That was a bad loss, probably one of the worst one that the Rangers have had this year. It isn’t one of the worst because the Rangers got destroyed, it was quite the opposite. The offense, a unit that has struggled for most of the year, showed up big, but the pitching, a unit that has carried this team for the most of the year, didn’t. This was a game and a series that could have swung the Rangers momentum if they could have pulled out a series win. What could have been, let’s get onto the takeaways.
Rocker Rocked
Kumar Rocker struggled in his start, ending a streak of four consecutive outings with two or fewer runs allowed. He looked sharp through the first two innings, but the third inning proved disastrous.
After allowing a sacrifice fly to Nolan Schanuel that scored one run, Rocker faced Mike Trout with a runner on second and two outs. A poorly placed cutter caught too much of the plate, and Trout crushed a two-run homer to tie the game at 3-3.
Rocker’s troubles continued as he walked Taylor Ward on five pitches, followed by Jo Adell’s RBI double, giving the Angels a 4-3 lead. In the fourth inning, Travis d’Arnaud, who tormented the Rangers all series, hit a solo homer to tie the game after the Rangers had regained the lead.
Rocker escaped the inning but was knocked out in the fifth after Trout launched another home run. His final line was rough: six runs allowed over 4.1 innings on seven hits, with one walk, two strikeouts, and three home runs—more than the two he had allowed in his previous starts combined.
Bullpen Falters Again
The bullpen blew the first game against the Angels and it happened again.
Shawn Armstrong who blew the first game redeemed himself as he threw 1.2 innings without allowing a hit. He didn’t strike anyone out, but he also didn’t walk anyone. He did a good job keeping the Rangers in the game and show Bochy that he should be trusted.
Jacob Webb would be the next guy out of the bullpen and he was tasked with protecting a two run lead. Things didn’t start well for him as Jake Burger put a runner on first with an error and Zach Neto singled to put runners on with no outs. He would get Schanuel to pop up before he was pulled in favor of Chris Martin. Martin got Trout to fly out to record the second out, it did let the runners move into scoring position.
Taylor Ward would come up and Martin like Rocker was unable to end the threat with two innings as Ward singled to even up the game.
In the eighth, Luke Jackson, the former closer replaced by Robert Garcia due to inconsistency, struggled again. Yoan Moncada singled on Jackson’s first pitch, and Jorge Soler crushed a hanging slider for a two-run homer. Jackson later allowed another run on a Schanuel single.
The Rangers need to find a way to get the bullpen back on track as they have been shaky recently. I think one move that needs to happen is calling Cole Winn up from Triple A as he has a 1.59 ERA with the Rangers and has picked in high leverage situations.Jackson may be DFA’d as a corresponding move as it seems like when he is called upon to pitch in a high leverage situation or a tied game he ends up giving up runs.
Offense Continues Its Hot Streak
The offense seems like they might finally be figuring it out as they have averaged 8.6 runs over the past three games.Higashioka, Smith, Seager, and Langford all had multi hit games. Higashioka has been on a hot streak with seven hits over the past week and two homers including one in this game. That is compared to only one homer before this week.
Seager continues to lead this offense with his third multi hit game in a row. He is heating up and he is the catalyst of this offense.Smith and Langford continue to be crucial parts of this lineup and it helps to see them get going. Langford also showed off his legs as he swiped two bags. Marcus Semien also hit a two-run homer which was his 10th of the year. He also had a sacrifice fly.
At least the bats are making the games entertaining to watch and hopefully the pitching can match the bats output and this team can really start to click.
