Thoughts on a 12-3 Rangers win

Rangers 12, Mariners 3

• And that’s a sweep.
• And that was another thumping. After a close, right pitchers duel on Friday, the Ranger offense went HAM on the Mariners pitching staff the next two days, scoring 16 runs on Saturday and 12 on Sunday. For the series as a whole, the Rangers outscored the Mariners 30-9.
• The Rangers are now 31-12 on the year in games decided by 3 or more runs.
• Texas is 12-3 over their last fifteen games. Since a season long four game losing streak (the sweep in Cincy followed by a loss at home to start a series against the Yankees) the Rangers are 24-9.
• Other than that four game skid, the Rangers haven’t lost more than two games in a row this season.
• Weirdly, the Rangers also haven’t won more than four games in a row this season.
• Nathan Eovaldi allowed no runs for the fifth time in his last seven outings. He only allowed two baserunners in six innings of work - a triple by Teoscar Hernandez in the second and a hit batter in the third. He retired the last 12 batters he faced.
• He maybe could have gone more than six — he was at 87 pitches — but the Rangers sent eight batters to the plate in the bottom of the sixth and they had a 12-0 lead at the end of that inning so no harm in letting Eovaldi shut it down there.
• The triple, by the way, caused heart palpitations for the Ranger faithful because it was hit to right center, and on the play Adolis Garcia took a couple of steps and then went to the ground. There was panic that he pulled something or hurt his knee, but when the trainer came out, Garcia trotted a little bit and then pronounced himself fine to stay in the game.
• So that was good,
• Speaking of defense, Eovaldi owes the zero runs allowed to Travis Jankowski, who made a tremendous leap at the wall to steal a home run from Mike Ford in the fifth. Jankowski then made an almost identical play in the eighth to take extra bases away from Cal Raleigh. It was a pair of awesome plays from the Jankster.
• Jonathan Hernandez was given the seventh but couldn’t finish it out. Single, K, double, walk, K, single, and Hernandez’s night was done. Brock Burke came in and allowed a hit before getting the third out. Three runs got hung on Hernandez, who still isn’t where he needs to be.
• Hernandez spent a month and a half on his rehab assignment last year in returning from Tommy John surgery. When he did get back, his Ks were down and his walks were up, resulting in a 3.97 FIP. It appears from the outside that he still hasn’t gotten his command back since going under the knife. With Joe Barlow having passed his kidney stone, and thus likely to be activated when his 15 days are up, and Spencer Howard looking impressive in his first two outings out of the pen in Round Rock, it’s not out of the question he could end up getting sent to Round Rock at some point before long to work on things.
• John King pitched the ninth for the second game in a row, in an effort to redeem himself after Saturday’s three run ninth. He allowed a pair of singles, got a check swing grounder that advanced the runners for the first out, then gave up a hard line drive that Josh Smith — having replaced Corey Seager at shortstop — snagged, then trotted to second for the U6 double play.
• The offense did the thing again. A two run first and then a pair of five run innings. Bryce Miller, who was getting Rookie of the Year run a week ago, was chased in the third with seven runs having been hung on him. He got lit up by the Yankees his last time out and now has a 4.46 ERA.
• Every Ranger starter had a hit. Corey Seager continued to rip, doubling and homering and walking in four plate appearances before letting Smith finish things out. Jonah Heim had a pair of hits, including a high fly down the line that hit the foul pole to finish off the scoring for Texas, before letting Sandy Leon catch the final three innings. Josh Jung had three hits and a walk.
• This is what it looks like when things are hitting on all cylinders.
• Nathan Eovaldi maxed out at 97.5 mph with his fastball. Jonathan Hernandez’s sinker reached 99.1 mph. Brock Burke’s fastball topped out at 96.2 mph. John King hit 93.8 mph with his sinker.
• Adolis Garcia had a 109.2 mph double, a 105.5 mph single and a 100.2 mph ground out, Corey Seager had a 108.5 mph double and a 107.3 mph homer. Josh Jung had a 106.2 mph single.
• Seattle is now under .500. The Rangers are 3.5 up on the Astros in the West. I’m having fun.