Thoughts on a 5-0 Rangers win

Rangers 5, Angels 0

• Well done, Mike Minor.
• For those of you who have been grousing that yeah, the Rangers have been playing okay, but the pitching has been awful, this win is for you. Minor was masterful today, giving up 3 hits and 2 walks in tossing a complete game shutout, striking out 7. The closest thing to a threat the Angels had was in the first, when David Fletcher walked to leadoff the game and with one out Andrelton Simmons singled. Albert Pujols then struck out, Jonathan Lucroy lined out, and Minor faced one over the minimum the rest of the way.
• Elvis Andrus had a pulchritudinous play behind Minor to help keep things in check in the 7th. Albert Pujols walked to lead off the inning, and then Jonathan Lucroy hit a hot shot back up the middle that looked like it was headed to center for a single. Elvis made a diving stop, however, and flipped to Danny Santana to get Pujols at second and start the double play.
• The last Ranger to have a complete game shutout at home was Colby Lewis, who did it on September 11, 2015. You may remember that game...Texas had gotten hot in August to get back in the race, playoff fever was growing, and Colby took a perfect game into the 8th inning,
• Texas got on the board in the first, when Shin-Soo Choo led off the game with a double, advanced to third on a fly ball to right by Elvis, and then scored on a Nomar Mazara double.
• The other four runs came on a pair of entertaining two run home runs. The first was in the bottom of the fourth...with two outs, Joey Gallo got into a 1-2 hole, and then laid off some close pitches to draw a walk. Asdrubal Cabrera then hit a fly ball to right field that looked like it would either be caught or go for a double...except when Kole Calhoun leapt to try to make the catch, the ball appeared to hit off the heel of his glove, and bounced over the wall for a home run. It wasn’t Jose Canseco, but it was no doubt embarrassing for Calhoun, who earned an assist on that home run.
• The other came in the sixth. Hunter Pence led off the inning with a single, and then Joey Gallo hit a rocket into the right field concourse over by the popcorn cart. Statcast had it at 110.3 mph, and 439 feet.
• That home run was the second hardest hit ball of the game. The hardest hit ball? A 114 mph line drive single by Gallo, who was 2 for 3 with a walk in the game. The third hardest hit ball of the game was the Hunter Pence single, and the fourth hardest was the Nomar Mazara double.
• The weakest hit ball of the game? A 56.6 mph line out by Mike Trout.
• So Texas has taken the series, has won three in a row, and as I type this, they are tied with Cleveland for the WC2 spot (though Cleveland is playing right now, and if they win Texas will be a half game back).