Rangers 4, Cubs 3
- Rangers 4, Cubs 3
- Ah, man, what a way to start the season.
- Close game, exciting, a sucky couple of clearly blown calls that seemed like they would cost the Rangers the game, followed by the most unexpected home run ever and redemption for the would-be goat.
- Nathan Eovaldi got a Quality Start, despite not seeming to have his A game. There was a lot of loud contact early on, and Eovaldi only got six swings and misses all game. Nonetheless, he went six innings, limiting the Cubs to just two runs.
- Bruce Bochy went Josh Sborz-Kirby Yates-Jose Leclerc for the 7th-8th-9th. Sborz allowed a one out single and then a two out ground rule double that hit right at the line and would have scored a run if, you know, it hadn’t been a ground rule double. But no worries, Sborz smoked Yan Gomes for third out K. Kirby Yates had a 1-2-3 eighth.
- So here we are, ninth inning, tie game, Jose Leclerc on the mound. Strike out, ground out, walk. Nico Hoerner then failed to check his swing on a 3-2 slider, but for reasons that are unknowable, unfathomable, of an occult and esoteric nature, he wasn’t called for strike three, and was allowed to take his base.
- That was just the start of the umpiring bullshit, though. On an 0-1 count to pinch hitter Miles Mastrobuoni, Leclerc threw a changeup that Mastrobuoni swung at and barely made contact with. Jonah Heim put his hand back to get a fresh ball, which he didn’t receive because the home plate umpire believed it was a swing and a miss. Runners advanced, Heim argued with the home plate ump, and Michael Busch, who went from second to third, saw the ball loose and Heim arguing and came home to score.
- Replays showed clearly it was a foul, but it isn’t a reviewable play. And Heim should have retrieved the ball sooner, and Leclerc should have covered home. It was vexing all around. Mastrobuoni flying out didn’t unvex things, either.
- And so to the ninth. Travis Jankowski came up to hit for Ezequiel Duran. This was rather baffling, as Jared Walsh is Duran’s platoon partner, and is purportedly on the team for his bat. Jankowski is on the team, it can be argued, despite his bat.
- And yet…and yet. Because the universe works in mysterious ways, or maybe because we live in a simulation, Jankowski went deep, tying the game up at 3.
- That shouldn’t have happened. Travis Jankowski came into today with ten career major league home runs. He had accumulated just two home runs since the start of the 2019 season. He had no business homering there. It was clearly karmic scales balancing after the screw job in the top of the ninth.
- All of which set the stage for the bottom of the tenth inning. Zombie Marcus Semien at second to start things off. He advances to third on a Corey Seager ground out. Josh Jung and Adolis Garcia walk. Wyatt Langford gets to 1-1 then fouls off four pitches before hitting a chopper that results in a force out at home.
- Bringing to the plate Jonah Heim, with a shot at redemption. Redeem Jonah did, smoking an 0-1 pitch into right center for the game winner.
- What a script for an Opening Day game for your World Champion Texas Rangers.
- Oh, yeah, other stuff happened in the game. Adolis Garcia homered. Wyatt Langford had a sac fly for his first major league RBI and an infield hit for his first major league hit. Those things were part of the overall Texas Rangers Opening Day Experience.
- And ESPN had Josh Jung mic’ed up and while they were talking to him one inning he made two plays, which is always entertaining.
- So fun baseball that includes a win. We like that.
- Nathan Eovaldi topped out at 98.1 mph with his fastball. Josh Sborz hit 97.0 mph. Kirby Yates reached 94.4 mph with his fastball. Jose Leclerc maxed out at 96.5 mph. David Robertson touched 96.3 mph on his sinker.
- Jonah Heim’s walkoff hit was 103.6 mph off the bat. Corey Seager had a 108.3 mph groundout and a 100.6 mph fly out. Adolis Garcia’s home run had a 104.5 mph exit velocity, and he had a 106.0 mph single. Ezequiel Duran had a 100.8 mph double.
- The 2024 Texas Rangers are undefeated and in first place in the American League West. Yay!