Game 40: Nineteen Up, Three Down.
A mother of a series win. Also: Hey, nineteen.
From my Opening Day gamer:
Here’s the other thing about drawing a pitcher like Sanchez today: no team has a more challenging Q1 on the schedule. The Rangers are going to see a lot of very good starting pitchers in their first 40 games, which stack up like this:
3 @ PHI
3 @ BAL
3 vs. CIN
3 vs. SEA
3 @ LAD
4 @ ATH
3 @ SEA
3 vs. PIT
3 vs. ATH
3 vs. NYY
3 @ DET
3 @ NYY
3 vs. CHC
If the Rangers are going to be a playoff team — their rotation certainly entitles them to believe they will be — they’re going to need to do to Christopher Sanchez types what the Phillies did today to Nathan Eovaldi.
If they can come out of this 40-game stretch with, say, 19 wins, I’d feel pretty good about things. It’s going to require the lineup to meet the moment and put more pressure on opposing pitchers, even those with Sanchez’s stature.
Well, we did it.
In honor of these 19 wins, let’s ratchet things up.
Nineteen Up, Three Down from Texas 3, Chicago (NL) 0.
Up First.
Jacob deGrom, man.
