Thoughts on a 7-3 Rangers loss

Rays 7, Rangers 3

• Well, one out of three in Tampa isn’t bad.
• Things went not good early on for Texas. Martin Perez started out not getting calls on the corners and seeing some softly hit balls fall in, and two runs came across in the bottom of the first. That was unfortunate.
• Two more runs were scored by the Rays in the second in a manner that was more Perez getting hit and less dinks and dunks. A three batter third included a walk and a GIDP, after the Rangers had out three in the board, led to some hope that Perez would keep the team in it and give the offense a chance to come back.
• Twas not to be. Come the fourth, Manuel Margot stung a ball that went for a single but resulted in an out when Margot got thrown out trying to stretch it to a double. The Rays challenged, the replay looked like Margot was safe, but the call stood, and it seemed Texas was getting a break.
• But no. A walk, another hard hit single, and a blast from Wander Franco turned a 4-3 Rangers deficit into a 7-3 game. One more hit allowed by Perez and he was gone, done for the day after seven runs and 3.1 IP.
• If you want a positive, the Rangers bullpen performed today. Jose Leclerc came in, faced eight batters, and retired seven of them, with the eighth being thrown out on a stolen base attempt. Two Ks and a bunch of pop outs, which is what Leclerc generates when he is going well.
• Did you know that Jose Leclerc has a 2.57 ERA this year?
• Grant Anderson offered up a scoreless inning, as did Yerry Rodriguez. In fact, once Spencer Howard got the hook in Game One, the Rangers bullpen didn’t allow a run the rest of the way. Ten innings off shutout ball after Howard’s four run extravaganza.
• The offense put up three runs on Shane McClanahan in the third inning, then didn’t have another baserunner until the ninth. Five hits is a disappointing performance. On the other hand, Texas got a double and a couple of walks in the ninth and had the tying run at the plate with one out. Despite the awful Perez start and the largely silent bats, they had a chance at the end. That’s something.
• It was a weekend that could have gone better. It was also a road series against probably the best team in the league right now. A team that came into the day with an 892 OPS against lefties, making the Perez and Andrew Heaney matchups particularly problematic from the Rangers standpoint.
• But the Rangers took a game, and are still up 5 in the West. Things are still, all in all, pretty good.
• Martin Perez’s sinker topped out at 92.9 mph. Jose Leclerc reached 95.8 mph with his fastball. Grant Anderson hit 93.5 mph. Yerry Rodriguez touched 98.5 mph.
• Josh Jung had a line out at 103.2 mph. Marcus Semien had a double at 102.6 mph. Leody Taveras had a 102.0 mph groundout. Adolis Garcia had a 100.1 mph fly out.
• Back home for four against the Angels. Let’s see how this goes.