The Texas Rangers are dangerously close to losing control of their season. And it all begins with their disastrous first innings.

It happened again on Thursday when the Rangers lost to the Twins, 9-3. Starter Jack Leiter gave up a first-inning home run, just as Kumar Rocker did in Tuesday's game and just as MacKenzie Gore did in Monday's game.

The inning continues to be a complete disaster for the Rangers, who were outscored 9-0 by the Twins in three games and were outscored 25-7 for the three-game series. The Rangers are now 0-15 when they allow more than one run in the first inning.

It has reached the point where Rangers manager Skip Schumacher believes the issue may no longer be a matter of execution.

The Rangers’ First-Inning Mentality

“I don't know if it's becoming a thing like mentally maybe, but something that we got to continue to address because we're playing from behind too often and it's tough to play catch up,” Schumaker said in his postgame press conference on Rangers Sports Network.

The Rangers’ inability to keep more than one run off the board in the first inning is putting the offense in a difficult position. In all three games against the Twins the Texas offense was unable to answer with a run in the first inning, meaning that the Twins had control of the game and could dictate the types of pitches they would commit to attempting to hit.

It forced Gore, Rocker and Leiter to take fewer chances, be less aggressive and try to nibble on corners more often. That allowed Twins hitters to be more patient, draw more walks and induce Rangers pitching into taking more chances.

The three starters gave up 17 of the Twins’ 25 runs, meaning the games was essentially done by the time the bullpen came in. Gore was the only starter who kept the Rangers in a game, the Monday opener that ended with a 4-2 Texas loss. But the left-hander gave up all four runs.

It's getting harder for the Rangers to use a stagnant American League race as an excuse for their mediocrity. The Rangers loss, coupled with Seattle’s win over Baltimore, put the Rangers three games back in the American League West.

For those looking at the glass half full, it means the Rangers only need one meaningful stretch of baseball to get to the top of the division. For those viewing the glass as half empty, this sweep was another example of a season that is growing increasingly lost.

With a stretch of 15 straight games without a day off, Schumaker knows Texas has to figure it out.

“Tomorrow [Friday] is a big day,” he said. “We have to be able to get deeper in games [with the starter]. We have the right guy on the mound [Friday, Jacob deGrom] to change what happened in the series.”