On Aug. 19, the Rangers pulled off their biggest comeback of the season. With Mike Napoli and Rougned Odor combining for three homers and 10 RBIs, the Rangers overcame a five-run deficit for a 17-7 win against the Chicago White Sox.

Manager Jeff Banister afterward talked about needing production from the "inside guys in our offense" and expressed hope that these two engines were about to go into high gear.

It has not happened.

Since that big night against the White Sox, Napoli and Odor are a combined 8 for 61 with two homers and four RBIs. The Rangers are 3-5 with 25 runs in that span and have dropped to three games behind Minnesota in the race for the second American League wild-card spot.

"We've got to find a way to win these types of games," said Banister, speaking of the offense as a whole. "We can't let those kind of opportunities slip away."

For Napoli and Odor, the snapshot of the last eight games provides insight into their overall seasons.

Napoli has had hard-hit outs, such as the bases-loaded liner that Oakland third baseman Matt Chapman turned into an unassisted double play at a crucial moment during a loss to the Athletics on Sunday.

Napoli has also not made contact. He has 11 strikeouts in 30 at-bats in the last eight games and a career-high strikeout rate of 33.6 percent. His walk rate, usually a strength, is at a career-low 8.6 percent.

He believes he is close to breaking loose.

"It's not like I'm feeling terrible," Napoli said. "I'm hitting balls hard. Keep moving forward and stay in this thing until the very end and see what happens."

According to three scouts with major league clubs who recently have seen Odor, he is trying to lift every pitch for a homer.

Odor has 27 homers. He also has matched a career-high with 26 pop-ups to the infield.

"This is a guy that is dangerous any time he's in the batter's box," Banister said. "We like it when he's swinging the bat. There are things that we know he continues to improve on."

Such as taking walks. Odor ranks 148th out of 155 major league qualifiers for walks rate at 3.9 percent.

On Sunday, with the Rangers trailing 3-1 in the fourth, Odor chased a full-count pitch well out of the strike zone for the second out. A walk would have loaded the bases with one out.

Banister has acknowledged that Odor needs to shrink his hitting zone. Odor believes he can hit any pitch. That confidence, which is an essential part of his make-up, can work against him.

"What makes him dangerous can also make days challenging for him," Banister said. "He can hit pitches in a number of locations very hard and a long ways. At the same time, he can miss those pitches. They're not high-percentage, contact-type pitches."

Odor also ran into two outs on the bases and had a costly throwing error from second base as the Rangers were swept in the three-game weekend series at Oakland.

The first out on the bases, when Odor tried to go from second to third on a grounder to the left side, was reckless. The throwing error, on a potential double-play grounder, was too firm and too quick.

Banister indicated he does not want Odor to pull back on his playing style.

"He's trying to play the game hard," Banister said. "One thing I'll never fault these guys for is being aggressive and playing the game hard. That's how the game is designed to be played. There are mistakes that do happen."

Low returns

The Rangers have received minimal offensive production from Mike Napoli and Rougned Odor in August. A look at their performances: