Okay, raise your hand if, in the seventh inning of yesterday’s game against the Royals, you figured it was another shutout and the Rangers were going to scurry off with their tails between their legs.

A hand is raised here, for sure.

But something wonderful happened on the way to another disappointing loss. The offense woke up just in time to wrestle victory from the jaws of disappointment.

The first inning started just like imagined. The Rangers loaded the bases but didn’t score. The next three innings went just as expected. The Rangers went down one-two-three. This, against a guy with a career 5-plus ERA making his first start of the season. 

In the eighth, Leody Taveras led off with a double. He scored not with hits, but with outs. The Ranger way. A ground ball got him to third. A sac fly brought him home. 

It was 2-1 going into the ninth. One out into it, Jonah Heim sent a pitch over the right field wall, and it was tied. 

The Rangers scored a run in the top of the tenth to take their first lead of the game, which held up.

Are the Rangers finally getting it going? They’ve now won three series in a row. 

The credit doesn’t go to the offense but to an unlikely source for fans who know the history of the Texas Rangers. The last three series, the Rangers starting pitching has been brilliant.

Take away one start from Lorenzen where the Reds got to him for five runs, and one start from Dunning where he was inexplicitly removed in the middle of the fifth with a five-run lead, and this rotation has had nothing but quality starts from their rotation. Of course, they have since lost Eovaldi from that rotation. 

But it’s pitching has been great. If the Rangers can ever get their bats going, this team can really take off. As it is now, it’s baby steps.

*****

TODAY’S GAME: