What is the story about?
Rangers
6, D-Backs 2
- Well whaddya know…the Rangers won a game!
- On the road, even!
- The losing streak is over. Time to celebrate.
- Adding to the warm and fuzzy vibes of the win is the return of Josh Jung to the starting lineup and Nathan Eovaldi to the mound, after each was activated from the injured list before the game.
- Of course, because we must maintain equilibrium, Joc Pederson left the game after being hit in the wrist with a pitch, and Nicky Lopez was pulled due to a hamstring issue.
- Pederson is the bigger potential loss there, though the x-rays indicated no fracture, which is a relief.
- Lopez starting, meanwhile, meant Ezequiel Duran was in center field and Evan Carter was on the bench despite a righthander pitching for Arizona, presumably out of a desire to try to get more offense going.
- When you’re sitting in favor of Nicky Lopez because Nicky Lopez is perceived as the better offensive options, that’s not great.
- Kumar Rocker was solid in his four innings of work, though when he walked the first two batters in the fifth after the Rangers had just had a big inning to take a 6-1 lead, Skip Schumaker went with the quick hook, going to Robert Garcia with lefties due up.
- Garcia retired all three batters and stranded the runners, allowing Eovaldi to come in for a clean inning in his return to action.
- Eovaldi was fine, giving up a run in his first inning of work but ultimately going 2.2 innings, with Jacob Latz handling the final four outs.
- You wouldn’t normally ask your closer to get four outs in a four run game, but, well… * waves in general direction of the rest of the bullpen *.
- All the Rangers runs came in the fifth, when they sent ten men to the plate. A Wyatt Langford homer started things off, before the Rangers strung together some singles, a double, a hit by pitch, and an exciting Lopez sac bunt for a big inning.
- Josh Jung had both a run and an RBI in the inning, part of a 2 for 4 night, which had to feel nice for him after missing so much time.
- Honestly, it feels nice for me, too. A productive Josh Jung is a very good thing for this team.
- Kumar Rocker hit 96.5 with his sinker, averaging 94.4 mph, and 97.3 with his fastball, averaging 95.1 mph. Robert Garcia’s fastball touched 95.5 mph. Nathan Eovaldi maxed out at 95.9 mph with his fastball. Jacob Latz reached 98.1 mph with his fastball.
- Corey Seager had a 108.4 mph double. Elias Diaz had a 106.0 mph single and a 100.2 mph single. Ezequiel Duran had a 105.5 mph single. Wyatt Langford had a 105.5 mph home run and a 102.7 mph double. Evan Carter had a 104.4 mph single. Josh Jung had a 102.6 mph single and a 102.3 mph single. Brandon Nimmo had a 100.1 mph double.
- The last game of the penultimate road series for the Rangers on Sunday. A win would be good.
