MacKenzie Gore threw 102 pitches Friday night.

Nine strikeouts. Zero walks. Exactly what you want from your ace.

Then he walked off the mound. And the Rangers lost anyway.

Chris Martin inherited a tie game in the ninth. First batter reached. Second batter hit a two-run homer to right-center. Game over.

I keep coming back to one question the data keeps surfacing: at what point does a reliever's declining peripheral numbers become a roster decision?

Martin's stuff isn't what it was. The numbers said so before the season started. The ninth inning confirmed it.