It’s amazing what happens when hitters are patient, when they don’t swing wildly, and make the other pitcher work.

Sunday, they wore out Dodgers starter ‘rookie Sasaki early, drawing ten walks total. Last night, they worked only two walks off Athletics starter Luis Severino. But two of those came in the first, ahead of Jake Burger’s three-run homer to kick start the offense and lead to an 8-1 win in Sacramento. 

The Rangers offense the last few years was characterized by undisciplined plate appearances. Adolis Garcia was the poster boy for swing at everything. That mostly leads to failure.

They worked on correcting that in spring. It’s starting to pay off. Jake Burger snapped out of his slump with two home runs. Josh Smith, who desperately needed a hit, got a huge bases loaded, two-RBI single. Josh Jung, who is slowly coming out of his early slump, doubled in a run. And Corey Seager, mired in a slump himself, doubled and scored. The only player who didn’t contribute was the only player who has consistently delivered this season in Brandon Nimmo.

It helped that Nathan Eovaldi had his best start of the season, as well, shutting out the Athletics for seven innings. 

The good news is, the Rangers have six more road games before returning home to Death Valley. Let’s hope they stay patient. 

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