The 4 game winning streak came to an end last night for the Rangers when they lost 8-2 in the second game of this 4 game series against Tampa Bay. There was a lot that happened in this game, but in my mind the result was determined based on the outcome of three pitches. I know that may seem incredible in a game that featured 304 pitches between the two teams, but if you change the result of these three pitches the outcome of the game might be different. Let’s take a look at each situation and see how it impacted the game.

The first pitch occurred in the second inning when David Dejesus came to the plate against Yovanni Gallardo. The score was 0-0 at the time. The Rangers have not trailed since the first game of the trip when they were behind 1-0 till the 8th inning on Monday against Dallas Keuchel. Then Dejesus took Gallardo deep on 2-1 count to put the Rangers behind 1-0. They already were facing a pitcher in Nathan Karns that they had not seen before and now they were behind. If he gets Dejesus there instead of leaving it over the plate then he doesn’t give up a run till the 6th inning and who knows what would have happened.

The second pitch happened in the 6th inning. It was thrown by Alex Claudio against Brando Guyer, but before we get to that lets setup what happened before it. Gallardo had been rolling along after the Dejesus home run until the 6th. He retired 11 of the next 13 hitters and had not given up any other hits. In the 6th though he ran into some trouble following a Elvis Andrus error. He followed that up by allowing a single to James Loney and an RBI single to Evan Longoria to make it 2-0. He was then removed for Alex Claudio. Claudio was brought in to face Dejesus, but he was replaced by right handed batter Brandon Guyer. Claudio proceeded to give up a long 3-run home run to Guyer on his first and only pitch of the game. That made it 5-0 and with the way the offense was struggling against Karns was going to make it near impossible to come back. If Claudio is able to make a better pitch there and get out of the inning the rally the Rangers would have made would have tied the game and possibly go ahead in the 8th inning. He didn’t and the comeback fell short in that inning.

The third pitch took place in the 8th inning. The score was 5-2 following a home run by Adam Rosales and a sac fly off the bat of Adrian Beltre that nearly tied the game. Then it came down to Carlos Peguero against Kevin Jepsen with the bases loaded. Peguero has been pretty solid on this trip, but after fouling off some tough pitches he was finally struck out by Jepsen with a 94 mph fastball on the outside part of the plate. A base hit there would have brought them closer and changed how Banister might have approached the bottom of the inning. He might have went with Kela or Tolleson there in order to keep the game close. Peguero struck out and he decided to keep Pimentel out there who struggled in the bottom of the inning and the Rays tacked on 3 more runs to put away any chance the Rangers had at coming back. Change the outcome of any one of those pitches into the Rangers favor and things might have been different. The fact is though that it happened to go in the Rays favor and so they won the game. That is how it goes sometimes. Game 3 of the series is tonight as the Rangers still try to work toward another series win.

Other Game Notes

•  Nathan Karns had the Rangers hitters confused all night. His stuff seemed pretty average but with the deception in his delivery the Rangers could not pick up the path of the ball in time. He had 9 strikeouts in his 7+ innings and several of them were looking or swinging at his straight fastball on the outside corner. I am sure if you asked several Ranger hitters they would say he pitched well but they still should have hit him better than they did. His fastball did not move at all yet they could not make contact or they would just look at it. I am sure if they face him again this season they will fare a lot better than they did last night.
• Roughned Odor sat the bench again last night and this time was noteworthy because it came against a right-hander. It continues to seem likely when Moreland is eligible to come off the DL next week that Odor will be sent down. Word is that they are working Deshields jr at 2nd in order to play both him and Rosales at 2nd. That also allows them to keep Deshields and his speed on the team even when Moreland and Hamilton come up later this month.
• Speaking of Deshields he played well last night in the loss. He followed up his 3 steal performance on Thursday with another stolen base last night. He also collected two hits. That was more hits than anyone else in the lineup had. He has played real solid in Martins absence. He is proving himself very valuable to this team and he will not get sent back to Houston or down the minors if he continues to play well.
• The team plays again tonight a little earlier than last night. They play at 5:10 ct. Ross Detweiler will be trying to follow up his best start of the season with another good start and get the team back on track. He will be opposing Matt Andriese. Jake Odorizzi was scheduled to pitch but he is being replaced due to fly-like symptoms. Andriese will be making his 3rd start of the season. Should be interesting. Go Rangers!!!!!!