Seventeen runs, twenty hits, four home runs, including two by Rougned Odor. The Rangers treated former teammate Derek Holland to a rude homecoming.

Jon Daniels’s resumé for developing pitching was on display last night. He’s lucky he isn’t in the real world. He’d have trouble landing a job at Taco Bell.

The two best major league pitchers he has developed for the Rangers faced one another last night. Best being a relative term. It wasn’t pretty.

The better of the two last night allowed six runs in six innings. The other one, who happened to author the best post-season start in Rangers franchise history, allowed, at last count, more than one thousand runs. The late precincts in the west have not yet closed, so final results have not been tabulated.

While it was the single-most enjoyable offensive performance of the year, with every Rangers starter getting at least two hits, except for Joey Gallo, it was bittersweet seeing this offensive explosion come off former Ranger favorite Derek Holland.

Ever since getting drilled by a comeback line drive, Holland hasn’t been the same pitcher. He is in survival mode rather than attack mode. When he lets go of a ball, he is now instinctively throwing his hands up to protect his head. Please, if you hit the ball, just don’t hit me is not the way to get out major league hitters. And that’s a pity.

At least Holland has an excuse. It was frustrating to see Martin Perez have yet another subpar outing. But at least he got the win, which in the end is all that matters. All it took was the Rangers building a wall of seventeen total runs to ensure that not even Perez could screw it up.

When your offense is Martin-Perez-proof, you know you’ve done something amazing. Seventeen runs, twenty hits, four home runs, thirty six total bases, two stolen bases.

All you can say is, with the Rangers pitching the last three games, thank goodness the Rangers are playing the White Sox.

And, with the best pitching this system has ever been able to develop facing off last night, thank goodness the Rangers are flush with cash. They are going to need it. Lots of it. That’s the only way this franchise will get quality arms.

If you ever wondered what a Rangers versus Rangers game would look like, that was it.

The Rangers won.

*****
TODAY’S GAME:

Miguel Gonzalez (6-10, 4.63) vs. A.J. Griffin (6-3, 5.07)
Game time: 2:05

How the White Sox hit against Griffin.
How the Rangers hit against Gonzalez.