Not deGrom’s Best Start

This was not the best game from Jacob deGrom, but he still pitched well and gave the team a chance to win. He was able to get through five innings while allowing three runs on five hits with a pair of walks and five strikeouts. That snapped deGrom’s streak of 14 consecutive starts of five or more innings and two or fewer runs, which was the longest streak in franchise history. He labored through the outing needing 95 pitches to complete it. This is his shortest outing since May 10 against the Detroit Tigers.

The Angels jumped on him quickly as Zach Neto led the game off with a double, he would later come around to score on a Mike Trout sac fly.

In the second inning, his old Mets battery mate Travis d’Arnaud got the best of him as he launched a two-run bomb to left to give the Angels a 3-2 lead. The home run came off a slider that stayed in the middle of the plate. The slider has been his best pitch as hitters have only hit .191 against it and only three home runs have come off it.

However, after that he held the Angels scoreless over the next 3.1 innings and struck out five. A big strikeout he got was Jorge Soler with the bases loaded as he painted the corner with his slider low and away.

deGrom was able to work through his issues in this game and showed why he is an all star and the Rangers’ ace.

Corey Seager continues to swing a hot bat

Corey Seager got the scoring started quickly for the Rangers as he blasted a two-run homer to center field off of left hander Yusei Kikuchi. He finished the game 2 for 4 with a pair of RBIs and a walk. He helped the offense score more than they usually do, even though they lost.

The offense seems to get going when Seager plays well. They hit .216 against lefties this year and they faced one of the better ones in the game with Kikuchi. They did well off him as they tagged him for four runs with Seager being responsible for half of the runs and getting a rally started in the third inning.

Sam Haggerty singled to lead off the third and Seager would move him into scoring position with a five pitch walk laying off some close pitches. Both of them would come around to score later in the inning. That shows that Seager can get the team going even when he isn’t putting the ball in play.

That is his sixth home run in the last two weeks. Over the past two weeks, he is slashed .281/.417/.649. Seager is starting to heat up and if the Rangers are going to make a run it is going to start with Seager. He is starting to hit well again and his advanced stats are saying that this should be the beginning for him.

Bullpen unable to finish

This was a rough for a very good bullpen. They have an ERA of 3.38 which good for fifth best in the MLB.

Shawn Armstrong was the first man out of the bullpen after deGrom departed and it was not pretty. He got the first two outs quickly then Luis Rengifo singled. That brought d’Arnaud to the plate and he made them pay, he laced a double to left field to tie up the game.

Lamonte Wade Jr would be the next batter up and untied the game giving the Angels a 5-4 lead. The Rangers would tie the game up on a Josh Smith double in the eighth. Chris Martin would come out for the eighth and send the Angels down in order.

That would bring Martin out for the ninth, he would give up a leadoff double to Luis Rengifo. Then he would get d’Arnaud to strike out. Kevin Newman would single to put runners on the corners after that Zach Neto would be intentionally walked to get to the lefty Nolan Schanuel. Hoby Milner would come in for the lefty lefty matchup, however Milner couldn’t get the job done as he walked him to lose the game.

I know that fans will look to the bullpen and blame them for the loss as whenever the bullpen struggles or loses a game that is when the fans talk about them instead of talking about how good they are. The bullpen did let this game get away from them, but they have been great for the Rangers this year and have locked down multiple games for them.

This pitching staff as a whole has been great and we just need the bats to come around to complement them. Nathan Eovaldi will take the mound for the Rangers in the second game as they look to even up the series. First pitch will take place at 8:38 central time.