Leclerc (1-2) was credited with the loss when he allowed two runs on two hits and struck out one over one inning against the Athletics on Friday.
Leclerc entered a tie game to start the ninth and gave up a two-out, two-run homer to Marcus Semien. The other hit allowed was when Jurickson Profar, batting left-handed, bounced a grounder off the end of the bat that stayed fair up the third-base line, which Profar turned into a double against the Rangers' shift. Leclerc has pitched brilliantly over the past month, so manager Chris Woodward was not phased by the runs. "Pitchers are gonna give up homers," Woodward told T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. "I'm not worried about that at all. I felt like his command was good. He's throwing strikes, and like I said, the cue ball down the third-base line. It's ridiculous to even be concerned about that. The homer? He challenged a guy, and the guy hit it. Semien's a good hitter. I know he's hurt us in the past, but it's not that easy to hit 98 [mph] middle-away, but he hit it." Shawn Kelley remains the Rangers' closer, but Leclerc appears to be getting closer to the point when Woodward will use him in a save situation.