Thoughts on a 10-2 Rangers win

Rangers 10, M’s 2

• Just call the Rangers Daytona, because they’re .500.
• Dane Dunning did some impressive work today. His slider was especially effective, with the result being that, out of 89 pitches and 40 swings, he generated 17 whiffs — 12 of which were on the slider. His changeup generated 4 whiffs, and he got one swing and miss off his sinker.
• Dunning is not considered a strikeout pitcher. He struck out 10 batters in 5 IP today. That’s very good.
• Dunning also allowed 6 hits, though several of the soft variety, and uncharacteristically walked 3 batters. Half the hits and two of the walks came in a lengthy fifth inning which featured two infield hits and both runs of the game scoring. It was also Dunning’s final inning of the game — he finished at 89 pitches, after not throwing more than 76 pitches in a start prior to today. The off day allowing an extra day of rest may have factored into it.
• Taylor Hearn had a Hearn-y outing, having some command issues, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out one, but not allowing any runs in 31 pitches. Brett de Geus pitched the final two innings and put up the same line as Hearn, but with one fewer pitch.
• It is worth noting that the Rangers scored six runs in the bottom of the fifth which meant they had a comfortable lead for Hearn and de Geus to protect.
• Or maybe it isn’t worth noting.
• In the early going the Rangers had some opportunities, but their only run came in the third when Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Nick Solak reached on errors, and then IKF scored on an Adolis Garcia single. Solak then got picked off third to end the inning.
• Texas broke through big in the fifth, though, on a Charlie Culberson lead off home run, a Jose Trevino two run single, and an Adolis Garcia three run home run. Texas score two more in the sixth on an IKF GIDP and another Adolis RBI single, and one more to get to double digits on a Nick Solak ground out in the eighth.
• Fourteen hits in all for Texas, with everyone but Khris Davis getting one. IKF and Adolis each had three hits, the Culb had two hits, Nate Lowe had two hits and a walk, and Nick Solak had a double and a walk.
• As one would expect, Taylor Hearn had the high velocity today for the Rangers, topping out at 97.8 mph. Brett de Geus hit 95.1 multiple times with his sinker, while Dane Dunning’s sinker topped out at 92.2.
• The hardest hit ball of the game was Adolis Garcia’s fifth inning home run, which was 106.1 mph off the bat. The second hardest hit ball of the game was Adolis Garcia’s sixth inning single, which was 105.4 mph off the bat. Charlie Culberson’s home run had an exit velocity of 101.0. Nate Lowe had a 104.4 mph single and a 102.2 mph lineout. Isiah Kiner-Falefa had a 104.6 mph ball, Khris Davis had a 103.5 mph ground out, and Willie Calhoun had a 101.7 mph exit velocity on their double.
• With one out in the ninth, Kyle Seager had a fly out that was 104.1 mph off the bat. That was the only 100+ mph exit velocity ball in play Ranger pitchers gave up today.
• The Rangers start a two game series in San Francisco tomorrow, so get ready for some pitchers bunting and some double switch excitement. Let’s see if the Rangers can have a non-losing record when they finally have an off day on Wednesday.