Thoughts on a 12-3 Rangers win

Rangers 12, Royals 3

• I am hard pressed to think of how a series could go any better than this one just did.
• Was this Martin Perez’s best game as a Ranger? No. Was it a perfectly cromulant start? Yes, yes it was.
• 5.2 IP, 3 runs, 8 hits, 0 walks, 3 Ks. Perez looked like he’d go six innings easy and might go seven or more at one point. He was at 59 pitches after five. The sixth inning saw him give up two of the runs and three of the hits. Perez faced five batters in the sixth and he used 20 pitches to get through the final three of them, resulting in a call to the pen for Jonathan Hernandez.
• So, no Quality Start, but Hernandez got the final out of the inning to preserve a 5-3 Rangers lead, and then the Rangers poured it on after that and didn’t look back.
• It was a secure enough lead that Josh Sborz pitched the ninth, and no one complained about the decision.
• Every Ranger starter got a hit except for good luck charm Travis Jankowski, who did have a walk. The Jankster is going to make his presence felt.
• Marcus Semien had three hits. As has been discussed at John Holmesian length, Semien has traditionally been a slow starter. This could be a nice stretch in what will resume to be a cold start. Or it could be Semien not getting off to a cold start at all (or, I guess, more accurately, having a very brief cold start to the season that lasted like one week). I’m rooting for the latter.
• There were also more signs of life at the plate from Leody Taveras. Leody had a single, a double and a triple, and was making good contact on the day. After his injured sidelined him at the end of spring training he didn’t seem to be in a good place at the plate early on. His three hit performance is a good sign.
• Yeah, it is just one game and Leody could go 0 for his next 20. But a journey of a thousand miles starts with one good game, and hopefully this will be built on. With his glove, Leody doesn’t have to hit a ton to be a viable starting center fielder, but he has to hit some. If he can do that, such that there’s only one gaping hole in the outfield instead of two, that would be a significant.
• Martin Perez topped out at 93.5 mph on his sinker, averaging 91.4 mph. Jonathan Hernandez hit 98.7 mph with his fastball. Jose Leclerc touched 95.5 mph. Josh Sborz reached 97.8 mph.
• Leody Taveras had a 112.2 mph double and a 107.3 mph groundout. Nathaniel Lowe had outs at 106.9 mph and 103.7 mph. Ezequiel Duran had a 106.6 mph groundout. Adolis Garcia had a 105.8 mph groundout and a 104.9 mph single. Jonah Heim’s home run was 104.8 mph. Travis Jankowski had a 102.7 mph force out.
• The Rangers head into an off day on a winning streak and in sole possession of first place in the A.L. West. Holla.