ARLINGTON, Texas — All of the clinch scenarios and magic numbers and tiebreaker equations are swirling around in baseball’s final week, but the Texas Rangers were tasked with keeping it simple: Beat the Los Angeles Angels and keep destiny in their own grasp. Mission accomplished, for now.
After claiming the series two games to one, the Rangers only need one more win in Seattle to reach the postseason. Meanwhile, the Houston Astros were kept at bay and now any combination of two Texas wins or Houston losses will give the Arlington squad their first division championship since 2016.
- Game 156: Texas 5, Los Angeles 1 (W: Gray, 9-8, L: Herget, 2-4)
- Game 157: Texas 3, Los Angeles 9 (W: Detmers, 4-10, L: Bradford, 4-3)
- Game 158: Texas 5, Los Angeles 0 (W: Dunning 12-6, L: Canning, 7-8)
Three Up
The good side of Gray – Jon Gray needed to have a redemption start, perhaps more so even than the Rangers needed a good outing. Featuring a revitalized wicked slider – the same slider that helped elevate him to one of Texas’ most effective starters in the season’s first half – Gray was able to complete six innings of efficient, effective baseball in the opener in Anaheim.
The only run that Gray allowed was a dead-center homer to catcher Logan O’Hoppe. Aside from that, Gray made his way through the 6th on just 81 pitches and was due to continue in the 7th, but was lifted from the game early as a precautionary measure due to a tightening right wrist.
Ultimately Gray, who had been sporting a 8.56 ERA in September spanning four starts, factored heavily in the 5-1 win on Monday that got Texas off on the right foot against the division rivals from Orange County.
Adolis heating up – For most of August, Adolis Garcia struggled. From Aug. 5 through Aug. 29, the All-Star right fielder had at least one strikeout in every game. His struggles, along with a trip to the IL, fortuitously prompted the call-up of new sensation Evan Carter.
But since coming back from injury, Garcia has started to become more of the type of producer that Texas has come to expect over the last couple of years. Since returning on Sept. 18, Garcia is 9-for-29, including four home runs and six RBIs.
Garcia helped add to the Rangers’ American League-leading home run total. In the series, Garcia finished up 3-for-10 with two homers and three RBIs, and all but one ball he hit in the finale went for over 100 mph off the bat as his two early RBI hits were critical to claiming the finale.
Dominance of Dunning – If there was ever a time for members of the Rangers rotation to turn it on, this would be the week. It wasn’t just Gray who had a great outing in the series against the Angels, as Dane Dunning threw back the clock to his first month as a starter as he pitched a gem in the finale from Anaheim.
Dunning breezed through seven innings against Los Angeles, throwing just 87 pitches while allowing three hits and a walk to go along with seven strikeouts. Dunning borrowed a page from Gray’s book and threw a highly effective slider that helped his efficiency to shut the Angels down in what ended up being his longest outing since going seven innings back on August 19.
Three Down
The bad side of Gray – One might have thought that Gray was angling for a complete game given how effective he was in the opener. The Rangers, for once, scored enough runs so that Gray’s good pitching wouldn’t go to waste. Three times this season Gray has been the hard-luck loser where he’d allowed just a single run in games that Texas was shut out.
This time the luck was still hard, but manifested itself in a different way. After tossing a few warm-up pitches before the 7th inning, Gray was pulled after some discomfort with right wrist tightness. The team announced that the exit was purely precautionary, but precautionary things have led to worse news before for Texas this season. There was no update on the righty before the team had left Anaheim.
Snowball effect – Outside of his debut start against the Braves and his most recent start against the Guardians, rookie lefty Cody Bradford has been a serviceable option for the Rangers in a spot starter and long reliever role. Nine days after allowing six runs in Cleveland, however, Bradford didn’t fare much better in Anaheim in a start that would have been Max Scherzer’s spot in the rotation.
Bradford was tagged for six runs on Tuesday night. Three of those came on a 1st inning three-run homer off the bat of Brandon Drury. Bradford retired nine Angels in a row after the Drury homer before allowing two hits and a fielder’s choice to plate another run.
In the 5th, Bradford allowed another two runners to reach and Chris Stratton came on to try to stop the bleeding. Stratton, who had been one of the Rangers’ most reliable relievers since coming over from the St. Louis Cardinals at the Trade Deadline, allowed both inherited runners to score.
After that performance, Stratton now has allowed 10 of his previous 17 inherited runners to cross the plate. All-in-all, five runs crossed the plate in the fateful inning that cost Texas an opportunity for a sweep. For as much as the Rangers tend to have innings where they pile on runs on offense, the 5th inning of this particular game effectively gave Texas a taste of their own medicine.
Jung scuffling at the plate – Through the first four months of the season, Josh Jung looked like a prime Rookie of the Year candidate. Then, unfortunately, Jung caught a line drive that was a little too spicy for the hot corner and was sidelined with a broken left thumb.
Upon coming back, Jung has yet to rediscover his stride. Over the Angels series, Josh picked up just two hits in 12 at-bats. For the month, Jung’s slash line reads .235/.257/.353. That’s a far cry from early on when he was over .300 with his average.
On the opposite side of the ball, Jung’s defense has been sterling, having made several key plays in both the series against the Mariners and the one that just concluded against the Angels. But the Rangers would love to see early ROY candidate Jung start clicking again.
The AL West is going to come down to the upcoming series against the Mariners. Seattle did their best to knock Houston out of the race for the division lead, but the Astros took the series to keep Texas from celebrating early.
Separate from that fact, the Rangers needed to handle business in Los Angeles, and while a sweep was the desired outcome, winning the series and maintaining at least a 2.5 game lead with four games to play has put them on the cusp of cracking open the bubbly.
Do you consider the season a success for the Rangers no matter what happens in Seattle? Share your thoughts with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.
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