Thoughts on a 16-8 Rangers win

Rangers 16, Angels 8

• That was exciting.
• And what a difference 48 hours makes. Less than that really…it was more like 42 hours from the end of Friday night’s game to the end of Sunday afternoon’s game.
• Another beat down of the Angels after Saturday’s beat down. A second straight day of the Angels having to put a position player on the mound.
• And remarkably, it was the Rangers starter who was responsible for most of the runs being scored by the opponent, rather than the pen. Perez had his streak of…35, I think?…games in a row going at least five innings snapped, getting chased with two outs in the fourth and seven runs in.
• The broadcast lamented that the home plate umpire wasn’t giving either pitcher the bottom of the strike zone, something particularly problematic for a sinkerballer like Perez, but even taking that into account, he didn’t pitch well. It happens.
• The Josh Sborz/Cole Ragans tag-team got the Rangers through the middle innings and into the late innings, keeping Anaheim off the board and allowing the bats the opportunity to bolster the lead to the point Bruce Bochy felt comfortable bringing Jose Leclerc into the game in the ninth for a low pressure, get back on the horse outing. Leclerc did give up a home run to Hunter Renfroe, but hey, he didn’t walk anyone.
• Ragans came into the game with two outs in the sixth and I was hoping for a three inning save, but alas, it was not to be.
• The offense put up a three run innings, a couple of four run innings and a five run inning. Rangers runs are like bananas…they come in bunches.
• Anaheim jumped to a 3-0 lead after one, but Ezequiel Duran cranked a two run shot in the top of the second to drop the deficit to one. Robbie Grossman had a sac fly later in the inning, eliminating Anaheim’s ability to enjoy the lead for any length of time.
• A Leody Taveras two run single and a Josh Smith home run in the third gave the Rangers the lead, and despite some scares, they didn’t give it up the rest of the way.
• Smith, it should be noted, was only in the game because Travis Jankowski strained his hammy.
• The much maligned contact play worked to the Rangers benefit in the fourth. With Nathaniel Lowe on third and Adolis Garcia on second, Josh Jung grounded a ball to Anthony Rendon at third base. Lowe broke on contact and looked likely to be out, but Rendon dropped the ball before throwing late to home, where the ball got away, allowing Garcia to also score. Leody came through a few batters later to double home two more runs.
• And if Lowe doesn’t break on contact, who knows what happens?
• Well, I know what happens. But I’m not going to tell you that. It’s a secret.
• Martin Perez hit 94.1 mph on his sinker. Josh Sborz’s fastball touched 97.7 mph. Cole Ragans reached 98.3 mph with his fastball. Jose Leclerc maxed out at 95.0 mph.
• Ezequiel Duran’s home run had a 110.5 mph exit velocity. Leody Taveras had a 109.5 mph single, and added a 99.4 mph double and a 98.9 s mph single. Josh Smith’s home run was 107.7 mph. Nathaniel Lowe had a 106.2 mph single. Brad Miller’s double was 105.9 mph. Jonah Heim had a 105.0 mph single. Adolis Garcia’s homer was 102.9 mph. Josh Jung had a 100.5 mph fly out.
• That’s two of three in Anaheim. Texas is up two full games on the Angels, and 3.5 games on Houston and Seattle. That’s not bad.