Thoughts on a 6-2 Rangers win

Ladies and gentlemen, the Texas Rangers are in sole possession of first place in the American League West, a full game up on the Houston Astros .

And the Rangers won this game in spite of starter Cal Quantrill leaving with lat tightness after retiring just four batters.

Quantrill, I will note, clearly wasn't right from the outset, with his velocity down a couple of ticks in the first inning. He threw just one pitch in the second, a fastball that was just 87.8 mph — a full six mph off his 93.8 mph season average — and that was enough for Skip Schumaker to go get him.