The beauty of baseball is in its opportunity of redemption. Failure is baked into the game. But so is the chance to redeem your failures.

Jonah Heim learned that the hard way, and the glorious way, in Game 1 of the season last night.

With the game tied at 2-2 in the top of the ninth, Jose Leclerc came in to shut down the Cubs and give the Rangers a chance to win it in the bottom of the ninth. 

He struck out Christopher Morel to lead off the inning. Got Dansby Swanson to ground out to third for the second out. 

Then he walked Michael Busch, then walked Nico Hoerner.

Then the wheels fell off. With one strike on pinch hitter Miles Mastrobuoni, Leclerc threw one low and outside that Mastrobuoni swung at, grazed with his bat but the umpire missed that it was fouled, the ball squirted past Jonah Heim about five feet, he argued with the umpire that it was a foul, not realizing the runner at second was coming all the way around to score the go-ahead run, when Heim finally stopped protesting and embarrassingly flung the ball toward Leclerc at home but it was too late.

It appeared Heim’s boneheadedness had cost the Rangers the opening game of the season. 

But baseball can be as kind as it is cruel.

Travis Jankowsi, pinch hitting for Ezequiel Duran, led off the bottom of the ninth with a home run to bail out Heim.

Then, with the score tied 3-3, two outs, and the bases loaded in the bottom of the tenth, Jonah Heim came up with a chance to make up for his critical error in the top of the ninth. He did just that.

Heim laced a single to center, scoring Josh Jung and giving the Rangers their first and only lead of the night in a wild 4-3 win at The Shed.

It was the kind of game that reminded you why you have no fingernails, and you suffer from heart palpitations.

And there are only 161 more of these left. 

*****

NO GAME TODAY.