Thoughts on a 5-3 Rangers win

Rangers 5, ChiSox 3

• A sweep. Very nice.
• Were you worried? Were you worried in the first inning, when Max Scherzer was laboring, walking in a run, running up a Dylan Cease-ian early pitch count? Were you worried when Max was missing his spots with his off speed stuff, and then was getting BABIP’d for three runs in the first?
• It was worrisome. The new big dog starter, who wasn’t having a good year for the Mets, immediately having issues in the first inning of his debut. Digging a big hole for yourself against the White Sox would suck the air out of the stadium, nerf some of the good vibes from the first two wins of the series, lead to us to be questioning whether Scherzer is really the answer — or even “a” answer.
• Things got under control, though. Even in the first, with the command problems, Scherzer wasn’t getting tattooed…it was softly hit bloops and grounders falling in or finding holes.
• After a three single second that resulted in no runs and featured a GIDP and an inning-ending K, something clicked. Scherzer got locked in, and over his final four innings of work he allowed just one baserunner. That’s a Hall of Famer getting himself straightened out after a bad beginning.
• Bruce Bochy got to use the Josh Sborz-Aroldis Chapman-Will Smith trio for the final three innings, and that group seems to be his Plan A for late game situations with a lead. Aroldis was scary for a moment, with a one out single, a passed ball, and then a wild pitch on a strike three that would have ended the inning putting runners on the corners with two out. A groundout from pinch hitting Eloy Jimenez ended the inning, though, and we could all breathe easy again.
• Texas managed a run in both the second and the third, but also left a pair of runners on in each inning, creating a low level angst over the possibility of opportunities missed and the like. Homers by Mitch Garver and Marcus Sem8en in the fourth provided a lead, however, and a Mitch Garver single in the eighth gave Texas as insurance run.
• It is unfortunate, that insurance run, since that made it a two run lead, rather than one, and thus I guess we can’t call it a clutch one run win.
• Max Scherzer hit 95.5 mph with his fastball, averaging 94.0 mph. Josh Sborz reached 96.9 mph. Aroldis Chapman’s sinker touched 101.9 mph. Will Smith maxed out at 93.4 mph.
• Mitch Garver’s home run was 111.4 mph off the bat. Adolis Garcia had a 106.5 mph single. Leody Taveras had a 103.2 mph line out. Marcus Semien’s home run was 101.6 mph.
• Texas took care of business against the White Sox. Next up are the Marlins at home for three.