Rangers 4, Astros 2
- And thus the Rangers take the series against the Astros.
- Patrick Corbin took pitching backwards to a whole new level in this game. Corbin threw 82 pitches in the game. Of those 82 pitches, eight were sinkers and one was a fastball. He threw 34 cutters, 21 sliders and 18 changeups.
- We can quibble over whether a cutter is a fastball or a breaking ball, but the two varieties of “real” fastballs are the two seamer, aka the sinker, and the four seamer, aka the fastball. Throwing just 11% of your pitches as real fastballs in a lengthy start is not something you generally see, I don’t think, unless you’ve got a knuckleballer on the mound.
- Corbin had success with that approach, getting 17 whiffs and striking out five batters while walking just one — Yordan Alvarez in the top of the first — and so hey, no complaints there.
- The decision Bruce Bochy made in this game that I found particularly interesting was his decision to lift Patrick Corbin with two outs in the sixth. Corbin had started the inning giving up a double and a single, making it a 1-1 game. A Yordan Alvarez force out and a Jose Altuve groundout put Alvarez at third with two outs for Carlos Correa.
- Bochy went to the pen and opted for Phil Maton. Phil Maton is a late inning guy — not someone you generally see in the sixth inning. It’s only the second time in 2025 Maton came into the game in the sixth inning, having done it once for the Cardinals earlier this year. It’s just the second time Bochy has used Maton before the eighth inning this year.
- But Bruce Bochy was treating this as a must-win game. And with the go ahead run on third, Bochy opted to go with one of his best relievers early in the game.
- Matin came through, striking out Correa to keep the game tied, setting the stage for the Rangers, in the bottom of the inning, to score three runs and break the tie. Maton pitched the seventh and did allow a run, but the marginal for error was enough at that point for it not to be game-shifting. Robert Garcia and Shawn Armstrong combined for the final six outs.
- It did not feel like a game where the Rangers would be scoring many runs. The first run of the game came when Dylan Moore singled with two outs, stole second, and then came around to score on a Jonah Heim strikeout where the ball got away, the Astros catcher stumbled getting it, and then hit Heim with the throw as Heim was running to first, giving Moore the opportunity to make it home safely.
- For a while I thought it might be a 1-0 game, and let’s be honest, winning 1-0 with the one run coming like that would have been very hilarious. Instead, as noted above, Corbin allowed a run in the sixth and my hopes sank. Scoring another run seemed to be too much to ask.
- Sequencing saved us. With two outs in the sixth, Cody Freeman singled. Then Josh Jung doubled him home, giving the Rangers a 2-1 lead. And THEN, Jake Burger homered, giving the Rangers a three run inning, and it seemed at that point like an absolute flood of runs.
- Fun fact: The Rangers had five hits in the game. All five hits had an exit velocity of at least 100 mph.
- Patrick Corbin topped out at 93.6 mph with his sinker, averaging 92.4 mph. Phil Maton’s cutter hit 91.1 mph. Robert Garcia reached 96.5 mph with his fastball. Shawn Armstrong’s sinker maxed out at 95.0 mph.
- Josh Jung had a 107.5 mph ground out, a 100.9 mph fly out and a 100.6 mph double. Jonah Heim had a 106.4 mph ground out. Jake Burger had a 103.8 mph home run and a 102.8 mph single. Cody Freeman had a 102.0 mph single and a 101.8 mph ground out. Dylan Moore had a 100.1 mph single.
- On we go, continuing to hang on by a thread…but still hanging on…
