The Rangers are 21-23
/An extra-innings walk-off win! How fun!
Drew Smyly started for the Rangers today in the latest episode of former Tigers pitchers that struggle for the Rangers. It was clear from the first inning that he wouldn’t be long for this game. In four innings of work, Smyly walked four Cardinals hitters while giving up two runs, and the Rangers were fortunate that the damage wasn’t worse.
Shin-Soo Choo continued his trend of hitting the ball hard, notching a home run and a double as well as a hard-luck laser that found Paul Goldschmidt at first base. Choo has been a punching bag of sorts in Texas for years due to his contract, but he’s proven himself to be among the best run-producers for the Rangers thus far in 2019.
Danny Santana came on as a pinch-hitter and added a home run of his own, and later on in the bottom of the 10th a walk. He’s been an incredibly nice surprise along with Logan Forsythe, giving the Rangers some viable bench options in games like today’s.
I talked a bit about Jeanmar Gomez last night, and he was once again knocked around a bit. Gomez came on to work the top of the 10th inning and gave up two hits, allowing the Cardinals to score the go-ahead run. At that point, it looked like this might be one of those games the Rangers let get away.
But then Willie Calhoun happened. Calhoun, who has absolutely mashed the ball since coming up last week, wasn’t in the lineup Sunday, but came on as a pinch-hitter for Jeff Mathis in the bottom of the 10th. He laced a game-tying RBI single to right field, scoring Rougned Odor and setting the stage for Nomar Mazara to hit the walk-off sacrifice fly.
So, all in all, a successful weekend for the Rangers, as they took the series from the hated St. Louis Cardinals. It’s weekends like this that keep baseball fun in Arlington.