34-34 - The Rangers hate their fathers, fail to sweep the M's

I suppose in a world where Austin Bibens-Dirkx can out-duel Max Scherzer, it's entirely possible for Yu Darvish to lose a game against the Mariners when Christian Bergman was his counterpart. I mean, it shouldn't be this way but it is. Because that's baseball.

Bibens-Dirkx never allowed nine runs in one ballgame, though. Bergman did that in his last outing. A month previously, against those Nationals, Bergman gave up ten runs. The last time Yu Darvish pitched, he one-hit the Astros.

So, yeah, if you're in the business of making sense of the granularity of baseball, I'm sorry to hear that you are broke and impoverished.

The real story, of course, is the Mariners did to the Rangers today what the Rangers did to the Mariners yesterday which is score a whole bunch of two-out runs in the first innings. First inning runs are the best when your team scores them because they set the tone for what feels like an expected win.

When the opponent scores first inning runs, you just wish they could hit the reset button and start the dang game over. Alas...

Player of the Game: Carlos Gomez was the lone star of the day for the Rangers as his two-run home run in the bottom of the second inning provided the output of offense until a wild pitch brought home a run in the seventh. I suppose you could make the claim that Jeff Banister was the real winner today as he got thrown out by Joe West and avoided being outside in 115 degree heat altogether.

Up Next: The Rangers open a series against the Toronto Blue Jays in Jose Bautista's first regular season game in Arlington since...well, you know. Ace slayer Bibens-Dirkx will take on the unhittable (to Rangers hitters) Marco Estrada. Monday night's series opening first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 pm CT.