On Sunday, the Rangers had a chance to sweep the Rockies in front of a packed house and an open roof at Globe Life Field.
With a win today, the Rangers would be twelve games over .500 for the first time since the end of 2016 (95-67).
Texas’ number five starter Andrew Heaney would be tasked with completing the sweep. Coming into the day, Heaney has had quality starts in four of his last five but has gone just 1-2 with a 4.60 ERA in those outings.
The Rangers’ lefty would get into some trouble in the second when two Colorado singles and a walk loaded the bases with no one out. However, For the second straight day, a Rangers pitcher would get out of a bases-loaded no-out jam after Heaney picked up a strikeout and a 1-2-3 double play to escape.
When speaking about wiggling out of that jam after the game, Heaney said:
“Just gotta bear down and just try and make pitches; first out is key, obviously.”
That Houdini act would prove to be huge when Josh Jung, who was the very next better, would drive a middle-middle fastball into the left field seats to put the Rangers up 1-0 in the second!!!
With two outs in that same inning, Marcus Semien would double down the left-field line to bring home Ezequiel Duran and Leody Tavares. Corey Seager would follow that with a two-run homer, and the Rangers would have yet another five-run inning!
Andrew Heaney would have one of his best starts in a Rangers uniform on Sunday. Heaney went 6 innings giving up just 6 hits and 1 unearned run while walking 2 and striking out 5.
After the game, Andrew Heaney spoke to what was working for him:
“Just mixing it up, very aggressive team, thought we did a good job of not falling into too many patterns.”
The 5th inning would be the one where the Rangers broke this game open. Coming into the day, Leody Tavares had reached safely in 22 of his last 26 games and had raised his batting average from .105 to .288. Today he knocked a bases-clearing double to left to put the Rangers up 8-0.
By the end of the inning, it would be time to throw in the white towel once again. The Rangers scored six runs in the fifth inning to take an 11-0 lead over the Rockies.
After the game, Bruce Bochy spoke about the fact that the entire lineup producing is what makes this team so good.
“It’s been everybody, you know, the front end, how good they are, but the backend has just been doing a great job.”
Joe Barlow, Jose Leclerc, and Brock Burke would combine to go the rest of the way for the Rangers, and Texas defeated Colorado by a score of 13-3 to complete the sweep.
With the win, Texas reaches 12 games over .500 (29-17) for the first time since the end of the 2016 season (95-67) and posts one of the 3 best 46-game marks in franchise history (30-16, 1998, 29-17, 2013).
The Rangers will hit the road to begin a three-city trip starting tomorrow in Pittsburgh at 5:35. Dane Dunning will get the ball to open the set for the Rangers.
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