The Texas Rangers headed into Friday’s game against the Miami Marlins with nine games left to claim a playoff spot. What did the team say following their 6-4 extra-innings loss at home?

Postgame manager Bruce Bochy talked about the team’s struggling offense, which only got four hits on Friday and has struggled during the team’s current losing streak.

“We didn’t hit very many balls hard. It was a tough day for the offense; just couldn’t get things going. We had a long streak there without getting somebody on base. It’s hard to do much then,” said Bochy.

The Rangers have been decimated by injuries this season, but got some good news on Friday with Tyler Mahle being activated from the injury list for the first time since June and making his first start.

Pregame, Bochy said he thought Mahle could throw around 75 pitches, and he finished his return start by throwing 68 while giving up zero earned runs, four hits with six strikeouts in 4.2 innings of work.

The California native had been in the midst of a career season before right shoulder fatigue sidelined him for 85 games, after he had gone 6-3 with a 2.34 ERA in 14 starts.

Mahle explained how he felt following his return to the mound and how the playoffs motivated him.

“I felt good. Felt like I never missed a step from where I left off,” Mahle said. “Mainly it was to put myself in a position to be able to pitch in the postseason so that is the main focus, to go off into the offseason healthy is big even though it might only be two starts but hopefully if somehow we can get into the playoffs and pitch some more.”

MLB playoff chase update

The Rangers, losers of five straight, now sit six games behind the Seattle Mariners for the American League West lead and five games behind the Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox for the final AL wild-card spot.

The Rangers have almost a half-dozen teams ahead of them as they try to capture one of the final AL playoff berths. How did the teams they’re chasing perform on Friday?

Boston Red Sox: Seven players batted in runs as the Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays 11-7 after holding off a late comeback.

Cleveland Guardians: Bo Naylor’s four RBIs helped power a 6-2 Guardians win over the Minnesota Twins.

Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners: The Mariners’ pitching staff dominated the Astros. Seattle gave up only three hits and no runs in the 4-0 victory.

New York Yankees: The Yankees’ offense struggled and ended up with four hits in a 4-2 loss to the Orioles.

Bochy acknowledged that the Rangers face an uphill climb to the playoffs but said the team would not stop fighting.

“You come out here, no matter what happens, we all have a job to do, and it’s come out and play hard, play for nine innings,” he said. “That’s what we’ll do. Don’t know what can happen, this certainly was a tough one, but we’ll come out, we’ll be ready to go tomorrow.”

Injury updates

The Rangers’ Marcus Semien was thought to be lost for the season when he went down with a sprain of the third metatarsal and a sprain of the Lisfranc ligament. Bochy talked about Semien’s recovery and how Semien looked at live batting practice on Friday before the game.

“I thought he looked good, took some good swings, barreled up some balls,” Bochy said. “Yeah, I thought that was impressive, with all the time that he’s missed. He’s doing what he can to get back out there. I can’t give you a target date. I don’t think any of us are shocked he’s making a lot of progress, and where he’s at, compared to where we thought he would be at this point.”

However, the Rangers’ injury luck continues to falter with Wyatt Langford missing Friday’s game due to left-side tightness. Bochy said the team would check in with the Florida product on Saturday.

“He’s got some left side tightness going on, so that’s why,” Bochy said. “Feeling [left side tightness] a little bit and just gradually getting a little worse, to the point where he needs a day.”

Bochy also revealed that Corey Seager’s rehab was going well, but said he couldn’t provide an update on when the shortstop would return.

The Rangers will continue their series with the Marlins on Saturday at 6:05 p.m. at Globe Life Field in the second game of their three-game series.