There’s a reason the Rangers plunked down all those millions of dollars on pitching. (And a reason the Rangers haven’t had a winning season in so long.)

Pitching wins games. 

The Rangers ran into some great Baltimore pitching last night, sneaking in one lousy single in an entire nine innings of trying. 

Josh Jung’s one-out single in the bottom of the second was all the offense the Rangers could conjure up. That was followed by a walk. But from that point on, Texas went quietly into the night.

Jon Gray had a strong start, pitching into the seventh inning. He gave up four hits. That’s all the Orioles got. Two of those, unfortunately, left the playing field and the Rangers took their first loss of the season, being shutout 2-0.

After exploding for twenty-seven runs the first two games, the offense has come back to Earth. Baseball is the great leveler.

It was a game that took just two hours and eighteen minutes to play. Yes, part of that was the pitch clock. But when two teams combine for five total hits, there’s not a lot to stop and look at anyway. Walking back to the bench doesn’t take that long.

The worst part of the game wasn’t the loss—those will happen—it was the 89 miles-per-hour pitch Josh Smith took to the face. The good news is, he got up on his own power and walked off the field. 

That errant throw aside, Baltimore’s pitching was stifling. Pitching wins games. 

It always has. But a team has to score at least one run for that to happen. 

*****