MILWAUKEE — There was a decent amount of good — not to mention a four-game win streak — midway through the Texas Rangers’ series opener against the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday at American Family Field.The emphasis on “was” needs to be as loud as the meltdown that nullified it.The Rangers, in a 6-3 loss to the first-place Brewers, coughed up multiple two-run leads when oft-reliable left-handed relief pitcher Jacob Latz allowed four runs to score in grand fashion when he allowed two hits — one of which was a go-ahead slam — and two walks without recording an out in the sixth inning to snap Texas’ win streak.A decent amount of good. A crushing amount of bad. Latz, who made his team-high 33rd appearance of the season on Monday, replaced starter Michael Lorenzen in the sixth inning with William Contreras on second base after a leadoff double. He walked left-handed hitter Christian Yelich on nine pitches and was up 0-2 on Willy Adames before four consecutive balls loaded the bases for Rhys Hoskins, who drilled a first-pitch, belt high fastball 399 feet into left field for a grand slam.Right-hander Jonathan Hernández — who replaced Latz two batters after Hoskins’ blast — issued a two-out walk to Blake Perkins, who stole second base and scored on a bloop single from Andruw Monasterio to give Milwaukee a three-run lead.Latz, 28, had logged eight consecutive scoreless appearances prior to Monday’s meltdown and, according to Baseball Reference, began play with the second-highest WAR (0.6) of any Texas relief pitcher. He — among any other pitcher suitable for the sixth inning — represented Texas’ best option. He didn’t have it Monday, and because of baseball’s three-batter minimum rule, the Rangers had no choice but to let Latz face Hoskins after back-toback walks.It was a bad, bad inning. The next wasn’t much prettier. Leody Taveras, Josh Smith and Adolis García each worked walks against left-hander Jared Koenig to load the bases with two outs in the top of the seventh; designated hitter Nathaniel Lowe struck out swinging on three pitches to squander the opportunity. Lowe has just a .656 OPS against lefthanded pitching this season.It spoiled that decent deal of good that the Rangers had amassed in the five innings prior, such as:Some timely hittingBefore Lowe’s strikeout, at least. The Rangers’ lineup — last season, at least — could’ve best been described as deep and relentless.
