Thoughts on an 11-3 Rangers win

Rangers 11, A’s 3

• That was a successful road trip.
• And this was a successful game.
• This win feels kind of like a rerun, doesn’t it? Solid effort by the starter, some shakiness from the bullpen, and then a big late burst by the offense to turn what felt like a tight game into a blowout.
• According to Baseball-Reference, the Rangers had scored just 15 runs in the eighth inning prior to Sunday. The Rangers scored more than half as many runs in the eighth inning today as they had all year in the eighth inning previously.
• That seems weird because I would’ve thought they’d scored more runs in the eighth prior to that, but who am I to argue with the internet.
• 9 Ks for Andrew Heaney, against just two walks. That’s pretty good. A Quality Start, one run allowed in six innings.
• And I know y’all probably want to kvetch about Jonathan Hernandez and his allowing a game-tying home run, but I am full of good cheer and want to focus on the positive today. And the positive from the bullpen was that Good Jose Leclerc made an appearance.
• Leclerc, of course, has been banished to garbage time after his recent failure to throw strikes consistently. In the ninth inning, he reminded us what he can do when he’s on, throwing 13 of 16 pitches for strikes, getting five swings and misses, and striking out three of four batters he faced, the other reaching on a weakly hit bloop single.
• Let’s think positive thoughts about Good Jose Leclerc sticking around.
• The much-maligned Robbie Grossman and the not-maligned Adolis Garcia carried the offense, each going three for five with a homer, Grossman’s bomb being a two run shot in the first to give Texas the lead, Garcia’s being a grand slam in the eighth to account for runs 8, 9, 10 and 11 for Texas.
• A fine Mother’s Day performance. Go hug your mom and tell her the Texas Rangers love her.
• Andrew Heaney reached 94.3 mph with his fastball. Jonathan Hernandez hit 99.1 mph with his sinker. Yerry Rodriguez touched 97.5 mph, while Jose Leclerc topped out at 96.0 mph.
• Adolis Garcia’s grand slam was 103.6 mph off the bat, and he also had a 100.1 mph groundout. Ezequiel Duran had a 108.4 mph lineout. Leody Taveras had a 101.9 mph groundout.
• Home again home again, jiggity jog. And with a four game lead in the West.