In a normal world, this would be all about Cal Quantrill. It would be about the former non-roster guy, working for his fifth team in the last four years, firing off seven shutout innings after a road trip that went beyond dreadful.
In case you haven’t noticed during this wild ride around .500, the Rangers do not operate in a normal world.
It’s impossible to overlook Quantrill’s work in a 5-0 win over the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night, his longest scoreless outing in more than two years, or his contributions to an injury-ravaged rotation over the last month. And, despite all that, it might not have been the most important development of the night.
Really want to lose your breath? When’s the last time you recall seeing Corey Seager slide head-first into second?
Thought so.
“Fired me up,” Jake Burger said after Seager’s hustle double in the middle of the Rangers’ biggest rally of the night. It was the theme for the night. And maybe for the final stretch of games.
The Rangers, desperate for offense, finally started running the bases with some purpose on Tuesday, doing things as simple as going from first to third on singles and pressing for extra bases. It helped them take an early lead and it helped them build it.
When they do that, they are unbeatable. Or as close as you can get. It has been this way all season. Score first. Get to at least four runs. And rack up a win. They are now 41-3 when they score first and score at least four runs.
The Rangers have been perhaps baseball’s least aggressive base running team this season. They entered the week 26th in steals, 25th when it comes to advancing on things like fly balls and wild pitches and dead last in the percentage of time they’ve advanced an extra base on hits. Their hitting hasn’t been good enough to justify such laxity. The Rangers twice went from first to third on singles in the first four innings of Game 126. They’d done it a total of 51 times in the first 125.
“Just getting that guy on third base with less than two outs – it's really big,” Seager said. “That’s something that we've talked about in the past, and we haven't been great at it. And to have that show up in a game and pay off for you it’s huge.”
The first such occasion on Tuesday led to a first-inning run, with leadoff man Wyatt Langford going from first to third on Seager’s single. It allowed the Rangers to still squeeze a run out of the inning despite Jake Burger following with a double-play grounder. The Rangers have wrecked many first-inning opportunities this season grounding into double plays (13), tied for the fourth-most in baseball.
With the lead in hand, the Rangers built on it. After Justin Foscue homered in the second, the Rangers put together a three-run third to achieve their scoring nirvana thanks to more aggressive running, again involving Langford and Seager. Both have spent significant time on the IL this year with debilitating injuries. Langford missed time with a hamstring issue after a hustle double. Seager’s back, which has sent him to the IL twice, requires constant management, including a day off on Sunday.
It’s part of why the Rangers haven’t been as effective at pushing things, but time is running short on the season and it became clear a message has been delivered. Better run now or you’ll get plenty of time to rest come October.
Langford led off the third with a single, Seager followed with his hustle double to right-center and the inning blossomed from there. Langford scored thanks to a good jump on Brandon Nimmo’s chopped grounder to the right side. With Seager already at second, there was no chance for a double play. The Rangers scored twice more on a bases-loaded walk and a Cody Freeman infield single.
“Corey is doing everything he can to stay on the field and provide everything he can every day he plays,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “You see him diving into second base today. You see what he provides on the offensive side. I mean it's a difference maker when he's in the lineup. And going first to third with him and Wyatt today was why we scored a lot of runs.
“We have to advance on bases. I think there's been times where - I don't want to say we’ve been too cautious - but I think we can take more chances. There are times you don’t want to push it; guys are managing injuries. But now, at this time of the season, like we got to go and figure out how to score more runs. I think they did a really good job at advancing, and it's a really important part of our identity that we have to take advantage of.”
They did it Tuesday. And it was such a momentous event, it made one of the best starts of the season a second act.
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Sign up for the Morning Roundup, a free newsletter delivering the latest North Texas news each morning.This article originally published at Rangers kick into high gear in a key area that could reignite their dormant season.