Take all the numbers, all the sabermetrics, all the analytics and toss them out the door. Only one number matters. Wins.

The team with the best WAR does not win the division. The team with the best OPS+ does not win the division. The team with the most wins does.

So, as unspectacular as Yovani Gallardo has been with the Rangers since they picked him up in desperation, he had been 7-1 going into last night.

His ERA had been an unspectacular 4.97. But compared to the train wreck of 30.86 ERA he put up with Cincinnati before that, 4.97 is Cy Young worthy.

What Gallardo was mostly was the beneficiary of good luck. The opposite of Yu Darvish, who never saw a 1-0 game he couldn’t lose. When Gallardo took the mound, for some reason Rangers bats woke up.

In his nine previous starts with Texas, the Rangers scored 13 runs, 9 runs, 11 runs, 7 runs, 4 runs, 5 runs, 11 runs, 17 runs, and 11 runs. That is more runs that the Rangers scored for Darvish in his six years combined with the Rangers.

Even Tanner Scheppers would have a winning record with that support. (Maybe.)

So, forgive Gallardo for losing last night. It wasn’t his fault. He gave up his usual four runs in 3.1 innings. It’s just that the Rangers failed to score the requisite 15 runs needed for him to win.

Baseball is nothing if not unfair at times.

Yovani Gallardo has seven wins this year. Which matches Jacob deGrom’s total with the Mets.

Gallardo is 7-2 with a 6.39 ERA. DeGrom is 7-7 with a 1.81 ERA. DeGrom should win the Cy Young award. Gallardo shouldn’t finish higher than 200th in any Cy Young voting.

Yet they both have seven wins. And wins are all that matter.

And that is exactly why they invented all those sabermetric numbers. To prove that Jacob deGrom’s seven wins are much more effective than Yovani Gallardo’s seven wins.

But all you have to do is watch them pitch to know that.

*****
NO GAME TODAY.