The Rangers are 20-23

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That mostly sums up this game. It was never really all that close.

  • Severe thunderstorms rolled through Texas Friday evening, and continued throughout the day, causing a rain delay of over two hours.

  • Ariel Jurado got his first Major League start, and was actually better than we probably could have hoped for. He went 4.1 innings while striking out four and only walking one. Only 2 of the 4 runs he gave up were earned, and it’s possible he would have made it through the fifth if not for an error.

  • That error came courtesy of a pickoff attempt. With Matt Carpenter standing on second after a double, Jurado turned and had him picked off. However, Rougned Odor was unable to catch the ball and apply the tag for the 2nd out of the inning, and Carpenter proceeded to score.

  • It’s difficult to say what might have happened if Odor was able to cleanly apply the tag, but it really felt like Jurado began to unravel at that point.

  • At this point, Chris Woodward turned to Jeanmar Gomez who is, apparently, still on the roster. Gomez was only able to record a single out on his way to giving up 2 earned runs of his own along with 2 hits and a walk. I’d imagine Gomez would be the first casualty the next time the Rangers need a fresh bullpen arm.

  • Brett Martin was able to give the Rangers an inning of solid work, allowing no hits an a walk.

  • Of course, this wouldn’t be complete without also bringing in another member of the Rangers bullpen punching bags, Kyle Dowdy. Dowdy once again struggled, giving up an earned run of his own along with a hit and two walks. He now sports a visually concerning 7.48 ERA on the season with an FIP that isn’t much prettier of 6.39. Dowdy has only had two outings in the past month that haven’t been complete disasters, and I’m curious how long the Rangers can continue to carry him on the Major League roster — as he’s a Rule 5 guy — all in the name of not having to offer him back to the Cleveland Indians.

  • The offense wasn’t much to talk about today. There were some hard-hit balls that ended up finding Cardinals fielders, but aside from Ronald Guzman and Isiah Kiner-Falefa notching two hits apiece, the rest of the Texas lineup managed only two hits. It never really felt like a comeback was imminent.

  • By the time is was over, the final score was 8-2. They’ll play the rubber match tomorrow at 2:05 PM.