Thoughts on a 10-8 Rangers win

Rangers 10, Rockies 8

• What a strange series this was.  Getting blown out in Game 1, only to come back and tie it, then see the game lost in the 9th.  Blowout win in Game 2, and then a big lead blown in Game 3, only to have the Rangers come back and win.
• Martin Perez got a quality start today, and was sharper than he was in his first start back, last week against the Astros.  Perez only struck out two batters against four walks while giving up 6 hits, but generally speaking, he wasn't hit hard, and the defense behind him could have been better.  As it is, Perez allowed 4 runs -- 3 earned -- in his 6 innings, and was in position to get his first win of the year.
• Sam Freeman came in in the 7th, faced one batter, and walked him, giving way to Keone Kela.  Kela struck out a pair and got out of the inning with no runs scoring, allowing Jeff Banister to bring in Tanner Scheppers -- the losing pitcher from Monday -- in the 8th with a 4 run lead.
• Alas, Scheppers didn't have it again today.  After fanning Drew Stubbs to start the inning, Scheppers allowed a home run to Nick Hundley, walked Brandon Barnes, and then allowed pinch hitter Charlie Blackmon to hit a line drive to center that Leonys Martin (in the game as a defensive replacement) just flagged down.  D.J. LeMahieu singled, bringing up Carlos Gonzalez as the tying run, and given how Scheppers had struggled, it seemed like a good time to go ahead and get Shawn Tolleson into the game for a four out save.  Alas, Scheppers stayed in to face CarGo, Gonzalez homered, the game was tied, and Rangers fans erupted in anger.  Troy Tulowitzki struck out to end the inning, but the damage was done, and everyone seemed resigned to another bad loss.
• The offense bailed Scheppers out in the 9th, though.  With the game tied at 8, Rougned Odor led off the inning with a single, and advanced to third when Adrian Beltre singled to right.  Mitch Moreland struck out on three pitches, bringing up the spot that had been Josh Hamilton's in the order -- however, due to pinch-hitting for the pitcher shenanigans, it was now the pitcher's spot, giving Banister to send Prince Fielder to the plate.  Fielder was intentionally walked -- a curious decision, I thought -- bringing Elvis Andrus to the plate.  Elvis got down 1-2, but then singled past Nolan Arenado to bring home two runs and give the Rangers a two run lead heading into the bottom of the 9th.
• Shawn Tolleson finally came into the game in the bottom of the 9th, got an easy 1-2-3 inning, and the Rangers went home winners.
• The only multi-hit game was by Rougned Odor, who went 3 for 4 with a single, triple and a home run, as well as picking up a walk.  That balanced out a rough game in the field, as he had a couple of infield singles on balls he might have had a play on if he'd fielded them cleaning, as well as picking up a pair of errors on one play to turn a potential GIDP into no outs and runners on second and third.
• Delino DeShields, meanwhile, got on three times, on a walk, an HBP and a single, and Beltre had three walks to go with his 9th inning single.
• I didn't do thoughts yesterday, because I was tired when the game ended, but if I had, I would have mentioned how awesome it was to see Matt Harrison throw 6 shutout innings in his second game back in the majors.  His stuff looked better than in his first game, and while it wasn't 2011-12 Matt Harrison, it was good enough for him to be a successful starting pitcher, I think;
• Oh, and Shin-Soo Choo had a cycle, and Delino DeShields was a homer short of a cycle, yesterday.  Baseball is wacky sometimes.