Thoughts on a 10-2 Rangers win

Rangers 10, Tigers 2

• Well that felt good, didn’t it.
• There’s nothing like jumping out to an early lead and never taking your foot off the other team’s throat the rest of the way.
• And what the hell, Dane Dunning? Dunning’s early season high level of success is something I’ve seen as a kind of fool’s gold, coming as it has with peripherals that don’t support the results, but this...this outing was * chef’s kiss * tres magnifique.
• I mean, ten strikeouts? Ten? Where did that come from? And even with the ten strikeouts it was a very efficient outing, as Dunning appeared to be in line for a Maddux before a two out, ninth inning infield single by Andy Ibanez foiled the effort. Then Kerry Carpenter’s home run ended the bid for a complete game shutout, which is disappointing, though not as disappointing as it would have been if it had been 1-0 at the time rather than 10-0.
• That sort of lead, one so big that both Yerry Rodriguez and Sam Huff get to make appearances, eases a lot of disappointment in that sort of regard.
• Four runs in the first, as the Rangers batted around in the inning. Two more in the third, sixth and seventh. A 6 for 14 performance with runners in scoring position, so maybe we can calm down a little bit about that for a short while. I guess you can complain about 11 runners being left on base, if you’re that sort of person, but when you have 14 hits and 5 walks plus a runner or two reaching via an error, well, you’re probably going to have a decent number of runners left on base just by virtue of there being so many runners.
• Every starter had a hit except for Jonah Heim, who at least had a walk, so, you know, that’s something. Homers from Adolis Garcia, Josh Jung and Ezequiel Duran, with Garcia being a triple short of a cycle.
• That Ezequiel Duran home run was a sight to see. A laser beam right down the line in left that seemed to never get much above fence height and disappeared in like seven-tenths of a second. The broadcast seemed baffled by it, thinking it was foul at first, before realizing that, no, it just went out of the park much faster than any fair ball has a right to leave the park.
• Dane Dunning hit 91.8 mph with his sinker, averaging 90.6 mph. Yerry Rodriguez touched 96.8 mph with his fastball.
• Ezequiel Duran’s home run was 115.2 mph — the hardest hit ball by a Ranger this season. Sam Huff had a 110.5 mph ground out. Josh Jung’s home run was 102.7 mph, and he had a 107.4 mph line out. Leody Taveras had a 107.0 mph double. Nathaniel Lowe had a 106.8 mph single and a 105.5 mph ground out. Marcus Semien had a 105.8 mph double. Adolis Garcia’s home run was 102.3 mph, and his double was 101.3 mph.
• Six up on the Astros and Angels. And a win on Thursday would give the Rangers 50 wins at the halfway mark.