In the past 10 days the Rangers have taken big steps toward being a competitive team.
But they were reminded last night that the little things matter.
In a scintillating, dramatic 7-6, 10-inning loss to the defending AL champion Royals at Globe Life Park, Texas made enough good plays to make it interesting and entertaining but also just enough blunders to turn it ultimately disappointing.
There were a lot of positives, like Shin-Soo Choo’s lead-off homer, Delino DeShields reaching base three times and Adrian Beltre staying hot with a game-tying single in the 9th. But, yes, there were also too many mistakes to beat one of the best teams in baseball.
After his hit in the 9th, Beltre was picked off 1st base. Trailing 5-4 in the 7th, Choo was thrown out trying to go from 1st to 3rd on Elvis Andrus’ single with no outs. Alex Claudio allowed a homer to Mike Moustakas on an 0-2 pitch. And closer Neftali Feliz, in a 5-5 game, allowed consecutive singles and a run-scoring groundout.
The Rangers have lost a bunch of games early this season when they were lifeless, punchless and non-competitive. This wasn’t one of them. They played hard enough to win, just not quite well enough.
A native Texan who was born in Duncanville and graduated from UT-Arlington, Richie Whitt has been a mainstay in the Metroplex media since 1986. He’s held prominent roles on all media platforms including newspaper (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Observer), radio (105.3 The Fan) and TV (co-host on TXA 21 and numerous guest appearances, including NBC 5). He lives in McKinney with his wife, Sybil, and two very spoiled dogs.
