Rangers 18, Boston 3.
- That was kind of ridiculous.
- Per John Blake, 18 runs is the most runs the Rangers have ever scored in Fenway Park. The most before that? This game, the ridiculous 19-17 game in 2008, where Scott Feldman gave up 10 runs in the first inning, the Rangers were down 12-2 after 4 innings, then they scored 8 in the 5th and 5 in the 6th, took a 16-15 lead into the bottom of the 8th, then saw the BoSox score 4 runs (with 2 outs) in the bottom of the 8th off of Frankie Francisco. I'm kind of surprised LSB didn't spontaneously combust that night. Or maybe it did.
- Seriously, go click on that link, look at that box score, and think back to how you felt that night.
- The Rangers are now 9-2. They started the 2011 9-2, as well.
- Something that shouldn't be overlooked amid all the hoopla over the offensive explosion is the performance by Colby Lewis. Three batters into the game, the Rangers were down 2-0, and there was a runner on first with no one out. Lewis pitched 7 innings after that, and allowed 5 more baserunners, striking out 7 and not walking anyone. Colbyashi now has struck out 22 batters on the year, walked 1, and has a 1.83 ERA.
- Koji Uehara struck out two batters, but also grooved a fastball to Adrian Gonzalez that Gonzalez hit out of the park. If you didn't see the game, the pitch was absolutely grooved, right in the middle of the plate. While we can talk xFIP and K rates and all that, Uehara has been giving up homers because he has a bad habit of leaving pitches in the hitter's wheelhouse. If he doesn't fix that, he's got no value.
- Buster Olney tweeted tonight that two execs said the Rangers are the best team in the A.L. right now, and there's a sizeable gap between them and whoever is second best. Its hard to argue with that.
- Former Ranger Jarrod Saltalamacchia went 0 for 4 against the Rangers tonight. He is now hitting .083 on the year, and has yet to record a single.
- Josh Hamilton can hit the ball a long, long way. His homer tonight gives him 5 on the season, and per Jeff Wilson on Twitter, ESPN estimates the distance as 469 feet.
- While the entire lineup had a great night -- every starter had a hit, and every starter except Yorvit Torrealba and Michael Young had more than one hit -- of particular note, to me, was the performance of Mike Napoli and Nelson Cruz. Cruz and Napoli have struggled all season, but Cruz was 3 for 6 and was a triple short of the cycle, while Napoli was 3 for 5 with a walk and a pair of homers. Both players are streaky hitters, and with the upcoming stretch of games against Boston, Detroit, the Yankees and the Rays, it would be a very good thing indeed of this were to be the start of a hot stretch for these two.