PHOENIX -- For as long as it stands, Chase Field will always be sacred ground for the Texas Rangers. After all, it¡¯s the site where they clinched the franchise¡¯s first World Series title just 10 short months ago.

The memories that linger from that day were still fresh in the minds of all those who helped Texas reach the top of the baseball world last season when the club returned to Phoenix for a two-game series against the D-backs on Tuesday.

¡°You can¡¯t help but think about the celebration on the field,¡± Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said.

¡°Seems like everyone¡¯s in the same locker,¡± Marcus Semien said.

But much like the circumstances of this particular meeting in Phoenix, the outcome couldn¡¯t have been more opposite.

After a shutout defeat on Tuesday night, the Rangers dropped the finale in a 14-4 loss on Wednesday afternoon, ending a string of four consecutive series wins for Texas.

¡°They swung the bats well,¡± Bochy said of Arizona's relentless offensive output. ¡°We couldn¡¯t keep the ball in the ballpark and that got us in this series. Cody [Bradford] has been so good. You¡¯re going to have an off-day and that¡¯s what it was. He wasn¡¯t quite as sharp, and they¡¯re swinging it well.¡±

The current position both the Rangers and D-backs find themselves in is starkly different as well.

The Rangers, now eight games back in the AL West and 7 1/2 games out of the third AL Wild Card spot, have been forced to navigate through a difficult season marred by injuries, while the D-backs appear poised to make a second straight trip to the postseason. A little less than a year ago, it was the Rangers who seemingly held the upper hand over the unlikely National League champions.

While that forecast certainly doesn¡¯t take anything away from the Rangers¡¯ accomplishments in 2023, it does showcase just how much things have changed since then.

¡°It¡¯s been talked about so much: how difficult it is to repeat,¡± Bochy said. ¡°There¡¯s been a number of reasons why we¡¯re not where we want to be. Every season is different, it takes a life of its own, whether guys aren¡¯t having their normal years or injuries.

¡°Our goal is to finish strong here. We got a bump in the road here, a pretty good one, but we¡¯ll move on.¡±

Bradford, who has arguably been the Rangers¡¯ best starter this season, gave up three consecutive hits to begin his outing Wednesday, including an RBI triple to Corbin Carroll and a two-run homer to Randal Grichuk that put the Rangers behind, 3-0, before they could even record an out.

The southpaw entered the day with a 2.88 ERA over his previous seven starts since rejoining the Rangers¡¯ rotation at the beginning of August. He departed after giving up a season-worst eight runs on nine hits, including three homers, over 3 2/3 innings.

¡°Today was interesting,¡± Bradford said. ¡°My body actually felt really good with a six-day rotation this week, so pregame catch and bullpen was really good. As for the game, I put us in a hole early, and you never want to do that as a starting pitcher. And it was a big hole, it was a 5-0 deficit after the second inning. And when I made mistakes over the plate, they capitalized today.¡±

Bradford and Nathan Eovaldi -- whose duel with D-backs ace Zac Gallen on Tuesday was a rematch of that fateful Game 5 -- combined to give up 12 runs on 16 hits against an Arizona lineup that is much improved from the last time the two teams met in Arlington in May.

Meanwhile, the Rangers mustered little offensive support across the two games, with just two extra-base hits -- a Semien homer and an Adolis Garc¨ªa double on Wednesday -- and 11 total at-bats with runners in scoring position. Wyatt Langford, who accounted for four of the Rangers¡¯ 12 hits in the series, continued his productive September, but Texas largely struggled otherwise.

¡°We were battling to get back in it; we just couldn¡¯t hold [the D-backs],¡± Bochy said. ¡°A hit here or there, we are in it. But they were doing all they could to get some runs and we had some men on base, but we couldn¡¯t keep it going.¡±