[XxVols98xX]

Series Overview – Rangers sweep, offense goes missing

Record: You drop from 17–33 to 17–36 after an 0–3 set.

Runs: Texas 14, Chicago 3. You never scored more than two runs and were shut out in the finale.

Hits: Texas 21, Chicago 11. Only one game with more than 3 hits (Game 3’s six-hit effort).

Theme: Starting pitching was uneven but mostly serviceable; the offense completely stalled and stranded traffic when it did appear.

Game 1 – Rocker shoves, late homers not enough

Texas 5, White Sox 2

Shane Smith: 5.1 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 5 BB, 6 K. The big blow was the Semien triple in the 4th that cleared two and basically decided it.

Bullpen: Tyler Gilbert (3.1 scoreless) and Grant Taylor (one scoreless) were good, keeping it from getting ugly.

Offense:

Hitless through six before Josh Rojas finally put you on the board with a solo shot in the 7th.

Chase Meidroth added a solo HR in the 9th off Chris Martin.

Only three total hits: Meidroth HR, Rojas HR, and an early Meidroth single.

Story: You gave Rocker a low-stress night: he faced just one real jam and your only damage was two solo homers long after Texas had a 5–0 cushion.

Game 2 – Dunning controls, Vasil ambushed early

Texas 5, White Sox 1

Mike Vasil: 4.2 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 7 K. Texas did all its scoring in the 2nd–3rd:

Adolis García solo HR.

Back-to-back doubles from Taveras and Jung plus more damage in the 3rd.

Grant Taylor & Justin Anderson: 3.1 combined scoreless to stop the bleeding.

Bats:

You didn’t record a hit until Luis Robert Jr. singled in the 4th.

Only two hits total: Robert single and an Eguy Rosario double in the 6th that set up your lone run (Meidroth RBI groundout).

Dunning: 5.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 7 K – he completely dictated the pace.

Story: A classic “game is over by the third” feel. The Rangers sat on their 5–0 lead and you never seriously threatened.

Game 3 – Mahle outduels Marquez in another quiet loss

Texas 4, White Sox 0

German Marquez: Threw well enough to win: 6.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K. Texas nicked him for two in the 1st, then he mostly locked in.

Brandon Eisert: Rough outing again – 1.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER – let the game drift from 2–0 to 4–0. Scholtens handled the 9th cleanly.

Missed chances:

You finally put together some offense (6 hits, 6 walks total), but went 0-for-10 with RISP and stranded 10.

Biggest shot was the 6th: bases loaded, two outs, but Bryan Ramos grounded out.

At the plate:

Chase Meidroth and Josh Rojas each had multi-hit days.

Nick Maton reached twice (single, walk).

But no extra-base hits; everything was station-to-station.

Story: Best overall pitching performance of the series wasted by an offense that couldn’t cash in repeated late opportunities.

Player Notes

Trending up (as much as anyone can in a sweep):

Chase Meidroth: 3-for-10, HR, 3 BB, good AB quality all series. He’s starting to look like a legit on-base/OBP piece.

Josh Rojas: 3-for-11 with a homer and a couple of hard liners; still giving you some occasional spark from the left side.

Grant Taylor: 3.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 4 K across the series (plus big work vs Seattle previously). He’s quietly becoming your most reliable bridge reliever.

Struggling:

Luis Robert Jr.: 2-for-11 with 7 K in the set, and several high-leverage strikeouts (4th inning G2, 8th inning G3).

Eguy Rosario: 0-for-10 but with a couple walks; right now he’s not punishing pitchers for challenging him.

Starters Smith & Vasil: Combined 10.0 IP, 10 ER – put you behind the eight ball early in both losses.

Roster Move

May 23: Justin Dunn optioned to AAA Charlotte.

Opens up a revolving-door middle relief spot; combined with Taylor’s emergence and Eisert’s inconsistency, you’ve got some decisions to make about who’s actually trusted in leverage.

Big Picture

The rotation has stabilized a bit with Marquez and Taylor (as RP) pitching well, but the offense is in a brutal funk: too many strikeouts in the heart of the order and almost no damage hits with men on.