Scott Littlefield, a 33-year veteran scout who had spent the last 15 years as part of the Rangers’ inner circle of talent evaluators, was found dead Friday in a Houston hotel where he had been on assignment for the team.

The Texas Rangers fought hard to beat the Miami Marlins on Friday, but the loss may have finally put their playoff hopes, realistically, at an end. The Texas Rangers were stubborn on Friday night. They just ran out of stubbornness.

Scott Littlefield, who spent the last 16 years as an integral member of the Texas Rangers baseball operations department, passed away on Friday morning in Houston, Texas, where he was on assignment for the team.

The Rangers need to play near-perfect baseball to have a chance to make the playoffs and even that may not be enough.

The Rangers found a spark of life last week despite losing multiple players to the injured list including Nathan Eovaldi, Marcus Semien, and Corey Seager. It seemed like the final nail into their coffin,

Houston and Seattle are tied for first in the AL West with 9 games to go. The Astros and Mariners open a 3-game series Friday at Daikin Park.

The Mariners built a big lead and held on for a win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night to give them a two-game lead in the AL West.