The Rangers won the first game of this 3 city, 8 game road-trip by beating preseason AL West favorite Seattle Mariners 3-1.  The Rangers improved their record to 5-6. It was a good win that will help them the rest of this trip. The aim is to go 5-3 on the trip to have a winning trip and they are one win closer to that. They primarily won on the arm of Yovanni Gallardo, who is getting better start by start. They also were able to scratch together two runs and benefit off of a home run by Robinson Chirinos, his second of the season. The defense was also outstanding as they turned 3 more double plays to add to their league-leading total. It was an all around good team win. One that they needed especially with Felix Hernandez pitching tonight. Before we talk about the game tonight, lets recap what happened in the game last night.

Yovanni Gallardo was making his third start for the Rangers and J.A. Happ was making the start for the Mariners. Prior to this game the Rangers had struggled against the other left-handers that they had faced. Scott Kazmir shut them out in Oakland, Dallas Keuchel was able to keep them scoreless the first 6 innings on Sunday, and Hector Santiago only allowed 1 run in his 7 innings of work on Wednesday. They were really struggling.  They did marginally better last night though. They were able to get out to a quick 1-0 lead in the first as Leonys Martin, back in the leadoff role, was able to work a walk and then Prince Fielder hit a shot of the end of his bat down the left field line that Martin was able to score from first off of. The offense didn’t really do much after that till Robinson Chirinos hit a deep home run to center to make the score 2-0 and that would be all the Rangers would need.

Yovanni Gallardo was great last night, he showed the type of veteran poise the Rangers were hoping to get when they traded for him. Every time the Mariners got men on base in the first 6 innings he was able to get out of it. The 3rd inning is a great example of his poise. The bases were loaded due to 2 singles and a walk, but he just buckled down and was able to get hot-hitting Seth Smith to ground into a double play to end the inning. That was one of 3 double-plays he induced and one of 14 groundball outs he was able to get. He also had 3 strikeouts in his 6+ innings of work. Right now him and Colby Lewis are helping to carry this staff and help them survive this stretch they have without Derek Holland.

Gallardo was taken out in the 7th inning and the bullpen took over and helped carry them to victory. Tolleson was able to get out of a runners on 1st and 2nd and no outs jam in the 7th. He did this by getting Logan Morrison to ground out to Adam Rosales, who made a great diving stop. He was then able to strike out Dustin Ackley and Mike Zunino to end the inning with no runs allowed. Tanner Scheppers was making his first appearance of the season and gave up one run in his inning of work. The offense was able to scratch together an insurance run in the 9th when a base hit by Adam Rosales hit the 3rd base bag and allowed Robinson Chirinos to score. Neftali Feliz came on in the 9th and was able to close it out, but not before it got interesting. Logan Morrison came up in the 9th and sent a shot to right field that looked like it had a shot to leave the ballpark, but then this happened.

Choo timed it perfectly and made it look real easy. That out pretty much ended the game and the Rangers won 3-1. Gallardo improved his record to 2-1 and Feliz recorded his 2nd save of the season and the Rangers are now just half a game back of being in first place in the AL West. A good start to what should be an interesting road trip for the Rangers.

Other Game Notes

• Mitch Moreland was a late scratch from the lineup as he was dealing with a sore elbow. After the game it was revealed he might need surgery to deal with loose bodies in elbow and that could keep him out for 3 weeks. They are going to monitor that the next few days and see how it progresses. I would hope the Rangers will go ahead and have the surgery done, because it is still really early and I would rather get it done now rather than have Mitch try to play through it and make it worse and then have to have the surgery in July or August. We will see over the next few days which direction Mitch and the team decide to take.
• Prince Fielder made a bold statement before the news about Moreland came out. He said right now the team is better with Moreland in the field. It leads me to believe that he will be fine with DH’ing more and playing in the field less, which is actually what should be happening. That is pretty big of him to say, because his reputation says that he wouldn’t be willing to give up playing first base,but to come right out and say that is good for him and good for the team as well.
• I said earlier the Rangers lead the league in double plays, that is true. The Rangers in the first 11 games have turned  15 double plays. That has them tied with the Giants. The infield has made their share of errors, but they are great at not messing up double plays. Elvis and Odor have a great chemistry on the field and they rarely miss an opportunity at a double play. It has been great to see them grow in their partnership these last two seasons. I can’t forget about Beltre who has started his share of double plays from third. That is one thing from game to game that will be consistent. Right now they do not have a pitcher on their staff that is dominant just by himself, each pitcher they have is to a large degree reliant on the defense. Thankfully, the infield defense is solid and should be able to keep them in most games.
• Adrian Beltre had a funny moment in the game last night.

• Elvis continues to drive the ball. He sent a rocket to dead center field that went right over the head of Austin Jackson. It was not a lazy fly to center, he got behind the ball and drove it for a double. That is the type of hitter the Rangers want him to be. This will be something to watch as the season goes along.
• Tonight it will be a matchup of two veterans, Colby Lewis against Felix Hernandez. Lewis is 1-0 on the season and is coming off a no-decision in his last start against the Astros when he pitched 7 innings and gave up 4 runs. Hernandez had to be taken out in the 5th inning in his last start against the A’s. with tightness in his right quad muscle. He had a throwing session on Wednesday and declared that he is ready to go. The Rangers have fared well in the past against Hernandez, but this is a different team and if King Felix is on his game the Rangers will lose. Hopefully he is having an off night and the Rangers can pick up their first series win of the season and get back .500. Game time is at 8:05 tonight. Go Rangers!!!!!!!!!!