The Rangers take the finale in Atlanta to end the road trip at five and five. They sit one game over .500 but reinforcements are on the way. Scherzer is scheduled to have a rehab start this week and could be available in 14 to 21 days to slot into the starting rotation. Bradford should come off the IL in next ten days too as should Sborz. Day off tomorrow, then a home stand with the Mariners and Reds on tap. April and May were always going to be about staying in the race and thus far that is what the Rangers have done.
Good summary, FWHORN. And it has definitely helped that the Astros got off to a very poor start. The Mariners can pitch, but they can't hit (so far). Not a lot of concern with the ANGELS - they won't be competitive. And it will help a lot when the Rangers start hitting - they're way behind the HR pace of last season.
The Rangers offense sleepwalked through the opener with Seattle and Texas loses 4-0. But good news on the injury front as both Sborz and Scherzer are setting up rehab starts with an eye toward Sborz returning as early as this coming weekend and Scherzer being in the rotation by mid-May. Scherzer starts rehab assignment Wednesday With Bradford on his way back soon too you could see two changes to the rotation in the near future as I would expect Heaney to move to a bullpen role and then the question is Bradford or Gray to the bullpen. Bradford pre-injury was an easy choice over Gray to stay a starter but let's see how he is on his return. Either way, the Rangers are getting much-needed pitching reinforcements.
Good news that pitching help is on the way. Meantime, Langford and Ranger bats need to wake up. Only 3 hits vs. Seattle last night. HR's are rare these days.
Pretty cool welcome back to Mitch Garver who is with the Mariners now. https://www.mlb.com/rangers/video/mitch-garver-receives-his-world-series-ring Will see similar ceremonies no doubt when KC (Will Smith and Chris Stratton), Cleveland (Austin hedges), Pittsburgh (Martin Perez and Aroldis Chapman), and Arizona (Jordan Montgomery) come to visit.
Tonight Gray (0-1) faces one Seattle's best pitchers: Bryce Miller (R) with a 3-1 record. ERA is 1.85.
Seattle starters have allowed 2 or fewer earned runs in each of last 11 games. That Seattle pitching is something else and the reason why it’s not just Houston that is the challenge in the AL West.
Rangers are hanging on to a 2-1 lead, bottom of six. Ranger pitching is getting the job done so far tonight.
Rangers just scored two runs on an error. Now 4-1, still batting in bottom of six. Hope the bullpen can hold this lead.
While watching Ranger updates on the ESPN app an article popped up about Scherzer who had his first rehab start tonight in Round Rock throwing 52 pitches, striking out 4 batters, and going 2 and 1/3 innings. He did give up two solo home runs. Sborz had an inning of rehab yesterday for Frisco and should have another rehab stint this weekend and potentially be back next week. 5-1 Rangers right now in the 8th.
Rangers win game 2 of series 5-1 vs. Mariners. I see from game tracker Garcia and Evan's had solo HR's!! Need feedback on how Miller and Gray pitched.
Rangers win 5-1. Rubber game tomorrow afternoon. Astros lose again to fall to 7-18. They are digging themselves quite a hole but it is still very early.
I know the Rangers are still getting guys back from DL but man I feel like if they can put together a strong early run here they can separate themselves from the AL West in the 1st half of the year. Sure would like to give skipper some freedom in the 2nd half to get ready for another playoff run.
There are 6 teams in AL East and Central with better records than the Rangers right now. Just speaks to how weak the West is this year.
The Rangers lose this afternoon, 4-3 and fall back to .500. They are a half game behind Seattle in a very weak thus far AL West. Houston loses yet again and is now seven and 19 on the year. On a good note, Sborz was back and had an inning of work in the ninth for Texas. Scherzer is set to have another rehab assignment in Frisco this weekend. He might actually be available by May 10 on his current schedule.
Good to see the pitchers getting healthy - that will certainly help, now and later. But IMO the immediate need is for the offense to wake up and start scoring. The Rangers are way behind the pace they set to start last season - and it's basically caused by offensive shortcomings.
Whew, Rangers get a 2-1 win over the Reds. I was not able to watch or follow. Rangers record goes to 14-13. Eovaldi started and Leclerc gets the W. Meanwhile Astros are off the rails. Lost to Cubs today 3-1. Record 7-19!
After losing yesterday 8-4, the Rangers bounce back to win the rubber match 4-3 over the Reds today and as a result they sit at 15-14 a half-game back of Seattle. Some injury updates, Bradford's return has been pushed back to mid-May and Scherzer may be back before Bradford at this rate. Max has a rehab start set for Frisco this week and then another either back in Frisco or down in Round Rock before they evaluate his return to the club. Sborz was on again today and pitched 2/3 of an inning before the rotation of Robertson, Latz, and Yates closed it out. Robertson has 8 holds and Yates picked up his fifth save. The bullpen has been a strength this season and ironically it is the offense that needs to step up more. One more game in April and then we turn the page on the first month of the season with the Rangers doing what they need to do which is just stay relevant until they get the summer reinforcements. I will be out at Globe Life on Wednesday to attend in person my first game of the season and if any of my fellow Ranger fanatics will be there too let me know and perhaps we can put faces to user names.
Where are the Ranger Zealots!? Sunday. Had to listen on radio driving from Houston to DFW today. Dunning was sharp! Had at least 10 strikeouts last I heard. Good Guys win rubber game / tight Sunday game 4-3 to take the series vs the Reds!! Lowly Astros 9-19.
As a baseball geek from a very young age articles like this absolutely fascinate me: Did Ted Williams' 'red seat' HR really go 502 feet?
Rangers start the series with the Nationals with a 7-1 win. Gray pitched 8 innings of 1 run ball and Cole Winn came on to pitch the ninth. Rangers end April at 14-13 for the month and 16-14 overall, two games back of the Mariners in the loss column as of this posting. Injury news, Scherzer got scratched from his rehab start and that may affect his planned return as early as next week. MSN Will be out at Globe Life tomorrow for my first game of season and am looking forward to seeing that World Series banner in person.
^^^ Have a great evening at GLP!! If you can, take a phone photo of WS banner and post here when you get a chance. Gem tonight from Gray pitching into the 8th and only giving up 1 run. Bad news re: Scherzer return. We REALLY need him back in the starting rotation ASAP, AND in the lockeroom!
Sorry Worster apparently I suck at the internet and can’t post a photo competently. Needless to say the banner is beautiful in person.
Rangers are blowing a top notch outing by Heaney. 7 innings just one run given up but Texas has done nothing all night and had left the bases loaded twice (both after loading them with no outs) and has ten men left on base through 7.
Rangers are now 1-5 with me in person at Globe Life Field since it opened and that includes two 1-0 losses where the Ranger starter was fantastic but the offense just took the night off. Of course that one win is the only one that really matters of the six as it was Game One of the World Series last year. It was truly a strange night as everyone around us was keeping track of the Stars early and then the Mavs late and we all got Eovaldi World Series replica jerseys (a really nice freebie yesterday) so everyone looked coordinated clothing-wise. My wife came with and it was her first visit to GLF. She had the same impression I did on my first visit, what a fantastic park. With the humidity and threat of rain last night it would have been miserable across the street but it was a comfortable 72 degrees inside GLF. My wife got free tickets for May 19th against the Angels because of her blood donations so hopefully my regular season losing streak at GLF comes to an end then. Meanwhile, Houston and Seattle lost so the Rangers remain a game back of the Mariners and 6 games up on the Astros. Only 131 of these left this season.
