Thoughts on a 5-3 Rangers loss

I regret to inform you that the Rangers’ winning streak has come to an end.

A five game winning streak is nice, of course. But sweeping in St. Louis, coming back home for the weekend series, where I will be in attendance on Saturday and Sunday, on a six game run?

Oh, and getting back to .500, as well.

That would have been cool.

Remember when the Rangers were above .500?

But we have to deal with the reality that we have, not the reality we want.

And the reality that we have right now is a Rangers team that has won 5 of 6, but that is just at 30-32 because they lost 6 of 7 before that.

MacKenzie Gore did not pitch particularly well. He needed 31 pitches to get through a first inning that featured three walks and a single. Fortunately, only one run scored, and the bases were left loaded, and if you’re a glass-half-full type you might point out that his control problems went away after the first inning, since he didn’t issue another walk the rest of the game.

Gore did, however, allow 8 more hits before getting pulled with two outs in the fifth, at 100 pitches.

Gore’s 100th pitch was a curveball that Thomas Saggese crushed for an RBI triple that made it a 4-1 game. He was then lifted for Luis Curvelo.

Gore is generating a certain Adam Eaton vibe with me right now. Eaton, like Gore, was a well regarded high school first round pick by the San Diego Padres. Eaton, like Gore, was seen as having really good stuff and top of the rotation potential, but wasn’t pitching up to that potential early in his career. Eaton, like Gore, was acquired by the Texas Rangers both to shore up the team’s rotation and because the team thought he was ready to break out, and that they could unlock his potential.

Eaton was a rental, of course, here for just a season before becoming a free agent. And a bad season it was…Eaton put up a 5.12 ERA and 5.32 FIP in 65 innings over 13 games, then signed a three year, $24.5 million free agent deal with the Philadelphia Phillies.

That contract was considered an overpay at the time, but the Phillies felt that he had untapped potential they could unlock. Instead, he put up a 6.10 ERA over 49 starts and two relief appearances in two seasons, was released after two seasons, split the 2009 season between Baltimore and Colorado, put up an 8.08 ERA in 49 innings between the clubs, and was out of baseball after that.

I’d forgotten about how bad Eaton was after he left Texas.

Gore has been better for the Rangers than Adam Eaton was, and the package the Rangers gave up for him does not appear as onerous.

It is ironic, though, that Chris Young, the guy who made the MacKenzie Gore trade for the Rangers, was sent to San Diego as part of that Eaton trade.

Young was, in fact, the guy we were most upset about losing at the time. Adrian Gonzalez seemed like someone who might turn into a decent major league first baseman at some point, not a future star.

Gore is currently rocking a 4.23 ERA, a 3.98 xERA, and a 3.61 FIP in 66 innings over 13 starts as a Ranger. I think the team was hoping for a bit better performance than that.

The B-team relievers handled the final 3.1 innings. Luis Curvelo allowed a homer. Robbie Ahlstrom pitched well in his major league debut, striking out two of the four batters he faced

Cal Quantrill pitched on back-to-back nights? He’s a real reliever now.

Not a great performance by the offense, which managed just one run off of Cardinals starter Andrew Pallante.

They did get to reliever JoJo Romero for the second game in a row, at least. Romero, a lefty, came into the game with two outs in the sixth with two on and two out, triggering a cavalcade of pinch hitters by the Rangers. Cody Freeman hit for Alejandro Osuna in the sixth, striking out to end the inning. Justin Foscue hit for Evan Carter to lead off the seventh, and doubled. After a Kyle Higashioka walk, Michael Helman pinch hit for Nicky Lopez, which left only Danny Jansen remaining on the bench.

Michael Helman pinch hitting for Nicky Lopez is not a sentence I ever wanted to have to write. At least, as it pertains to the Rangers.

Joc Pederson thus had to face Romero in the lefty-on-lefty matchup because, well, only Danny Jansen was left on the bench, and even Skip Schumaker, who has been very aggressive in going to his bench early, didn’t want to leave himself with no position players remaining in the top of the seventh.

Pederson responded by roping a two run triple, because as our friend Tepid says, baseball exists to eff with you.

The Rangers were not able to get him home, though, nor were they able to get the tying run on base. Once again, the early pinch hitting decisions left the Rangers with the righthanded parts of their platoon going up against righthanded relievers in the eighth and ninth, though Freeman did single off of Ryne Stanek in the eighth.

Cody Freeman has a 1500 OPS on the season! How can you send him down with numbers like that!

Hopefully the imminent return of Corey Seager and Wyatt Langford provides a boost to the lineup. That would be helpful.

MacKenzie Gore touched 97.8 mph with his fastball, averaging 96.2 mph. Luis Curvelo touched 95.4 mph with his fastball. Robby Ahlstrom maxed out at 97.6 mph with his sinker. Cal Quantrill topped out at 95.1 mph with his sinker. Cal Quantrill, who picked up a win in relief the night before on one pitch, used seven pitches to get the final two outs.

Joc Pederson had a 103.4 mph fly out and a 103.3 mph triple. Justin Foscue had a 100.6 mph double.

Back home for three against Cleveland before hitting the road again. .500 is attainable…I just know it!