22-23 - Backed by superior Mike, Rangers hold onto 10-9 win over Mariners

Tonight’s contest saw Mikes Minor and Leake in a showdown in the series opener between two AL West rivals. Ultimately, perhaps as expected, the Rangers’ Mike got the better of the Mariners variety as Texas trounced Seattle early and held it together late after some late-innings clenching.

While Mike Leake was setting the tone for Seattle’s night by allowing five Rangers runs in the first frame, Mike Minor was cruising along to another stellar outing which saw him end the night with 11 Ks in his six innings where he gave up just two runs on a walk and six hits.

The pitching for the Rangers in 2019 seems like such a maximum effort trial of desperation where they scramble to find any combination of five or more guys every night who can come together to get through nine innings without the entire hallucination imploding.

And then there is the oasis that has become Mike Minor outings where we’ve grown accustomed to six innings minimum of excellence that no longer seems excellent only by comparison.

Tonight was no exception and every time Minor arrives, after so very long between his appearances, it feels like a revelation. Of course, as soon as he left, it was back to nail-biting but luckily he didn’t give the Mariners (or Rangers, really) enough outs to fully turn the tide.

Player of the Game: Like the game that closed out the road trip finale in Kansas City, every batter in the Texas lineup had at least one hit. Asdrubal Cabrera took two deep on the night. Hunter Pence and Joey Gallo teamed up for back-to-back shots. Perhaps the most important moment for the game came when Rougned Odor swatted a three-run dong in the bottom of the first to blow the game open early.

Still, hit’s hard to ignore 11 Ks in six innings from basically the only person holding the entire pitching staff together.

Up Next: Lance Lynn will take the mound for Texas and he try to keep the wins coming against LHP Tommy Milone (he still exists?) for Seattle. Tuesday night’s first pitch from The Ballpark is scheduled for 7:05 pm CT.