Texas Rangers honor Mothers and continue MLB-best streak

The Texas Rangers were able to rally late and defeat the A's and finished off a 7-3 road trip. The game could have gotten away from them. Jonathan Hernandez gave up a two-run home run in the seventh that tied the game. The offense responded in a big way to take the lead and then put the game out of reach. The Rangers with the win continued a winning streak on Sundays. They are now the only team in the majors with an undefeated record on Sundays. I want to examine why that is special and examine the amount of success they not only had in this game but on Sundays this season.

Andrew Heaney's Performance

Andrew Heaney got the start for Texas. He was looking to improve upon his last three starts that saw him give up three or more runs in each start. Mission accomplished for Heaney. He got rolling in the second inning and then did not run into trouble until the fifth. He was able to maneuver around a bases-loaded no-out jam with a brilliant play made on this comebacker.

He got out of that inning after that having allowed no runs and in the inning and preserving the 3-1 lead. He ended up pitching six innings in this game, struck out nine, walked two, and only gave up the one run.

Unfortunately, Jonathan Hernandez came in and gave up the lead. A single by Ramon Laureano and then a home run to deep left field by Shea Langeliers and the game was tied. Hernandez kept the game tied as play headed to the eighth.

Sunday Funday

That is when the Rangers did what they do on Sundays and that is score runs. The inning started 3-3; by the end, it was 11-3. RBI singles from Jonah Heim, Marcus Semien, and Robbie Grossman pushed the lead the 7-3. Then league leading RBI man Adolis Garcia came up with the bases loaded and did this.

He started the rally with a double and finished it with this grand slam to push the lead to 11-3. The Rangers have now scored more than 10 runs the last three Sundays. They have played seven Sundays so far and are averaging 8.3 runs per game. Their run differential overall this season is +97, and on Sundays it is +47.

This kind of performance on Sundays is not normal. Sunday is often times a get-away day. Players will have the suit cases loaded onto the bus to either leave for a road trip or come home from a road trip. Sometimes the focus is not all there as teams are looking forward to getting home or looking ahead to whatever destination they are headed to next. This Rangers team is not a normal team. The last day of a 10-day, three-city, West coast trip and they lose the lead late. Today's game could have ended much like the extra-inning loss on Friday. They gave up a 10th inning lead in that game and lost on a Brent Rooker three-run home run.

The veterans on this team would not let that happen. The eighth inning rally was led by Garcia, Heim, and Semien. Garcia and Heim are veterans of the 102-loss season in 2021. Semien was here for the 94-loss season in 2022. Bruce Bochy who was not here for either season had this to say to ESPN.com after the game.

"We’ve had some tough games get away from us but today guys were determined to find a way to get it done"

Bruce Bochy

The Rangers with the win improved to a season-high 10-games over .500 at 25-15. They are now a quarter of the way through the season and are on pace for 100 wins. They now have scored ten or more runs 10 times this season which is the most in the majors. They are now four games or more ahead of everyone in the division. They will now be coming home for a six-game homestand that will start tomorrow night against the NL-East division-leading Atlanta Braves. It will finish with a weekend series against the Colorado Rockies.

The more the Rangers continue to win on Sundays the longer they will continue to lead in the division and be able to pick up series wins.

The Texas Rangers and Atlanta Braves square off tomorrow night at 7:05pm. Charlie Morton will start for Atlanta and it is unknown at this time who will be pitching for Texas. Stay tuned for that. The game will be broadcast locally by Bally Sports Southwest.