Thoughts on a 2-0 Rangers loss

Yankees 2, Rangers 0

• Do you really want to think about this game? Do I really want to think about this game? Do any of us really want to think about this game, rather than try to memoryhole it and move on?
• The good news is that the Rangers got a hit today — several of them, in fact — so while they were shut out for the second day in a row, they at least didn’t become the first team in MLB history to get no hit two games in a row.
• At least I think no team has been no hit two days in a row. That seems like one of those things I’d have heard about, if it happened.
• Though if there’s a season when it would happen, it is 2021.
• Dane Dunning threw six shutout innings, and so that’s good. 6 Ks, 4 hits, 1 walk and 79 pitches. Dunning’s ERA is down to 3.74 on the year, and he continues to perform like someone who can be a meaningful contributor in the rotation for a while.
• That said, Dunning’s line may conceal a few underlying issues today. Dunning only generated five swings and misses, which even for a command guy like Dunning isn’t great. His slider, which is his money pitch when he’s on, garnered just two swings and misses, and a look at his pitch court suggests that he wasn’t locating it well today. He only threw his slider 11 times — he threw his cutter 13 times today, and it’s unusual for his slider not to be his most used secondary.
• Anyway, he got good results so it all worked out for him okay.
• John King got saddled with the loss with an uncharacteristically poor outing, giving up four hits, walking a batter and hitting a batter. Josh Sborz finished up the game and didn’t allow any runs, so that’s good.
• Joey Gallo was the offensive star of the game with a hit and a walk. Willie Calhoun had a double. Four other guys had singles. It was a lame day for the offense, once again.
• Josh Sborz hit 97.8 mph with his fastball. Finesse sinkerballer John King topped out at 93.8 mph, and Dane Dunning hit 92.7 with his sinker.
• The final out of the game, a line drive off the bat of Adolis Garcia that was caught, was the hardest hit ball of the game, at 112.4 mph. Jonah Heim had a 108.3 mph single, and Willie Calhoun had a 108.2 mph groundout, a 106.1 mph double and a 104.4 mph lineout. He hit the ball hard today. Nick Solak had a 102.4 mph single.
• I would rather write about a Rangers win than a Rangers loss. Hopefully I can do that tomorrow.