Thoughts on a 5-3 Rangers Game 1 ALDS win

Rangers 5, Rays 3

My preference, if Yovani Gallardo was going to be in the Rangers' playoff rotation (and I wasn't convinced he should be), was to use him in Game 1 of the ALDS. The Rangers would have a fully rested bullpen with three days off (four days, it turned out, because of Cole Hamels going 9 on Sunday), and with Hamels going in Game 2 on Friday, you probably aren't anticipating needing the pen much in that game. So you can go with Gallardo for 4 or 5 innings, then ride your key guys in the pen the rest of the way.

That's what Jeff Banister opted to do, and it pretty much worked to perfection. Gallardo had a very second-half-of-2015 start -- 5 IP, just 1 walk and 1 K, 79 pitches, 45…