KANSAS CITY, Mo. — With Thursday was the start of a new season it was also the Ranger’s 50th season in Texas. “Weird things happen on opening day”, Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. And in this case, his words manifested. The Rangers faced off against the Kansas City Royals in what might’ve been the longest 9 innings in all of baseball, lasting four hours and twenty-six minutes. There were plenty of highs and even more lows, Rangers got out to a five-run lead during the first inning, and moments later the lead vanished.
During the bottom of the third, the Rangers gained an 8-5 lead to put them back on top but little did we know there would only be two more points gained by the Rangers. One in the sixth inning and one in the ninth. Woodward believed that one of the faults for Royal’s comeback was the pitching. “On the pitching side, it was a little weird. Three pitches in, they’ve got two kinds of weak ground balls and then three walks in a row. That’s something that’s been preached heavily for us not to do. It led to them getting back in the game”. Gibson just couldn’t find the strike zone, and he knew it. “I didn’t have command of really anything, I was not doing a good job of … you name it.”
The pitching for the Rangers was absurd, one out of seven pitchers got more than four outs, and Gibson made history with being one of five starters on opening day who got one or no outs. What should be highlighted though is the offense, the Rangers got out to a fantastic start and kept fighting although they fell short, some of the off-season moves helped. Gold Glove-winning third baseman Isaiah Kiner-Falefa led the team with three runs with only being at bat five times.
After the 14-10 loss to the Royals, the Rangers see what they can improve on, and what they have improved on, but we must remember a smooth sea never made a skillful sailor. They now have something to build on.
