The Rangers opened up a 4 game set against the Los Angeles Angels at Globe Life Park on Thursday evening and got the series started off right with an 8-6 victory. Here is the Good, the Bad and the Ugly from today's game.
The Good: Jurickson Profar
Jurickson Profar went 2-3 tonight with two runs scored and an RBI. Slowly but surely Profar has raised his average to season highs during the month of August and has also improved not only his eye at the plate but his ability to work the count and get on base.
In addition to his improved performance at the plate, Profar showed some great leather at third base tonight, starting a triple play on a hard hit ground ball in the fourth inning. As each day goes by, he seems to gain more confidence and become more comfortable and due to the injuries Adrian Beltre has suffered this season, it appears more and more likely that Profar will take the reigns at third base next season.
Joey Gallo
I'll admit I'm not the biggest Joey Gallo fan as his all or nothing approach is a huge anchor on the lineup at times but today is the kind of performance that has the Rangers believing he can still develop and become a cornerstone in the lineup.
Gallo went 2-4 with a a home run, two runs scored, two RBI's and a double that scored Nomar Mazara and started the Rangers 4 run eighth inning comeback that propelled them to victory. Another positive is that Gallo was in a hitters count in every at bat he had tonight. This is something he needs to continue to do as when he gets behind in the count he does not shorten up his swing, which leads to his high strikeout total when he is fooled by the off speed pitches
Ariel Jurado
Wow that was a rough first inning for the youngster as he gave up five straight hits to start the game in rout to a seven hit and five run inning. However, after the rough first inning, Jurado dominated the Angels allowing only two hits and one walk over the next five innings. He finished the game with a stat line of 6IP 9H 6R 1BB and 3K.
While it wasn't pretty, Jurado rebounded after facing adversity early and kept the Rangers in the game. In addition, this kind of gutsy performance is what is needed from the young right hander as the Rangers immediate starting pitching depth in the minors is shallow at best and Jurado will almost certainly have a spot in the starting rotation next year.
The Bad: RISP
When you are given opportunities with runners in scoring position, you have to deliver timely hits in order to win in the major leagues. The Rangers were given nine official opportunities(more on that below) tonight with runners in scoring position and were only able to manage two hits: Gallo's double mentioned above and a Rougned Odor's single.
Both of these hits were critical as they occurred in the decisive eighth inning comeback, however the Rangers need to do a better job than the .222 mark they obtained tonight. On the plus side the Rangers did draw two walks with runners in scoring position which helped continue the inning and put pressure on the Angels bullpen before it finally cracked.
The Ugly: The First Inning
I have been watching Rangers baseball for over 20 years and its been a long time since I have seen a game start out with that many consecutive hits. I've seen some crooked numbers go on the board and some hits piled up but I can't recall the last time a game started out with seven of the first eight batters reaching base.
Definitely not how you want to start a home series down 5-0 before you even come up to bat, however, the Rangers were able to keep chipping away at the Angels lead and with Jurado taking charge after that first inning and stop the bleeding were able to pull out a much needed win tonight.
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