Kiner-Falefa flashes promise in leadoff spot

ARLINGTON -- In front of a sellout crowd of 38,238 fans at Globe Life Field, for the first time since its opening in 2020, the Rangers were not able to secure a victory, falling 6-2 to the Blue Jays on Monday. Manager Chris Woodward said they didn’t give the sell-out crowd enough to cheer about, as the offense struggled to get going early in the game.

Texas had only one extra-base hit -- an RBI double from Brock Holt in the bottom of the ninth -- and 14 total strikeouts.

The Rangers offense especially struggled against Blue Jays starter Steven Matz, who struck out nine through 6 1/3 innings of work. He threw three perfect innings and retired the Rangers entire lineup the first time through the order, including four strikeouts.

Shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s single in the fourth inning broke up Matz’s perfect game, and an RBI single from Nate Lowe was the only scoring opportunity for Texas until the ninth inning.

Kiner-Falefa was the only Ranger to finish with multiple hits on Monday. Woodward said that the quality of his at-bats is the reason that he’s batting in the leadoff spot this season.

“He swears he's just going to hit line drives all over the field, and that's what he did today,” Woodward said. “He's always thinking line drives back to the middle. If they happen to throw inside to him, he can do some damage to the pull side too. I can trust that he's got tremendous bat-to-ball [skills], and he swings at good pitches.”

Kiner-Falefa said that while he did stay through his process the entire game, he was upset with his first at-bat, which resulted in a 5-3 putout. He believes that if he had walked to start the game, the entire outcome would have been different.

Unlike the Rangers’ season-opening series against Kansas City, they also struggled to get runners in scoring position. Only three times were runners in scoring position against Toronto on Monday, and only twice did those end in run production for Texas.

“I have to give credit to Matz,” Woodward said. “He pitched pretty well. He makes his pitches up pretty well, and that changeup was giving everybody fits, but we have to find a way to put a little pressure on them there. But at the end of the day, he kept executing.”

Woodward said the Rangers’ lefty-heavy middle of the lineup -- David Dahl, Joey Gallo and Nate Lowe -- struggled with Matz’s changeup. That group has hit well against other left-handed pitchers this season, but nobody with changeup movement like Matz has been on the mound.

“He just used [the changeup] effectively,” Woodward said. “I don't think he used it a ton, but he just used it effectively. ... Once he started using that he got some swings and misses. That's obviously what a quality change with good arm speed does. It's the hardest pitch to see as a hitter.”

Woodward isn’t worried about the long-term struggles of the left-handed hitters in the lineup, and he’s hoping they’ll get more comfortable at the plate the more they see those pitches throughout the season.

Kiner-Falefa noticed how different it feels in the batter’s box when the Globe Life Field roof is open. Through 30 games last season, the retractable roof was open only six times before Monday.

“I think everybody had the old stadium down with the way [the sun] came in and the wind blowing out,” Kiner-Falefa said. “I think it's just another adjustment that you have to make just playing somewhere you're not really familiar.