Rangers 4, Rays 1
Rangers 4, Rays 1
- Two of three in Tampa is pretty good, I think.
- As this game progressed, certain parallels came to mind. With both teams putting up goose eggs through the middle innings, and Nathan Eovaldi doing work, I inevitably thought back to…not Eovaldi’s last start, on Opening Day, but the previous start of Eovaldi in a game that mattered, on November 1.
- As in that game, Eovaldi threw a quality start on the road, allowing just four hits, and keeping the opponents off the board while we all waited for the offense to, you know, do something. As in that game, Corey Seager scored the first run of the game, though today it was via a solo home run, rather than being singled home by Mitch Garver.
- As in that game, the Rangers added insurance runs in the ninth, with Marcus Semien bringing home the final run, though this time via a single rather than a home run.
- Jose Leclerc, rather than Josh Sborz, pitched the ninth this time, and unlike Sborz, he scared us a little and allowed a run before shutting the door.
- Still, there was a sort of resonance between this game against the Rays and Game 5 against the Diamondbacks. And it’s nice to get a sort of positive frisson from that, to be reminded of something that special, on a random April afternoon.
- Nathan Eovaldi maxed out at 97.3 mph with his fastball, averaging 95.8 mph. David Robertson’s cutter maxed out at 93.9 mph. Jose Leclerc reached 96.5 mph with his fastball.
- Corey Seager had a single at 106.9 mph — his home run had just a 95.0 mph exit velocity. Josh Smith and Leody Taveras each had 103.8 mph singles. Jonah Heim had a 102.2 mph ground out.
- As we all hoped, the day game before the off day is a win, so let’s soak in the goodness in advance of the series against Houston starting Friday.