May 16, 2022 - Game 34
W - Jon Gray (1-1)
L - Noah Syndergaard (3-2)
S - Joe Barlow (7)
HR: TEX: Heim (4)
Time of Game: 2:51
Cowboy Hat Winner: Eli White (1st)
Game Recap
Kole Calhoun said after yesterday's game that he felt there was momentum when the Rangers scored two on Saturday. Sure, the club was blown out against the Red Sox, but there was a spark within the team. The next day the Rangers went out and dominated Boston 7-1. On Monday, the Angels came a town, a team riding a hot streak that presented a challenge that Texas' players accepted.
The night didn't start well for Jon Gray. The first three reached in the opening inning, and the Rangers found themselves down 1-0. The inning got worse with a bloop double by Brandon Marsh went down the left-field trickling off of Eli White. Before the Rangers' leadoff man White took the plate, Texas found themselves down 3-0. However, that didn't stop the Texas offense from wreaking havoc against Mansfield's Noah Syndergaard. "If I know a guy is historically 0.15 and above, not good at holding runners, I know as soon as I get on base I'm going to try to expose that," Eli said after the game in creating havoc on the bases. Noah threw six innings and allowed two runs in his outing last month against Texas but ran into immediate issues in the first inning. Eli White began with a single and a stolen base while Marcus Semien drew an eleven-pitch walk to add more pressure. Corey Seager got the scoring started with a single scoring Eli followed by an Adolis García RBI double to cut the deficit quickly to one.
Kole Calhoun followed suit with a sacrifice fly to tie the game. The Rangers had a runner at third and one out and needed Jonah Heim to put the ball in play. Heim's grounder kicked off the glove of Jared Walsh, scoring García and putting the Rangers ahead. Still in the first inning, Eli White drove in two with a single to left field, his second hit of the first inning alone. "We followed our gameplay to a "T" in everyway," Rangers manager Chris Woodward said after the game. "They had a 3-0 lead and Eli created chaos out there. You can tell Syndergaard was bothered by it. That's the chaos we want to create, especially with Eli." After Jon Gray set the Angels down in order in the second and third innings, the Angels got one back in the fourth. Andrew Velazquez picked up the third hit of the fourth inning to cut the Rangers' lead 6-4. The Rangers offense didn't get much after the first until Jonah Heim went deep to straightaway center field, adding an insurance run for Texas, putting them up 7-4.
Jon Gray's night ended with 5.2 innings, eight hits, four runs, one walk, and eight strikeouts. The line looks okay, but considering Gray allowed four hits to the first six batters, the result is a good bounce back. "I think I was cutting myself off a little bit early on," "We found two directions to each side and started working on that a lot better," Jon Gray said.
Gray couldn't finish the sixth inning, but Brock Burke got Velazquez to fly out to end the Angels' threat unscored upon. Burke pitched a scoreless seventh inning. He allowed a leadoff single that immediately erased on a Mike Trout double play. John King pitched a scoreless eighth inning with assistance from a fantastic Adolis García catch in center field. Joe Barlow came to close out the night and the Rangers took the opening game of the series.
Postgame Notes
The Rangers scored six in the first inning for the first time since September 11, 2019, at home against the Rays.
Eli White becomes the first Ranger with two hits in one inning since Isiah Kiner-Falefa on September 28, 2019, against the Yankees. The two hits for Kiner-Falefa came in the sixth inning. Eli's two hits on Monday came in the first.
Monday's first inning was the second six-run frame for Texas in 2022. The other came on Sunday, April 10, in Toronto.
Eli White is the only player in MLB with nine or more stolen bases and a perfect stolen base percentage.
Noah Syndergaard did not complete a single inning for the first time in his career. He went 0.2 innings on Monday.
Sam Huff has an MLB nine-game hitting streak and reached in ten of the thirteen MLB games he's played in.
In twelve at-bats against the Angels, Jonah Heim has seven RBIs including two home runs.
The 5.2 innings by Jon Gray is the longest outing for Gray since August 4th last year with the Rockies against the Cubs. the eighty-nine pitches is the most pitches for Gray since September 14th, 2021.
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