Texas Rangers led 3-0 in the first with Lance Lynn pitching. Here’s how they blew it
A magnitude-4.5 earthquake isn’t the Big One that’s going to turn part of California into an island, but the one that shook southern California late Friday captured the attention of the Texas Rangers.
They felt it in their hotel rooms following their 6-2 loss at Angel Stadium.
“Casually laying down and just felt a huge earthquake here in SoCal,” outfielder Willie Calhoun tweeted.
Calhoun is from northern California, so that wasn’t his first experience with the earth moving. Right-hander Kyle Gibson, though, is from Indiana and lives in St. Louis, so he was a quake rookie.
“I think that is the first one I have been able to noticeably feel it happening!!!” Gibson said, quote-tweeting Calhoun. “That was kinda crazy and cool!! Hope everyone is OK!”
So far, that’s been the highlight of their two games against the Los Angeles Angels.
Here’s some Rangers Reaction from a 4-3 loss.
Quick start
Leody Taveras has his first career leadoff home run. It seems safe to say he will have many more.
It came on the game’s second pitch, from Andrew Heaney. Nick Solak followed with a single, and Rougned Odor launched a two-run homer two batters later for a 3-0 lead.
The Rangers hadn’t hit a home run in four games, and just like that they had two in four hitters with 26 more outs to spare.
“We had a good game plan, and we took advantage of it with three in the first,” manager Chris Woodward said.
See, this game is easy.
Maybe that’s what the hitters were thinking, because the game became very hard for them.
Their only hit the next four innings was an infield single by Solak. Willie Calhoun singled in the sixth. Taveras came back from 0-2 to single with two outs in the seventh to finally chase Heaney.
“We forced Heaney to go to a different game plan,” Woodward said. “He had to use a lot of off-speed, changeups and curveballs, and we didn’t really adjust back.”
The Rangers can’t hit anything that isn’t straight all that well. Part of that is young hitters being unable to recognize the spin. Some of that is veteran hitters being unable to recognize spin.
Without any pop in the lineup and with an inability to hit anything that spins, the Rangers are pretty easy to figure out.
Heaney did after a rough first inning, and that was critical.
Not Lynn’s best
A 3-0 first-inning lead for Lance Lynn is about as good as the Rangers can draw it up.
Lynn is the best pitcher in the American League outside of Shane Bieber, and Lynn has been the only pitcher who has consistently given the Rangers a chance to win.
He did that, ultimately, as he allowed three runs in seven innings. However, he wasn’t pleased that he couldn’t pitch the Rangers to a win.
“You’ve got four mistake pitches that cost you three runs tonight,” Lynn said. “That’s pretty much what happened. When you look at it as a starting pitcher, when you get spotted three runs in the first, you’re thinking I’ve got to get through seven and have the lead when I come out.”
The Angels started to peck away in the second, as Shohei Ohtani swatted a solo homer. They scored two in the fifth, an inning in which Lynn was forced to throw 28 pitches and Woodward had Nick Goody warming up.
Lynn escaped further damage by striking out Mike Trout with the go-ahead run at second base, and then breezed through the sixth and seventh innings to keep the game tied 3-3.
“He kept us in the game,” Woodward said. “At that point it was anybody’s game. Our job is to get him another run. He’s done so much for us.”
Lynn’s pitch count was 107 after seven, so Brett Martin replaced him and the eighth started walk, error, single to push the go-ahead run across. The error was on Sherten Apostel, who was playing first base instead of Ronald Guzman.
It could have been a double play, but the ball got through Apostel as he was coming off holding a runner at first.
“It’s a play he’s got to make,” Woodward said.
Woodward said afterward that Jonathan Hernandez was not available because of a minor, undisclosed physical issue, and Rafael Montero was being saved for a possible save situation.
Hernandez should be OK on Sunday, Woodward said.
Lynn has one more start, Thursday against the Houston Astros to open the final homestand of the season. He doesn’t want to do anything differently in an attempt to put a cherry on what has been a special season.
And he had a warning for his teammates: Don’t quit just because it’s the final week of the season.
“Every day that you show up, if you’re not trying to improve, then we’re going to have to have a talk,” Lynn said.
Another young one
Late Friday, after many had gone to bed, a potential candidate to one day be the Rangers’ closer made his MLB debut.
Demarcus Evans allowed a home run to Albert Pujols, but otherwise worked a clean initial inning of his career. His fastball, which is considered his best pitch, averaged 94.2 mph but with an average spin rate of 2,535.
That’s what makes his fastball so good, the spin rate, and made it so hard for minor-league batters to hit the past two seasons. But MLB hitters are going to hit fastballs, so Evans spent the summer at alternate camp working to throw his curveball more consistently for a strike.
He also needed to change his demeanor on the mound. Rangers coaches saw in spring training and at summer camp that Evans was easily flustered by any mistake, because he was trying so hard to make a favorable impression.
“I care a lot about the game, and so I pitched emotional a little bit,” said Evans, 23. “They wanted me to get to the point where I grow a little bit more and mature a little bit more so I can control my emotions. Now, whenever it’s a bad pitch or I give up a hit or a run, it doesn’t phase me for the next pitch.”
Woodward saw Evans pitch last weekend at the alternate camp, and that appears to have been the final test before Evans was promoted for a debut he had hoped would come late last season after finishing at Double A Frisco.
He struck out 103 batters in 2018 at Low A Hickory and 100 in 2018 between High A Down East and Frisco, and Baseball America named him one of the top relievers in all of minor-league baseball. He totaled 21 saves the past two seasons.
But he had to wait then, and then through the summer as many players from alternate camp kept getting selected before him. However, get used to see Evans coming out of the bullpen for many seasons to come now that he has the mental side in better shape.
“It was just trying to hold myself to a higher standard and I was getting mad at myself,” Evans said. “Now it’s like, ‘It’s just a game. Just have fun.’ It was to the point where it was close and I’m right there, so I just needed to do something to get there.”
