ARLINGTON, Texas — Between superb play and the fortunes of a playoff schedule, the Rangers were experiencing a dream postseason.

In the era of the 13-man pitching staff, the Rangers had needed to use just seven to win their first seven games of these playoffs, owing to how quickly they had dispatched the Rays and Orioles and how infrequently they had played. Nathan Eovaldi and Jordan Montgomery had started six of the seven games and that duo, plus Texas manager Bruce Bochy’s relief trio of trust — Aroldis Chapman, Josh Sborz and Jose Leclerc — had thrown 55 ²/₃ of the 63 innings going into ALCS Game 3 against the Astros on Weddnesday night.

But if the Astros were searching for an avenue to believe they could rally from down two-games-to-none, it was:

And the Astros got away from home and into the soft underbelly of Texas’ pitching staff. How amazing that the Rangers’ worrisome contingent was led by a future Hall of Famer.

Max Scherzer had not pitched since Sept. 12 due to a shoulder strain. After a recent simulated game and a bullpen session, even he did not know how far he could pitch in Game 3 and at what quality. The answer was not very long and not very well.

Scherzer counterprogrammed after the game, offering the upside — that he felt good, was able to throw all of his pitches and “still had stuff left in the tank.” But his manager had no desire to see him empty that tank after seven of the 18 batters faced put a ball in play at greater than 100 mph.

Houston had totaled four runs in 18 innings at Minute Maid Park, exclusively against the Rangers’ main pitching fivesome, but blitzed Scherzer for five runs in four innings en route to an 8-5 triumph that did more than put the first loss on Texas this postseason. It accentuated the Rangers’ main shortcoming — that they will need all their pitchers to, well, pitch in.

The Rangers’ modern-day Spahn and Sain — Montgomery and Eovaldi — are lined up for Games 5 and (if necessary) 6. But before that, Texas will start Andrew Heaney in Game 4. The lefty has appeared once and thrown 3 ²/₃ innings since Sept. 30.

Heaney will have a throaty home crowd behind him, which is to say the Astros have him just where they want him. Houston is 7-1 at Globe Life this year as part of a 54-30 road record (17-3 in the last 20 games) compared to 40-45 at home, which includes 1-3 in this postseason. The defending champs are attempting to become just the second team to lose the first two games at home in an LCS and rally to win — the 2020 Dodgers did so against the Braves.

The Rangers find themselves in a position similar to that of the Mets when they were ousted in the NLDS last year — they are not getting enough from Jacob deGrom and Scherzer. In deGrom, they are getting nothing since he needed Tommy John surgery after six starts in the first season of his five-year, $185 million free-agent pact. His absence contributed to the go-for-it Rangers obtaining Montgomery and Scherzer at the trade deadline.

Scherzer joined David Wells in tying a major league record by making a postseason start for a fifth team. And he had life on his fastball and consistently worked ahead of hitters. But hitting Yordan Alvarez with an 0-2 cutter to lead off the second inning, walking the struggling Kyle Tucker, throwing a run-scoring wild pitch and allowing a two-run single to No. 9 hitter Martin Maldonado permitted Houston to gain a 3-0 lead. The Rangers could not catch up after they previously had trailed at the end of only one full inning this postseason.

“It’s just execution and mistakes,” Scherzer said, but then refused to go into detail.

He lasted 63 pitches and, if this series goes seven games, will the 39-year-old be Bochy’s choice? In the present, the short start forced Bochy to those who seemed to be in pitcher witness protection. Will Smith, who had not pitched since Sept. 29; Chris Stratton, who had not pitched since Sept. 28; and Jon Gray, who had not pitched since Sept. 25, allowed Houston to add on and negate the impact of two two-run homers by Texas rookie Josh Jung.

“This is the postseason and there’s no excuses,” Scherzer said. “You either win or you lose and tonight we lost.”

The Rangers did more than lose, though. They allowed the Astros to continue to find comfort and dominance in their home away from home while exposing the Rangers’ Achilles’ arm — to the Max.