Texas Rangers felt energy of sellout crowd. They just didn’t do much worth cheering.
Nearly 40,000 fans nudged their way into Globe Life Field on Monday for the Texas Rangers’ home opener, the largest crowd at a U.S. sporting event since coronavirus change the world.
It was different, in a good way depending on the number of antibodies coursing through fans’ bodies or the attitudes of those who just wanted to starting living again.
They crowd was fired up. The Rangers were fired up. They could feel the energy of playing in front of the largest crowd in Arlington since 2019.
They just didn’t give the fans much reason to cheer.
The Toronto Blue Jays scored four times in the first two innings, including three in the second on back-to-back homers by Marcus Semien and Cavan Biggio, and the Rangers’ offensive never found its footing against left-hander Steven Matz in a 6-2 loss.
Baseball aside, the Rangers were thrilled to play in front of a sellout crowd of 38,238.
“It resembled some sort of normalcy,” manager Chris Woodward said. “The energy of the crowd, we were fired up. The dugout was fired up. I’m sure the other team was as well, because they hadn’t played in front of fans either.”
The Rangers hadn’t played in a crowd of more than 10,000 fans since they closed Globe Life Park in the 2019 season finale. Fans were not allowed to attend Rangers home games last season in accordance with MLB safety protocols.
The Rangers played in front of fans in spring training, though in a limited capacity of no more than 2,500, and crowds ranged from 8,869 to 9,155 during the season-opening series at Kansas City.
In an environment that felt unusual, with that many fans at a sporting event during a global pandemic, newcomer Mike Foltynewicz fittingly threw an unusual four innings.
The Semien and Biggio homers were the biggest blows for the Blue Jays, who made Foltynewicz labor in his first Rangers start. He needed 95 pitches to record 12 outs, and he threw 35 pitches in the first inning while striking out the side.
“A lot of things happened pretty quickly,” he said. “They made me battle the whole game. They had a good game plan, fouling off a bunch of pitches. I think my stuff was good, but that’s just baseball. Hats off to them.”
Nate Lowe drove in the Rangers’ first run with a single in the fourth. It was his 10th run driven in of the season and set a franchise record for the most RBIs in the first four games of a season.
Brock Holt, the Stephenville native, doubled in a run in the ninth. The Rangers collected only five hits and struck out 14 times, and Woodward suggested that the hitters might have been pressing against Matz.
“We have a young team, so for a lot of the guys it was their first time playing in front of a sold-out crowd,” said shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who’s now in his fourth season. “If I’m nervous, I can’t imagine what everyone else is feeling.”
It was different, but the Rangers said having so many fans was a good different.
“It’s amazing how quickly we get used to certain things and not having that, it was like, ‘Oh, this is what it feels like,’” Woodward said. “Two years ago, 2019, seems like an eternity ago.”
This story was originally published April 5, 2021 at 7:23 PM.
