Thoughts on a 2-0 Rangers win – Lone Star Ball
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Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images
Rangers 2, Blue Jays 0
A win for the Rangers.
What a weird win, though.
Nathan Eovaldi, he of the 1.56 ERA this season, didn’t look terribly sharp through two innings. Then he wasn’t on the mound at all.
That’s the sort of thing that is going to result in the panic button being hit, given that the Rangers are being kept afloat by their starting rotation right now, of which Eovaldi is a key part. Things without Eovaldi would be very unpleasant.
Potential ongoing impacts related to an Eovaldi injury aside — and the reports after the game were that this was a precautionary move due to triceps soreness, Eovaldi isn’t expected to miss a start, though we will have to see if that actually is what shakes out — the departure of Eovaldi after just two innings means relying on heavy lifting from a Ranger bullpen that hasn’t inspired a whole ton of faith lately.
Three innings from Jacob Latz? Is that something to inspire confidence? If you said no, well, it turns out you are wrong.
Yeah, I know, I was surprised, too. But Texas got three shutout innings from Latz, then used Shawn Armstrong, Hoby Milner, and Luke “No Longer The Closer” Jackson for three more shutout innings. The soft underbelly of the Ranger pen stiffened up.
All this appeared to be for naught, because the Rangers offense was playing dead once again. A whole bunch of nothing for most of the game, with a run finally — FINALLY — being scored with two outs in the eighth on a Josh Jung RBI single, after Wyatt Langford was intentionally walked. And a second run scoring when Alejandro Kirk made a pickoff attempt on Langford at third that went into the outfield.
That’s it, though? That’s all the run-scoring celebratory celebrating we get to do with this win?
I’m tired of this “not scoring runs” thing. I’m ready for the offense to be good again.
Robert Garcia, who appears to have inherited the closer role, finished things out and got a save, by the way. That’s a positive. Robert Garcia seems like he’s a pretty decent reliever.
Nathan Eovaldi topped out at 93.9 mph with his fastball, averaging 93.3 mph. Jacob Latz hit 95.7 mph with his fastball. Shawn Armstrong’s sinker maxed out at 94.7 mph. Hoby Milner threw one sinker at 87.7 mph. Luke Jackson touched 94.7 mph with his fastball. Robert Garcia’s fastball hit 95.8 mph.
Adolis Garcia had a 106.7 mph ground out. Wyatt Langford had a 103.5 mph single. Josh Smith had a ground out at 101.7 mph.
Now to try to take the series. Nerve-wracking, this is.
