Thoughts on a 9-8 Rangers loss

Brewers 9, Rangers 8

• An abbreviated stint from the starter, a rough night for the bullpen, and a late rally that comes up just short. I feel like we have seen this a time or two this year.
• Andrew Heaney had his second straight appearance where he didn’t go deep into the game, getting the hook with two out in the fourth inning. One can’t really argue, though, that he was pulled early, since he needed 84 pitches to get those eleven outs.
• It was the same issue we have seen before with rough Heaney starts, where he can’t command his pitches, gets hit, and throws a lot of pitches. Bruce Bochy pulled Heaney after Heaney faced leadoff hitter Christian Yelich for the third time, with Heaney having allowed three runs, all in the third.
• Nathan Eovaldi threw a three inning bullpen on Wednesday and is slated to throw another one this weekend. There is talk of having him come back without a rehab assignment, and instead pair him with another starter so that he doesn’t have to be expected to throw 90-100 pitches. So before too long we may see an Eovaldi/Heaney tag time.
• Chris Stratton was once again asked to pitch a couple of innings early on, and he did his job, handing off what was a 4-3 lead to Josh Sborz in the seventh. Sborz walked Yelich, gave up a rocket single to William Contreras, then gave up a three run bomb to Carlos Santana. Good bye, lead.
• Sborz didn’t have it, though the pitch to Santana was very high and out of the strike zone, rather than a Paul Lynde pitch begging to get crushed. After a K and a single, Brock Burke came in to get a GIDP and minimize the damage.
• Minimize the damage, at least, until the following inning, when Burke loaded the bases with one out before giving way to Grant Anderson. Anderson went single, walk, fielder’s choice to allow three more runs in.
• Thus Texas faced a 9-4 deficit in the ninth. A spirited comeback made it a 9-8 game when Corey Seager came to the plate with two outs and hit a blast to the deepest part of the park. Per Statcast, it was a ball that would have been a homer in 18 of 30 parks. But Globe Life was one of the 12, and thus it became the final out of the game.
• At least the comeback meant the game became another one run loss.
• On the plus side, Houston also lost, meaning the Rangers are still 2.5 games up on the Astros. Houston lost to the Mariners, though, and so Seattle is now within 5 games.
• Andrew Heaney topped out at 93.2 mph with his fastball, averaging 91.7 mph. Chris Stratton hit 94.0 mph. Josh Sborz and Brock Burke each touched 97.1 mph with his fastball. Grant Anderson hit 93.8 mph with his sinker. Jose Leclerc’s fastball maxed out at 95.0 mph.
• Adolis Garcia had a 105.1 mph single. Robbie Grossman had a 104.6 mph double. Nathaniel Lowe had a 104.4 mph fly out and a 103.7 mph home run. Mitch Garver had a 100.2 mph home run. Marcus Semien had a 104.1 mph GIDP. Nathaniel Lowe had a 103.7 mph home run. Ezequiel Duran had a 102.1 mph double. Corey a Seager had a 101.5 mph fly out, and his fly out to end the game had an exit velocity of 103.3 mph.
• Let’s see if the Rangers can rebound behind Dane Dunning and snap this two game losing streak Saturday afternoon.