Thoughts on a 1-0 Rangers loss

Nationals 1, Rangers 0

• On the plus side, the game went by quickly.
• To be fair, also on the plus side was the fact that the Rangers pitchers did a good job of keeping the Nationals off the board. Washington generated only a second inning run off of Heaney in the game. One would think that would be enough for a W.
• Heaney’s outing was kind of strange. He needed just 74 pitches to go seven innings, which is extremely out of character for him, given how often he seems to need that many pitches to go just three and two thirds innings. But it is also his second straight start where he has been unusually efficient, as his last time out, he needed just 79 pitches to get through six innings against Seattle.
• Heaney only struck out four Nationals in his seven innings of work. He also generated just six swings and misses in his 74 pitches, so he wasn’t missing bats.
• So whether we continue to get this new, more efficient version of Andrew Heaney is something to keep an eye on.
• Jose Leclerc and Jacob Latz each pitched a scoreless inning, so a gold star for each of them.
• As for the offense…well, the Rangers loaded the bases with no one out in two different innings, and failed to score. Adding to the sense of deja vu was that both times, the first out came when a rookie hit a tapper in front of the plate, and the second out came via strike out.
• Texas had six hits and six walks, though none of the extra base variety, which is a problem. Corey Seager crushed a 3-0 pitch with one on and one out in the seventh that I thought was going to do damage, but it was too straight away and went for an out.
• The whole experience was frustrating.
• Andrew Heaney topped out at 93.9 mph with his fastball, averaging 91.7 mph. Jose Leclerc hit 96.0 mph with his fastball. Jacob Latz maxed out at 94.9 mph.
• Wyatt Langford had a 107.5 mph single and a 104.4 mph ground out. Corey Seager had a 103.5 mph fly out. Marcus Semien had a 100.7 mph single.
• Lets forget about this one and move on.