Thoughts on a 6-4 Rangers win

Rangers 6, Jays 4

• Nice, fun game all around tonight.
• Mike Minor started for Texas, had some issues early on, had the defense make some very good plays and some very not good plays behind him, and as a result gave up runs in each of the first three innings, turning a 4-0 lead into a tie game by the time there was one out in the third. He then retired 11 of the final 12 batters he faced, ending his night with a 6 IP, 4 K, 0 walk, 4 run line.
• Justin Smoak was thrown out on the basepaths twice, once at home, once at third, or else things could have been much worse for Minor early on. Delino DeShields, meanwhile, continues to do some damage when teams try to run on him this season.
• The bullpen continued its Jekyll-and-Hyde performance, and was the good doctor tonight. Kevin Jepsen, Alex Claudio, Chris Martin and Keone Kela combined to shut out the Jays over the final three innings, with Kela needing just five pitches to retire the side in the ninth and get the save. The closest thing to a threat was when a two out Jurickson Profar error in the seventh resulted in Alex Claudio coming into the game and giving up a single to Smoak, bringing up Yangervis Solarte as the go-ahead run. Solarte grounded out to Isiah Kiner-Falefa to end the inning, though, and that was pretty much that.
• It was crooked numbers for the Ranger offense, with Texas putting up 4 runs in the first inning and then 2 more in the sixth. 2013 Hickory Crawdad teammates Nomar Mazara, Joey Gallo and Ronald Guzman did the damage — Mazara doubled in a pair in the first, Gallo followed that up with an opposite field home run, and then the two runs in the sixth came when Guzman doubled home Mazara and Gallo.
• Mazara, Gallo and Guzman combined to go 7 for 12 on the night. The 2018 season is shaping up to be a difficult one in terms of wins and losses, but how the team does in 2019 and beyond will have a lot to do with this trio, and seeing them show improvement and do damage can make up for a lot.