Pitching duels make for dramatic baseball. You’re on pins and needles with every pitch. You’re one leaky fastball away from disaster. One stealthy fastball away from euphoria.

That’s heart stopping, nail-biting baseball.

That’s drama.

But sometimes, don’t you just need a good comedy? 

Because baseball is at its most fun when the offense shows up. 

The old pitching-duel-as-great baseball model has, in reality, been replaced by pitching duel because neither team knows how to hit a baseball model. Those games are no longer scoreless master classes in pitching. They are embarrassing examples of ineptitude.

Give me non-stop offense anytime. Give me the big inning. 

For two nights in a row against the Los Angeles Angels of Mike Trout, the Rangers have exploded for the Big Inning. 

It was a six-run first in Game 1. Last night, it was a seven-run eighth.

The game had been tight up to that point. It was more like being at Six Flags with all the roller coaster riding going on. 

Texas got up by one. Los Angeles went up by two. Texas tied it. LA took back the lead.

Then the eighth inning came. And it just kept coming. Double, Corey Seager. Single, Adolis Garcia. Four to four. Jonah Heim walk. Kole Calhoun walk. Bases loaded. Single, Nathanial Lowe. Now it’s five to four, bases still loaded. Single, Sam Huff. Seven to four. Brad Miller grounds out for the first out. Still, two on. Eli White hits a sharp single to left. So sharp, it somehow cut a patch under the Angels left fielder’s glove and rolled all the way to the wall. While that poor sap had to retrieve it, White ran all the way around the bases and slid in easily for an inside-the-park single-and-three-base error. Ten to four. 

There were runs. There were hits. There were errors. There was joy.

Baseball is more fun when the offense shows up.

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