehoes and hand grenades. And the Astros had other ideas, riding a three-run, ninth-inning home run from Jose Altuve to win Game 5 and send the series back to Houston needing one win to get to the World Series.

The Rangers have to get their heads right before Game 6 on Sunday. In the meantime, we can play the blame game.

3. Adolis Garcia

Ok, before you get too worked up. Yes, the Rangers were only in the position to win the game because of Adolis Garcia. He hit the go-ahead home run that really should have carried Texas to victory. So if he's at fault, it's only for a sliver of the blame to go around.

Still, the MLB postseason is partly about production and partly about composure. Garcia had the first part of that equation but not the second.

Bryan Abreu hit Garcia with a fastball on his next at-bat after the big homer. Garcia seemed to think it was on purpose. His reaction cleared the benches and resulted in his ejection, along with ejections for Abreu and Astros manager Dusty Baker.

If Abreu stupidly chose to intentionally throw at Garcia for his home run celebration, the right fielder could have taken the gifted base and kept helping his team win. Instead, he lashed out and got himself ejected, removing his bat from the lineup when the Rangers needed him late in the game.

The kerfuffle also may have had a negative impact on Rangers closer Jose Leclerc, who was essentially put on ice as the bottom of the eighth stretched on longer than it should have.

Fine margins determine outcomes this deep in the postseason. Garcia gave and took away in Game 5.