Thoughts on a 12-4 Rangers win

Rangers 12, Guardians 4

• That’s a nice way to start the second half.
• I have a certain amount of appreciation for the fact that the Rangers started off slowly, falling behind 4-0 due to a couple of Naylor Brother homer runs, in order to get everyone good and mad. To get everyone complaining, saying that they were in a tailspin, that they looked awful.
• Only to turn it around, get quality work from the pitchers over the final six innings, and pile on a bunch of runs late, batting around in both the seventh and eighth.
• Gray wasn’t great, but he got the job done. The third inning was particularly problematic for him, as have gave up both of the unintentional walks he issued on the day in the third, as well as three of the five hits he allowed. Gray struck out four, though he generated just three swings and misses on 88 pitches, which is really low.
• But he settled down after the bad fourth inning, gave up just a single and an intentional walk over the next three innings, and kept things under control so the bats could come back.
• Brock Burke, Aroldis Chapman and Jose Leclerc each threw a shutout inning. Leclerc got to pitch the ninth after the Rangers piled on four more runs in the eighth, making it an eight run lead rather than a four run lead. Will Smith appeared to be coming into the game when the Rangers were up four, but doubling the lead meant Leclerc got the ball instead.
• The Rangers got a pair of runners on with one out in the first inning but ended up stranding them, and by the bottom of the fourth, I have to admit I wasn’t feeling it. There was a lack of confidence in the air in the Rangers ability to right the ship.
• Nathaniel Lowe took Aaron Civale deep to start the inning, though, and Texas pushed another run across later in the inning when Travis Jankowski singled home Adolis Garcia to make it 4-2. It was a sign of life, at least.
• Continuing to chip away, Texas pushed another run across in the sixth on a Jonah Heim RBI single, then loaded the bases with one out before an Ezequiel Duran K and a Leody Taveras line out left them stranded. Were our heroes going to tease us, only to come up short once again?
• No, no they weren’t. A Marcus Semien walk and a Corey Seager double to start the seventh inning immediately tied the score. Nathaniel Lowe and Adolis Garcia singles gave the Rangers the lead. A Jonah Heim double added to the lead, as did a Leody Taveras single (really, it should have been scored a double) that brought Heim home, and that ended up ending the inning when Travis Jankowski was thrown out at home.
• The Rangers challenged the inning ending play at home, incidentally, on the issue of the catcher blocking the plate. The call wasn’t overturned. I still don’t understand what is blocking the plate and what isn’t, according to the replay officials.
• It didn’t matter, though. Texas extended the lead in the eighth inning with homers from Corey Seager, Adolis Garcia and Jonah Heim. It was fun. Everyone was happy.
• Jon Gray topped out at 96.6 mph with his fastball, averaging 95.4 mph. Brock Burke touched 97.2 mph. Aroldis Chapman reached 101.8 mph with his sinker. Jose Leclerc maxed out at 95.9 mph.
• Leody Taveras had a single that was 111.6 mph off the bat. Nathaniel Lowe had a 111.2 mph single, a 107.4 mph double, a 101.5 mph home run, and a 100.7 mph single. Corey Seager had a 110.7 mph line out, a 107.2 mph double, and a 101.6 mph home run. Josh Jung had a 110.0 mph single. Adolis Garcia had a 108.3 mph home run and a 104.6 mph fly out. Jonah Heim had a 105.1 mph double and a 103.4 mph homer. Travis Jankowski had a 100.7 mph single.
• Man, that was a lot of really hard hit balls by the Rangers.