The season is young. The Texas Rangers had played just eight games going into Saturday’s contest with the Tampa Bay Rays. But there is already one clear trend emerging — the pitching is pretty good. The Rangers (6-2) have a rotation that has kept them in every ball game this season and a bullpen that has proven to be as good as president of baseball operations Chris Young hoped they would be after spending the whole offseason retooling the unit.

Tonight’s game is part of “Friday Night Baseball” which is a weekly doubleheader hosted exclusively on Apple TV+ with broadcasts being free from local restrictions. The other game Friday night will be between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies.

Justin Steele tossed three-hit ball over seven innings, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Texas Rangers 7-0 on a frigid night.

As the guest performer braved the cold conditions at Wrigley Field to deliver the national anthem on Monday night, Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong stood by, only his eyes showing from beneath his winter mask.

In the meantime, the Rays fought an uphill battle facing Jacob deGrom with a 4-0 deficit. Tampa Bay slipped on their boots and got to work, as Brandon Lowe hit a solo shot to supplant him at third on the Rays’ all-time home run list.