Thoughts on a 4-0 Rangers win

Rangers 4, Royals 0

• That was a nice peaceful win.
• Three runs in the first, another in the third, then put it on cruise control the rest of the way.
• We did have the scare of Jacob deGrom leaving the game expectedly after four innings, which caused a ruckus and a bunch of angst. It was apparently just wrist soreness, though, with his departure being described as “precautionary.” Better safe that sorry, right?
• deGrom’s departure was also noteworthy because he had a no hitter going, although, really, he wasn’t going to stay in the game a full nine innings because of a no-no.
• Dane Dunning came into the game for deGrom and allowed a single to the second batter he faced, Matt Duffy, to put an end to the no hitter. That hit was the only hit of the game for Kansas City, though. Dunning shut down the Royals for 4.1 innings, before giving way to Jose Leclerc for the final two outs of the game.
• deGrom and Dunning largely mirrored each other’s stat lines, with each walking one and striking out five. Dunning threw 63 pitches (41 for strikes), while deGrom threw 58 pitches (39 for strikes). deGrom did get 13 swinging strikes, compared to Dunning’s 8.
• The offense was largely quiet, but they made their baserunners count. Marcus Semien started the game reaching on an E5. Travis Jankowski laid down a bunt that he beat out that was initially called a single, but was later in the game changed to an E5. Josh Jung brought them both home when he clobbered a 430 foot bomb to left center, giving the Rangers an early 3-0 lead that turned out to be all the runs they would need.
• Marcus Semien had a homer of his own in the third for the final run. The only other two hits of the game were by Jonah Heim and Robbie Grossman. As I said, it wasn’t a real eventful day for the offense.
• Jacob deGrom’s hardest pitched of the night was 100.0 mph. Dane Dunning had a fastball that hit 91.8 mph. Jose Leclerc topped out at 95.4 mph.
• Nathaniel Lowe had a lineout at 110.3 mph that was the hardest hit ball of the game. Josh Jung’s homer was 108.9 mph off the bat, while Marcus Semien’s homer was 102.5 mph. Travis Jankowski had a 108.7 mph groundout. Brad Miller had a 102.8 mph ground out.
• Your Texas Rangers are still in first place. Let’s keep enjoying the feeling.