Thoughts on a 7-0 Rangers win

Rangers 7, Yankees 0

• Nothing like ending a historically long streak by your opponents by shutting them out in their house on a holiday.
• When I think rain delays in the Big Apple, I think of Aroldis Chapman complaining about the rain in the 9th inning, umpires stopping the game for three-and-a-half hours, and then Chapman coming back out and blowing the lead, with the Rangers winning in the wee hours of the morning.
• This game won’t supplant the Chapman tantrum rain delay in my memory, but it is still going to be memorable. The game starts almost three hours late, and Mike Minor, who the Yankees had the chance to trade for, but didn’t, mows down the Bombers for 7+ innings.
• Minor, his pitch count rising, got into a bit of the jam in the 8th, and with two on and one out, Chris Woodward turned to Shawn Kelley, who has not been terribly sharp in the second half. Kelley got a ground out and a fly out, however, and Emmanuel Clase did his triple digit thing in the 9th, preserving the shutout.
• The Yankees had gone 220 straight games without being shut out before today, the second longest streak in the modern era, surpassed only by the early-30s Yankees, another team with potent power hitters playing in an era with a juiced ball.
• We have talked quite a bit about Jeff Mathis having caught almost all of Mike Minor’s games this year, as well as most of Lance Lynn’s starts. The two veterans have wildly exceeded expectations this year, helping in some degree to bolster Mathis’s reputation as a pitcher-handling-savant. Jose Trevino, not Jeff Mathis, caught Minor today, though Trevino also has a reputation for being a superlative defensive catcher.
• Trevino also homered today, pushing his wRC+ in his brief time in the majors this year up to a very nice 69. That’s not good, but with Trevino, it might be enough to make him a viable major league catcher, given his defense.
• Delino DeShields also had a homer today, a two out, three run shot as part of a four run 8th inning that turned a 2-0 nail biter into a comfortable 6-0 lead for the Rangers. Shin-Soo Choo, who had doubled earlier in the game, homered in the 9th for the final run.
• Elvis Andrus had three hits on the day, including the 1700th of his career. He has a chance — a chance — of reaching 3000. He probably won’t get to 3000...but he does have a shot.
• Danny Santana, who had an awful August, had two hits today. His 40 man roster spot should be safe, and he seems a lock for a spot on next year’s, ahem, 26 man roster, but a strong September to finish things out would be nice.
• Ronald Guzman and Nomar Mazara each returned to the starting lineup today, and each had a hit and a walk to start what will likely be a pretty critical September for each of them.
• Edinson Volquez opens for Ariel Jurado tomorrow. Jurado against this Yankees lineup is...worrisome. But hey, the Rangers just shut out the Yankees today, so maybe they can keep the magic going tomorrow.