Sweep not in the cards following one-run loss
The Texas Rangers scored one run but the Detroit Tigers scored two runs.
Baseball is rarely predictable but the Rangers flailing against reigning Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal with a sort of give-up lineup seemed written in stone. And that’s how things pretty much played out. Even so, here they were in a 1-1 game with Skubal hitting the showers before the seventh inning had concluded.
Despite the fact that Nathan Eovaldi couldn’t pitch tonight to make this the marquee matchup of two of the best in the AL, the pitching staff still honored the deal with Jacob Latz stepping in for five innings of one-run ball which was extended to seven innings by Luka Jackson and Hoby Milner.
But baseball is unpredictable so of course it was a two-out, two-on situation where .496 OPSing Tiger Matt Vierling came through with the eighth inning RBI single that gave the Tigers the lead and eventual one-run win. The winner came on a 3-2 pitch offered by Chris Martin after it looked as though he was about to wiggle out of a two-on, no-outs jam. Alas, it is baseball after all.
This one was expected to be a close affair when scheduled until it was expected to not be one due to circumstances entering the game. When it ended up being a close game anyway, the hallmark of the sport eventually proved as true as ever despite the Rangers losing to go to 50-50 after 100 games to do everything that they can to debunk to idiom altogether.
Nevertheless, Texas finished the year 4-2 against the Tigers, who currently hold the AL’s best record.
Player of the Game: Texas didn’t get much going against Skubal at the plate, as expected. In fact, their lone run came via a wild pitch after Skubal had left with men on base.
Only Corey Seager seemed to have Skubal figured out as the two best players on either team battled all night. Though Seager had two of Texas’ four hits, those hits didn’t really factor into production because the rest of the lineup was absent for most of the evening.
With that in mind, we’ll tip our caps to Latz who was in the unenviable position of trying to match frames with the league’s top pitcher on short notice after Eovaldi’s back put him out of commission.
Though he allowed an early run, and had to navigate through traffic throughout his appearance, Latz’s five innings at least gave the Rangers a shot a pulling off an upset win, which was looking like a real possibility heading into the last few innings.
Up Next: The Rangers stick around Arlington where they will meet the nomadic Athletics for a series. Texas has yet to officially name a starter for the opener but they will face LHP Jacob Lopez to kick off the series.
The Monday evening first pitch from The Shed is set for 7:05 pm CT and will be carried on the Rangers Sports Network.