ARLINGTON, Texas — For the first time this season, the Texas Rangers (13-13) finished a series not in first place. Against a very impressive Seattle Mariners (13-12) pitching staff, Texas lost two out of three to their Pacific Northwest rivals and now find themselves a half-game back in the division.
Of course, it’s still April so there certainly is no reason to panic; certain trends that are being observed right now are not going to hold for the remainder of the season. But it is a fact that the Rangers have had four series against division opponents and have a 5-8 record while winning none of them.
Game 24: Seattle 4, Texas 0 (W: Gilbert, 2-0, L: Dunning, 2-2)
Game 25: Seattle 1, Texas 5 (W: Hernandez, 1-0, L: Miller, 3-2)
Game 26: Seattle 4, Texas 3 (W: Castillo, 2-4, L: Heaney, 0-3, Sv: Munoz, 3)
Inconsistent bats
The expected output by this lineup is too stout to sputter as much as it has so far this season. However, it’s useful to remember that last year the Rangers’ offense didn’t hit their stride until May. Texas was shutout for the second time this season in the opener of this series and hadn’t scored a run in their park in 25 innings before finally breaking through on Wednesday.
The top of the order keystone combo of Marcus Semien and Corey Seager haven’t really hit their stride yet, although Seager might be right on the cusp of getting back to MVP-form after missing all of Spring Training and hitting a few balls hard that found leather in this series.
Nathaniel Lowe, despite hitting his first home run in the finale of the series, missed the first four weeks of the season. The early trials and tribulations of Evan Carter were not foreseen either, though perhaps they should have been with him still in his rookie season.
Carter, who appeared to be turning a corner in the Braves series, did hit his 4th home run in the middle game of the set, but has otherwise not yet resembled the phenom that burst onto the scene in September of last year on his way to a historic postseason.
Hitting, though, is contagious, and it may take a few good games in a row from more than just Adolis Garcia to get the rest of the team going.
Dunning disappointment
Dane Dunning drew the assignment for the opener of the series, and while Seattle starter Logan Gilbert was outstanding, Dunning was unable to match him. There were two mistake pitches that resulted in home runs, but Dunning, who refined himself as a strikeout pitcher toward the tail end of last season, had the strikeout pitch going again against Seattle.
The bespectacled righty had been working in the offseason on shortening the distance between where the ball leaves his hand and where it arrives with the batter. The result has been a higher strikeout total through five games. So far, Dunning has racked up 29 Ks. Through his first five starts last year, Dunning had 21. With more strikeouts, however, comes more home runs given up as he works deeper in counts.
Dunning didn’t give up his first homer last year until June 1st. This season, he already leads the American League with seven dingers surrendered. It’s part of the pains that a strike-thrower must live with. Dunning needs to cut down on the walks as well; through five starts last year, he had only walked six batters. In 2024, he’s already up to 16 free passes.
Gilbert, meanwhile, as he apt to do against the Rangers, was very good, allowing just two hits over 6 ⅔ innings which served to magnify Dunning’s mistakes.
The bullpen holds strong
Seattle had one of the best bullpens in the American League coming into the series and Texas was able to touch them up for four runs throughout the three-game set. The definitive feather in the cap that the Rangers can take from this series is their bullpen gave up zero runs to a Seattle offense that came to Arlington hot.
Rookie Cole Winn hasn’t given up a run in his six innings of work, spanning four games. Middle relievers Jake Latz and Jose Urena have delivered as middle relief options. David Robertson has allowed just two earned runs in his 14 ⅓ innings of work and the apparent closer of the team, Kirby Yates, has not allowed a runner to cross the plate in 10 innings.
Even Jose Leclerc, who went through a very rough patch to start his year, is riding a four-game scoreless streak after a scoreless outing in the opener. In addition, October hero Josh Sborz returned from the injured list and pitched a scoreless frame in the finale.
Heaney turning the corner
Andrew Heaney will never be confused for a staff ace, and he may be the first one sent to the bullpen when Max Scherzer returns to the rotation, but the lefty turned in a solid six innings in the finale of the series.
After not making it out of the fifth inning in any of his first three starts, Heaney gave Texas five innings when they needed it toward the end of the 17-game stretch in Atlanta last week and then was incredibly efficient in completing six innings on Thursday.
Despite being at just 79 pitches in a close game, manager Bruce Bochy retained his usual strategy of limiting Heaney to around 80 pitches. And while Heaney did give up two, two-run home runs, he also limited further damage while striking out seven on his way to working through the Seattle lineup two and half times.
The Rangers next welcome the Cincinnati Reds to town looking to avoid dropping under .500 while trying to find their way back into first place. The Reds are third in the NL Central, but maintain a better record than the Rangers at the moment. Seattle, meanwhile, heads back home to face the reigning NL champion Arizona Diamondbacks.
Do you think the Rangers will bounce back from dropping to second place? Share your thoughts with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.
More Rangers Headlines
