Thoughts on a 4-2 Rangers loss

Tigers 4, Rangers 2

• You will be surprised to know that the Rangers lost again on Wednesday.
• And the offense was not good.
• There’s a certain Groundhog Day quality that comes from writing about the team right now. It was similar earlier in the year, when they went 7-28 in an awful stretch. It felt like it was generally variations of the same rather narrow theme.
• This isn’t a team that is constantly finding new ways to lose. This is a team that pretty much always loses in much the same way. We can’t even marvel at the new and unique ways the 2021 Texas Rangers find to lose...instead, we are numbed, dulled, by the steady repetition, the same song over and over again.
• When I got my first CD player, the only two CDs I had were “This Is An E.P. Release” and “People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm.” The former had the single “Same Song” on it. So this team makes me think of the late Shock G in his Humpty Hump guise saying “It’s just a freestyle, meanwhile, we keep the beat kickin’, sweat drippin’, girlies in the limo eatin’ chicken.”
• The idea of riding around in a limo with a bunch of girls and a bucket of Popeye’s was very appealing to 20 year old AJM.
• Anyway, do you want to read about this game? Do you want me to talk about it? To what end? Cutie after cutie, its just the same song. The pitching was okay, the offense was bad, and the Rangers lost. Oh, and they lost on the road, which, of course, is a novel experience for the 2021 Texas Rangers.
• Jordan Lyles wasn’t terrible, which, you know, for the role the Rangers have him in — absorb some innings without embarrassing himself or the team so that they don’t have to bring up guys who aren’t ready — being not terrible is acceptable. Four runs in seven innings pitched, three of them via a home run. He only allowed three other hits, though, and walked just one guy. 5.20 ERA on the year. I mean, I’ll take it at this point.
• Brett Martin got back on the horse with a scoreless inning after his 0 IP, 5 hit, 5 run outing the other day...I don’t know what day it was, other than it wasn’t Tuesday or Wednesday. All those losses in Buffalo and the opener in Detroit all kind of blend together. I can tell you that Eli White homered in the Friday game in Buffalo, because that’s the game they weren’t shut out in in the midst of that stretch.
• The offense took the novel approach of being just bad rather than godawful, and the Rangers even had the go-ahead run at the plate in the ninth, which, you know, is new. Five hits, three walks, two runs. Two of the walks were by Nate Lowe, who is morphing into late-career Shin-Soo Choo. Andy Ibanez had a pinch hit double, which was cool, I guess. Go Andy.
• Anyway, things are bad right now. It sucks. I’m sorry I don’t have anything better to offer on the subject.
• Brett Martin hit 94.5 mph on a four seamer. Jordan Lyles reached 94.6 mph.
• Charlie Culberson, Nate Lowe and Nick Solak all hit balls really hard — 109.4 mph, 108.2 mph, and 107.9 mph, respectively — that had big negative launch angles and thus were harmless groundouts. Culberson had a 105.7 mph lineout. Joey Gallo had a 100.9 mph fly out. John Hicks had a double at 107.6 mph and a fly out at 105.2 mph.
• Alas and alack. These road games.