Rangers 4, Rockies 1
Rangers 4, Rockies 1
- Another close win. Another tense ninth inning. Another reliever leaves in the ninth after one pitch.
- I mean, the wins are good, but the Rangers are going to run out of relief pitchers if this keeps up.
- Jack Leiter started and was fine. I mean, he only allowed one run in six innings of work, which is good if you’re into that kind of thing. He allowed just two hits in the game, both of which came in the first inning, when the Rockies scored their only run of the game.
- It says something about the size of the leap Leiter has made that he has a game like this and we’re like, yeah, he was pretty good, but it would have been nice if he’d struck out a few more batters (he struck out five) and not walked so many.
- Leiter generated 14 swings and misses, and his new changeup was particularly effective — he threw it seven times, all against lefties, and got three whiffs and a called strike with it, along with a ball in play and a foul ball.
- Hoby Milner gave the Rangers two shutout innings plus faced the first batter in the ninth, which resulted in a double. Chris Martin was summoned, threw one pitch, gave up a single, and left the game with an elbow issue.
- Martin was appearing for the third day in a row, and it was his 20th appearance of the year. I am assuming for now he’s going on the injured list, and we can only hope that the elbow problem isn’t so serious that he’s done for the year.
- Shawn Armstrong, at least, was able to come in and strike out all three batters he faced to get the save and preserve the win for Texas.
- Josh Jung had a three run homer in the first and a solo homer in the eighth to account for all of the Rangers’ runs. He’s pushed his OPS back over the 800 mark, which is nice to see.
- I kinda think the Rangers should have had a little more in the runs column — Texas was 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position, with Jung’s first inning homer being the one — but I’ll take this.
- Jack Leiter hit 99.7 mph on his fastball, and averaged 97.6 mph on his fastball and 97.0 mph on his sinker. Hoby Milner reached 88.9 mph on his sinker. Chris Martin threw one pitch and left the game. Shawn Armstrong hit 95.2 mph on his sinker.
- Adolis Garcia had a 106.9 mph line out, a 105.6 mph ground out, and a 104.0 mph double. Josh Jung had a 106.1 mph home run and a 99.4 mph home run. Wyatt Langford had a 105.5 mph single, a 104.3 mph line out and a 101.5 mph fly out. Jake Burger had a 102.1 mph single.
- That’s two series in a row for Texas. And the Rangers have a chance to sweep on Wednesday.