Dallas, Texas – The Texas Rangers were completely destroyed by the Houston Astros on Wednesday night.

At Globe Life Field, the Astros swept the series in a commanding and demoralizing 12-3 victory.

The Rangers (76-63) are currently three games down in third place in the AL West and are trailing the Toronto Blue Jays by a half-game in the fight for the wild-card spot. Up until last week, the Rangers had virtually all of the AL West to themselves. In its last 19 games, Texas has lost 15 of them.

The Astros (80-61) outscored the Rangers 39-10, outhit them 50-22, and outhomered them 16-6 in the series. The Astros hit 16 home runs, including five on Wednesday. The Astros set records for a three-game series with 39 runs and 50 hits.

Future Hall of Fame pitchers Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander’s duel quickly lost its allure. at least in terms of the Rangers.

After Yordan Alvarez’s two-run homer gave the Astros a 2-0 lead in the first inning, they continued to pressure Scherzer. In the second, Michael Brantley hit a solo shot, and Jose Abreu’s grand slam in the third forced Max Scherzer out of the contest.

In just three innings, Scherzer (12-6) took the loss after allowing seven runs on six hits and two walks.

For the Astros, Verlander (11-7) secured the victory. In seven innings, he limited the Rangers to a leadoff home run by Marcus Semien on the first pitch and one unearned run.