Thoughts on a 6-2 Rangers loss

Rays 6, Rangers 2

• So, a really nice run of games ended with a couple of bleah performances in Tampa this weekend.
• Realistically, on the surface, Jesse Chavez versus Blake Snell would seem to be a matchup where the Rangers were pretty significant underdogs, Snell’s ERA struggles this era notwithstanding. And Snell was great.
• Chavez was fine today, generally. He gave up 3 runs through the first four innings, and since that took him through the lineup two times, and since the Rangers had a rested bullpen and Mike Minor going tomorrow and Jesse Biddle joining the team tomorrow, I thought it would make sense for Texas to go to the pen there rather than let Chavez face the top of the Rays order another time. Chris Woodward stayed with Chavez two more innings, though, and Chavez gave up a Tommy Pham home run but otherwise did okay.
• Brett Martin pitched the seventh, appearing for the first time in a week, and allowed two hits but struck out the side while keeping Tampa off the board. Jose Leclerc pitched the eighth and struck out two, but allowed two runs on a double, a triple and a passed ball.
• Whether Chavez was pulled earlier and what the bullpen did, though, really didn’t matter because the offense was effectively shut down. Joey Gallo hit a moonshot after an Elvis Andrus single in the 4th for the Rangers only two runs. The only other Ranger hits were a Joey Gallo bunt single and an Elvis 7th inning single. Colin Poche, who struck out Gallo yesterday, came in to face Gallo after the Elvis single, and Gallo tried, unsuccessfully, to bunt for a hit again — a curious move given that he was the tying run at the time. Gallo instead picked up his first career sac bunt.
• The Rangers scratched both Rougned Odor and Asdrubal Cabrera from the starting lineup after it posted, though Odor came in as a pinch hitter in the 9th. With Biddle joining the team tomorrow, Cabrera, who had back stiffness, could go on the injured list until the All Star Break.
• Four game set at home against Anaheim starts tomorrow. Let’s see if Texas can snap the losing streak.