The Rangers, for the first time since 2023, are fives games over .500. Let’s get greedy.
Three Up, Three Down from Texas 15, Oakland 8.
Up First.
For the second time in four games, the Rangers scored 15 runs.
For the first time in 2024, they scored more than six in an inning. By a lot.
Already up, 1-0, on the strength of Marcus Semien’s home run on the game’s first pitch, Texas sent 16 men to the plate in the second inning — well, nine of them, with seven getting second cracks at Ross Stripling and Hogan Harris, and 10 altogether crossing home plate:
infield single
single
single
two-run single
run-scoring E-6
walk
run-scoring walk
F-5
run-scoring single
strikeout
two-run single
run-scoring single
two-run double
single
walk
strikeout
The gorgeous thing about that inning was only one of the nine base hits went for extra bases. It was a methodical, soul-crushing assault, with three walks mixed in and a crucial throwing error that the Rangers capitalized on.
Fifteen runs on 19 hits was an enjoyable show. And that second inning was — yes, it still was — quite a blessing to Bruce Bochy, Mike Maddux, and the pitching staff, given that at that point, the team was facing 26 more innings on the mound over the 30 hours that lay ahead.
Up Second.
I very nearly gave Jose Urena first billing. What he did today fired me up.
Bochy told Eric Nadel on the pregame show he was hoping to get 60 pitches out of Urena, which was more than he’d thrown in any game this season. But when he needed 39 pitches to get out of the second inning — we’ll get to the defense’s role in that shortly — he sat at 62 pitches and we were looking at seven innings out of the bullpen even though the lead was nine. Not at all ideal with a doubleheader tomorrow.
I hope to hear Bochy’s postgame comments before I wrap this postgamer up, but I’m dying to hear what Urena, who looked quite angry coming off the mound at the end of the second, said in the dugout to talk his way into a third inning of work.
And a fourth.
And a fifth!
[UPDATE: Bochy broke into a huge smile in the TV postgame interview, sharing that Urena demanded to stay in the game.]
The 32-year-old’s job, once he was staked to the massive lead, was to pound the zone, and he did that. In the bottom of the second, 10 of his first 12 pitches went for strikes. Though the inning was excruciatingly long (and somehow only produced two A’s runs), it wasn’t because Urena lost the zone. Of his 39 pitches that frame, 26 — a clean two-thirds — were strikes.
Fantastic. Really fantastic. Urena needed a total of only 28 pitches to complete his final three frames, and the only baserunner he allowed in that span reached on an error. Pitcher wins are sometimes misleading, but today’s that goes onto Urena’s ledger was absolutely earned.
Awesome.
Up Third.
Hard to single out any other performances — most of the hitters deserve some love — but I’ll say this: Even though Harris was making his first appearance of the season (he’s not a rookie), he is a lefthander, and as rough a time as the offense has had against southpaws this year, it was great to see Texas go 8 for 24 (.333) with a walk off of him.
Maybe they can build off that tomorrow against lefty J.P. Sears, who bullied them last time out.
One Down.
Someone that actually has a feasible explanation will need to explain to me why any player, particularly an outfielder, would ever wear sunglasses on the bill of his cap instead of on his eyes. Guess it looks cool?
Again, Urena came out throwing strikes once he got the big lead in the second. He started Kyle McCann with two quick strikes and, after failing to get him to chase a changeup and slider below the zone, he coaxed a foul and then got McCann to loft a lazy, harmless fly to shallow left . . . that turned out to be harmful. Evan Carter, Oakleys hugging his cap, reached a spot, stopped, looked up, and retreated once he saw the ball had alighted onto the sprawling grass about 10 feet away.
Then a four-pitch 0-2 groundout to second.
Then . . . a run-scoring 0-1 grounder to short, but Corey Seager’s throw sailed and lifted Nathaniel Lowe off the bag for an error.
An eventual infield roller that Josh Smith had to eat brought in a second run, and that part was meaningless, given where the scoreboard stood. But forcing Urena to get five outs, when the only objective at that point was to minimize the number of relievers needed on this bullpen-day-before-a-twinbill, threatened to end his day.
Thankfully, Urena was bowed up with his manager and pitching coach and he made the long second inning not matter. There was almost no scneario under which he was going to go more than five innings, no matter how efficient his day was, and there was no chance he was going to pitch again for at least three days once he got above 40 or 50 pitches. So needing four innings from his staffmates was basically how it was drawn up.
But man, if the sunglasses are coming out of the dugout with you . . . wear them?
Two Down.
Impossibly, Rangers pitchers threw more pitches today (208) than Oakland pitchers (206).
I’m not angry at Jonathan Hernandez. He wasn’t trying to miss. I just feel bad for the guy. He’s out of options, so unless some physical issue resurfaces, he’s either on this staff in some role, or on the waiver wire.
Confidence has always been an issue for the 27-year-old. The stuff is real. But he had no chance with his fastball today, and his slider was wildly inconsistent. His job was the same as Urena’s — get the A’s bats swinging and save as much of the pen as you can. Throwing only 17 strikes out of 42 pitches isn’t it. (Two-thirds strikes is the bright line you want to be at or above.) Five walks and a wild pitch isn’t it, and failing to complete an inning (if not two), especially under today’s circumstances, was unfortunate. I’m sure Bochy would have loved to keep Cole Winn on the pine today.
Yerry Rodriguez was better even if the final line wasn’t particularly pretty — four runs on three hits (two home runs) and two walks in 2 ⅓ innings — but in that situation you can live with the runs. Plus, he has a minor-league option.
I just hope, given Hernandez’s psyche, that today doesn’t spiral on him. He can be really good and a big part of the puzzle here.
Three Down.
The overall numbers still look healthy, but Adolis Garcia is quietly in an extended skid. In his last 13 games, he’s 8 for 47 (.170) with two extra-base hits (both home runs), 16 strikeouts, and four walks. We talked yesterday about what appears to be a compromised leg or two, but Bochy insisted on the radio pregame that he’s fine physically.
Hope so. It would be a great thing to see him bust out for a couple weeks.
Due Up.
Michael Lorenzen against Sears, and 20 minutes later, Jack Leiter against righty call-up Osvaldo Bido, who pitched to a 5.86 ERA with the Pirates last year but has been effective with Triple-A Las Vegas this season.
Before that, early in the morning, I will drop a 4,000-word deep dive on the program the Rangers and Leiter implemented behind the scenes over the last 10 months to get him to this point. I’m excited about this one.
The sunglass question is on my Mount Rushmore of unanswered questions. Was there a cloud blocking the sun for five minutes so they became unnecessary. Do they lower vision when not looking up into the sun so they stay off? Going into an outdoor ballpark I would think do some work with them on would make sense?
Watching Hernandez & Rodriguez today was brutal. 101 pitches for 3 innings of work! Can one or both be sent down for the DH tomorrow and bring in some fresh arms?? Are MLB teams still allowed to carry an extra active player for a double header?