ARLINGTON, Texas — The three-game battle at T-Mobile Park in Seattle can be characterized as a really good, well-fought, well-won series for the Texas Rangers as they grabbed their first series victory in the Emerald City since May 2019.
A string of sweeps, easy series wins, and "sweeps that could have been" are nice, but more often than not, each series will look like the one the Rangers faced against the Mariners. So for them to come out on top is a character-building moment for a team that had been otherwise having an easy time of it.
- Game 34: Texas 2, Seattle 1 (W: Gray, 2-1, L: Gilbert, 1-2, Sv: Smith, 5)
- Game 35: Texas 0, Seattle 5 (W: Kirby, 4-2, L: Heaney, 2-3)
- Game 36: Texas 4, Seattle 3 (W: Dunning, 3-0, L: Castillo, 2-1, Sv: Smith, 6)
Dane Stunning
Without a doubt, one of the bright spots of the season so far has been the reintroduction of Dane Dunning. Filling in for Jacob deGrom, the substitute hurler took his turn in the series finale in a rubber match contest against Seattle’s ace Luis Castillo.
While you wouldn’t expect a six-inning, two-run performance from deGrom (you’d expect better), you certainly wouldn’t be disappointed if that’s what was turned in. With Dunning on the hill for his second start to spell deGrom, his six-inning, two-run performance was exactly what was needed to help win the series.
Dunning, between starting the season as a long reliever and now, two starts into filling in for the Rangers’ ace, has put up amazing numbers. He’s 3-0 on the season, with a 1.72 ERA. The two runs he gave up against Seattle match the most he’s given up this year so far. Dunning still hasn’t given up a homer all year and he has walked just seven batters, compared to striking out nineteen. Dunning has held opponents to a .182 batting average and, perhaps most importantly, he has kept his team in every game that he’s pitched in.
Dunning’s stunning reversal of fortune from a mediocre run in his first two seasons in Texas can perhaps be linked to the hip surgery he underwent last year, which has freed him from pain while throwing and opened up his range of motion. Nothing illustrates a change for Dunning more than his win in Seattle yesterday. The victory was Dunning’s first away from Arlington as a member of the Rangers despite 25 starts on the road for Texas over the previous two years.
Dunning’s sterling performance also means the Rangers do not have to rush deGrom back from forearm soreness. With Dunning up to the task so far, there is no dire need to get the ace back until Texas is certain he’s ready for the long haul.
In the meantime, Dunning is holding down the fort.
Stealing goes both ways
There have been several games this season where Texas has managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. A large portion of those have come from unfortunate bullpen outings, but regardless of where the blame lies, there have been wins left on the table. This time, though, the universe managed to balance itself out and have the coin land on the other side for the Rangers for once.
In the opener, Mariners starter Logan Gilbert had a perfect game going for six innings against the league’s best offense. If he had kept at that and come away with the victory, you could hardly be mad; when a talented pitcher has it firing on all cylinders, he can shut down even the best of offenses.
Sometimes, you have to find other ways to win.
Three pitches into the 7th inning, Marcus Semien broke up the perfecto. With the opening that Texas had been looking for, Gilbert was pitching with a runner on base for the first time all night and the Rangers took advantage for two runs that turned a 1-0 game into a 2-1 lead in a game they would win by that score.
After a Robbie Grossman strike out, Nathaniel Lowe singled and Adolis Garcia walked, bringing the American League April Rookie of the Month, Josh Jung to the plate. It didn’t need to be tremendous or fancy and it wasn’t – Jung lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to score Semien. Jonah Heim followed up with a blooped single for the eventual game-winning RBI.
The two runs backed up an incredibly solid effort from Jon Gray, who went seven innings and gave up just the one run on a 1st inning solo home run. The winning pieces of the bullpen – Jonathan Hernandez, Brock Burke and Will Smith – finished out the rest of the game. That, in itself, was refreshing to see.
Winning in the division
With the victory in Wednesday’s finale, Texas has now won two of three from each of its division rivals. Last season, the Rangers went 31-45 against the West, good for just a 40% winning percentage.
In particular, the Rangers were 5-14 against both the Mariners and Astros. One time through the division so far and Texas is on pace to win 66% of its games in division. That’s how you stay on track and in first place, with the Rangers now holding their largest lead of the season at three games ahead of Los Angeles.
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