The Texas Rangers fell to the Arizona Diamondbacks 1-0 on Monday night in a game that felt closer than the scoreboard suggested. Surprisingly, this marked only the second time this season the Rangers have been shut out—though they've been held to just one run seven times, so it certainly feels like more.

Optimism wasn't exactly overflowing once Nathan Eovaldi was scratched from his scheduled start. But the Rangers' bullpen game actually turned out to be a bright spot, as the relievers held the D-Backs to just one run on six hits and two walks. A tip of the cap goes to Jakob Junis, Jalen Beeks, Peyton Gray, Cole Winn, and Tyler Alexander for their fine work.

The game's only run came on back-to-back one-out doubles in the first inning from Corbin Carroll and Geraldo Perdomo off Junis, who gave the Rangers 2.2 innings as the starter. That first-inning vulnerability continues to haunt Texas—they've now allowed 30 runs in the first inning this season, compared to 123 runs in all other innings combined.

Here's an interesting stat: the Rangers have allowed no unearned runs in the first three innings of games this season. They've allowed three unearned runs in innings 4-6 and six unearned runs in innings 7-9. Maybe the fielders are just getting tired as the game goes on.

On the other side, Mike Soroka shut the Rangers down for 6.1 innings. He's a fascinating story—he posted a 6.0 bWAR season for Atlanta as a 21-year-old in 2019, finishing second in Rookie of the Year voting behind Pete Alonso and sixth in Cy Young voting. That year, Jacob deGrom took first, and Max Scherzer finished third. It's still weird to think, "Oh yeah, Max Scherzer is a former Ranger." And not just any former Ranger—he won a ring for the team.

For Rangers fans, this one stings, but the pitching staff showed resilience. If they can keep games this tight, the bats will eventually wake up.