Thoughts on a 9-1 victory

Rangers 9, D-Backs 1

• All of the sudden, the Rangers have won 3 of 4, with the three wins being by an aggregate 19-1 margin. The past two seasons, the Rangers have seemed to see things click at some point in June, and kick things up a notch. It would be nice if we're seeing the beginning of one of these summer hot streaks we've seen the Rangers go on.
• Colby Lewis was outstanding tonight, taking a no-hitter into the 6th inning and needing just 105 pitches to throw a complete game 4 hitter. It was a very Colbyashi line tonight, with 7 Ks against just 1 walk, with the obligatory solo homer thrown in. This was Colby at his best, a strike-throwing, efficient, locating machine.
• With yesterday's off day and today's complete game, the Rangers now have provided the bullpen with some much-needed rest, everyone having at least two days off going into tomorrow's Matt Harrison start. With Scott Feldman going on Thursday and TBD on Saturday, the Rangers are going to need all hands on deck later in the week, and Lewis's outing today helped ensure that there will be fresh arms available the next few days.

• I keep thinking I should take notes during the game, so I can better record noteworthy talking points for the post-game thoughts post. Like right now...I wanted to say something about the defense, but can't remember anything of note about the Rangers defense today. I figure I'll say that it was such a good game by Colby that there wasn't even the need for any great defense behind him, and then someone will point out a great diving play I forgot about or missed while chasing one of my bad children around the house, and I'll look silly. But I don't remember, offhand, any great plays. The 3 hits allowed by Colby on 22 balls in play wasn't just BIP luck...it was in part a product of very good pitching.
• The Rangers had trouble scoring during this past 10 game road trip, with the offense sputtering and struggling. First game back home, Ian Kinsler leads off the game with a double, Elvis Andrus drills a line drive to right field that Justin Upton catches, but which allows Kinsler to advance to third, and the Kinsler comes home on a wild pitch. It seems like, when the Rangers are going well, they start off a lot of games doing something like that. Maybe its just me.
• When Elvis hit the ball hard to right field, moving Kinsler over from second to third in the first inning, I was thinking to myself, "Take note of this, Wash. Good things can happen when Elvis swings away. And a runner can even be advanced by Elvis without him bunting." Elvis has been showing an ability this season to drive the ball to right field, something that you would hope would dissuade Wash from bunting him so much, since there's a good chance Elvis swinging away will at least hit behind the runner and advance him that way.
• This was one of those games we haven't had for a while, where the Rangers were up just 1-0 in the middle innings, but I wasn't ever that worried. This just seemed like, from the outset, a game that the Rangers had control of. That being said, when David Murphy came up with a runner on and two outs in the bottom of the 6th in a 1-0 game, I thought to myself, this would be a nice time for Murphy to go deep and give the Rangers some breathing room. Sure enough...
• Another thing that seems to happen when things are going well...balls fall in. After the Murphy homer, Yorvit Torrealba singled and Mitch Moreland doubled him home, making it a 4-0 game. Craig Gentry then came up and popped the ball up down the right field line. Seemed like a playable ball, but the closest D-Back defender (Paul Goldschmidt, I believe) couldn't find it, and it fell in for a double. Then Ian Kinsler swung away on a 3-0 pitch, hit the ball off the end of the bat for a little looper into left center, but it dropped in and brought Gentry home. Two weak-ass hits where, if they'd happened against us, we'd be cursing the luck dragons and BABIP gods. But it happened for the Rangers, and gave them a 6-0 lead that turned this into a laugher.
• Craig Gentry had an RBI HBP today, his 10th career HBP. He has 21 career walks. That's freaky.
• Josh Hamilton had a rough night at the plate, looking horrible while flailing at Ian Kennedy changeups in his first two at bats. He finally got on the board with a flared ball that would have gone to the shortstop, had the Diamondbacks not been playing the extreme shift...because of the shift, it was an RBI single to bring home Elvis Andrus, who had just tripled.
• When I watch Yorvit Torrealba running the bases, like he did in the sixth when he scored from first on Moreland's two out double, I think that he must be the slowest non-Molina in baseball history. I'm sure he's not really that slow, but good grief, he sure looks slow.