Thoughts on an 11-7 Rangers win

Rangers 11, Jays 7

• And that’s a series win for the Rangers. Do we all feel better now?
• A big time comeback for the Rangers, who got down 6-0 by the middle of the third. Jon Gray, back on the mound after missing his last start due to a blister, looked like he hadn’t pitched in months. His command was awful, with his slider either way out of the zone or right in the middle of the zone, and his fastballs were mostly middle of the plate. It was ugly.
• John King was brought in with one out in the third, in what looked like would be a thankless mop up role. King came in with runners on the corners and Texas down 5-0 and got a pair of ground ball outs, one that resulted in a run scoring, one that ended the inning.
• King ended up logging 3.1 innings on the day and didn’t allow any hits, though he allowed two walks. He did what he generally does when he’s going well — generated ground balls. Bruce Bochy made a point after the game of praising King’s performance, saying they don’t win that game without John King coming up big.
• By the time King left the game the Rangers had rallied to take the lead. Grant Anderson, Jose Leclerc and Joe Barlow handled the last 3.1 IP and got the job done. Shades of early in the year, when pen scrubs were bailing out the starters.
• The offense shook off its recent doldrums and looked like the offense from the first couple of months of the season. Double digit runs, four innings with crooked numbers, a lot of big hits.
• Texas had 15 hits and six walks on the day, and 11 of those 16 hits were from Corey Seager, Ezequiel Duran and Leody Taveras. Leody homered again, his eighth of the season, giving him as many homers this year as he had in the previous two seasons combined.
• Corey Seager is really good, y’all. And Ezequiel and Leody have taken pretty huge steps forward in 2023.
• Is it cliched to say that this is a game that underscores all the things that Bruce Bochy and the coaches and players have been saying about this team, that they believe in themselves and don’t quit? Texas was down big early. It was the last day of a disappointing home stand, against a good team with a good pitcher on the mound. The offense had been struggling.
• And they went out there and outscored the Jays 11-1 after getting into a six run hole. Maybe it’s nothing. But it kind of makes me buy into this team being special.
• Corey Seager had a 108.4 mph single, a 108.2 mph double, a 107.2 mph double and a 101.6 mph single. Adolis Garcia had a 107.3 mph single. Marcus Semien had a 106.7 mph ground out and a 102.8 mph double. Josh Jung had a 104.4 mph single. Leody Taveras had a 103.5 mph home run. Ezequiel Duran had a 103.4 mph single. Mitch Garver had a 100.0 mph ground out.
• Jon Gray’s fastball topped out at 97.4 mph. John King reached 95.4 mph with his sinker. Grant Anderson’s fastball reached 93.6 mph. Jose Leclerc touched 96.9 mph with his fastball. Joe Barlow’s fastball maxed out at 95.0 mph.
• Off to Chicago to face the White Sox with a 4.5 game lead over the second place Angels and a 5.5 game lead over the third place Astros.