Thoughts on a 20-3 Rangers win

Rangers

20, Angels 3

• Well that was quite the unusual game.
• How unusual, you may ask?
• Jack Kochanowicz, the Angels starter, allowed 11 runs. Its only the fifth time this season that a pitcher has allowed at least 11 runs in a game. Only four pitchers have done it, though, because Tanner Houck did it twice, which is pretty crazy.
• This is only the sixth time in team history that the Rangers have scored at least 20 runs in a game. Along with the famous 2007 30-3 Wes Littleton Save game against Baltimore, the Rangers scored 26 runs against the Orioles in 1996, and scored 20 runs three previous times, in 1987, 1998 and 2011.
• The 22 hits by the Rangers is tied for the fifth most in team history. Weirdly, they had a 23 hit game against the Mariners where they scored just nine runs, though that was an 18 inning game in 2004.
• It was the sixth time this season that a major league team has scored at least 20 runs in a game, though just the fourth time it happened away from Colorado.
• The game was a run of the mill blowout heading into the bottom of the seventh, with the Rangers up 12-3. Oswald Peraza, normally an infielder, came in to pitch for Anaheim. He had pitched earlier this season and thrown two shutout innings.
• That didn’t happen this time, though. Peraza faced nine batters, retired one — Joc Pederson, on an RBI ground out — hit a batter, and gave up seven hits and eight runs.
• I’m always a bit torn in these situations. On the one hand, I like the Rangers getting hits and scoring runs, because that’s always fun, and so I want them to beat up on the position player who is pitching. Plus he’s a position player pitching, you should beat up on him, especially when he’s throwing in the mid-30s.
• On the other hand, there’s an element of fakeness, of hollowness, of emptiness, to the accomplishment. Its the baseball equivalent of cotton candy.
• Most of the Rangers hitters got to boost their numbers in the game, at least. Adolis Garcia, Joc Pederson, Corey Seager and Kyle Higashioka all homered, with only Higgy’s coming off of Peraza. Adolis had two doubles and a single to go with his homer and has pushed his slash line up to .234/.277.413, good for a 97 OPS+, and giving you some hope that he might get it up above 100.
• Kyle Higashioka’s 2 for 5 with a homer performance gives him a 711 OPS, matching Josh Smith after Smith’s 1 for 6.
• Josh Jung had three hits. Joc Pederson had two hits. Ezequiel Duran, who came into the game for Corey Seager in the fifth with Texas up 11-1, was 2 for 3. Its like all the struggling guys got some frustration out.
• All the scoring ended up overshadowing the solid job Jacob Latz did. Latz was pressed into duty as a spot starter for what was essentially a bullpen game, due to Nathan Eovaldi landing on the injured list, and as he has seemingly done all season when pressed into emergency starting duty, he did an admirable job. Latz allowed two runs in 4.1 innings, striking out five and walking just one while facing 17 batters.
• The Rangers are going to have to fill Eovaldi’s spot going forward, and they are supposedly looking at external options — our old pal Andrew Heaney was just released by the Pirates and has been mentioned as a possibility — but if they have to turn to Latz for another start or two in the meantime, they could do worse.
• Jacob Latz maxed out at 95.8 mph with his fastball, averaging 93.7 mph. Jacob Webb touched 94.4 mph with his fastball. Luis Curvelo’s fastball topped out at 96.5 mph. Shawn Armstrong hit 94.6 mph with his sinker. Caleb Boushley’s sinker touched 93.4 mph.
• Corey Seager had a 112.1 mph home run and a 103.9 mph single. Joc Pederson had a 111.7 mph single and a 103.0 mph home run. Alejandro Osuna had a 110.2 mph ground out and a 100.0 mph single. Rowdy Tellez had a 109.5 mph single and a 102.0 mph fly out. Adolis Garcia had a 105.4 mph home run. Kyle Higashioka had a 102.6 mph force out and a 100.4 mph sacrifice fly. Josh Jung had a 102.1 mph single and a 100.0 mph fly out. Josh Smith ahd a 101.9 mph fly out and a 101.8 mph fly out.
• An off day now, to luxuriate in the quality homestand and most recent blowout win.