Cincinnati-A quick flashback a week ago when the season started: as you may remember, the starting rotation of the Rangers was in a mess, simply trying to keep things together, while the reinforced offensive was going to have to do teams.
This is exactly the way things not arrived.
On Wednesday, Jack Leiter and a quartet of lifts hummed a harmonious 1-0 victory against Cincinnati. He followed a 1-0 match victory by Nathan Eovaldi the previous night. Add 1-0 and 1-0 together and you get the first time in the history of the franchise, the Rangers sewn the consecutive victories 1-0. The Rangers return to Texas 5-2 after a week of matches despite an average of 2.57 points per game.
Just the way you drew it, no Bruce Bochy?
“I think we had much more confidence in our pitching staff than some people thought,” said Bochy. “Now, there is no bypass, we thought we were going to put more runs on the board, but if you don’t do it, that’s what should happen. The staff came to pick us up. We are going to talk a lot about Jack, but the lift enclosure has done a great job.”
True that. After Leiter left a little prematurely thanks to a bulb on his adult who jumped, Jacob Webb, Robert Garcia, Chris Martin and Luke Jackson combined to allow a pair of singles and no walks to finish the game. And for the second consecutive day, the match ended with the superstar of the Reds Elly of the Cruz which made the final. Perhaps he did not use his torpedo bat during the opening of the series, because he went 1 for 8 in the last two games. It had to be the bat, right?
Well, maybe not entirely. The Reds won a battle in the opening of the series, jumping everywhere in the fast balls of Kumar Rocker who attracted too much from the striking area in a 14-3 rout. This may also have given Rangers an approach for the last two games. The Reds transported large sticks; The Rangers launched gently.
In the laundering at 99 Eovaldi bets, he launched the lowest percentage of fast -searched balls in a start in his career, mixing his separator and his newly rediscovered curve more frequently. He kept the unbalanced aggressive reds. Then he briefly spoke to Leiter and simply said: “Sweet.”
Leiter knew exactly what Eovaldi talked about and followed suit. In five rounds, he launched 31 cursors, 10 curves and a handful of his new “Kick-Changeup” enriched. He only launched 16 4 sailors.
“It’s pretty cool to watch someone choose a program the previous night,” said Leiter. “The way he goes to his occupations is unequaled. He is ready to help young people and his contributions and his experience is better than all experts. It’s pretty cool to watch it and follow. It’s a bit like the university, when you look at Kumar dominate a night and then you go out and do your thing. “
Eovaldi is also invested as any teammate can be to help other launchers. But launchers still have to execute the land. And for that, Leiter deserves the whole credit. Its tempo on the mound is faster, but not rushed. It’s funny: when the launchers work at a good pace, they seem to have more good defensive games behind them. On Wednesday, Leiter obtained a tumultuous dive from Adolis García to record the first match. In the second, Josh Smith, replacing at the Corey Seager stop, made a return available to the interior fields to catch a pop-up of the end of the Channel.
The shortcomings of Leiter have not been obvious, which induces more prosecution. In fact, it only walked one thickness in 10 rounds. By the way, another funny pitching fact: the Rangers finished the cincinnati series without allowing a walk and did not publish freezing free in the last 21 rounds.
And when he faced his most difficult jam, with Cruz in the third after a double and a flight, he withdrew Gavin Lux to finish the fourth on a cursor. Launched six throws to Lux in the spot. Everything he had in his pocket. Except the quick ball.
Everything about Leiter suggests a more confident launcher.
“Confidence comes from preparation,” said Leiter. “If you leave it the waiver with results, you are not going to be consistent. You must constantly evolve, I think, or you hurt it. There was so much that I felt that I could do better after the last start and I feel like I feel the same after it.”
It was the general consensus of Bochy and the receiver Jonah Heim. Leiter is more mature on the mound.
“You can just see confidence growing with this child,” said Bochy. “He has great stuff, and now he is starting to understand the pitch part. He has very good secondary lands to go with the large quick ball, and he was adjusted. I give him credit.
“You see pitchability. He does not try to make his way through the queues. He has a larger arsenal with which to work at the moment, and he uses it. And this is what is big because sometimes you are in things and he started with the high -speed grounds, then he is setting up the quick ball. base.
All of this led Bochy to smile and joke in his office after the match. This was all the difference compared to the last time he said goodbye to Cincinnati, two April, when the Rangers lost three consecutive games against the Reds in their last At-Bat.
That day, Bochy threw his hat through the room, which, given the size, requires a little effort.
On Wednesday, the only effort was to offer enough praise to Leiter.
Twitter: @Evan_p_grant
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