SEATTLE – Maybe the best thing that happened to Jon Gray Monday was this: On the other side, Seattle’s Logan Gilbert dabbled with a perfect game.

It kept Gray out of his own head. And in a groove.

“I needed a spot where I could just compete,” Gray said after going seven innings in the Rangers’ 2-1 come-from-behind win. “It felt like it was just me against them tonight. And that was a good feeling.”

Gray has battled himself – his words - for much of this season. He’s spent as much time thinking about what he should be doing on the mound instead of simply attacking hitters. It’s led to bouts lacking in patience.

Over his previous three starts, Gray had allowed 10 runs in 16.2 innings on 18 hits and eight walks. After his most recent start in an eventual 6-4 loss to Arizona, he said he was trying to be patient with himself but was running out.

On Monday, after allowing a first-inning homer to Ty France, Gray he seemed to rediscover the slider that made him so effective last year. He threw it a seasonhigh 36 times on the way to 20 swings and misses. It’s the most swings and misses he’s had as a Ranger. Only Jacob deGrom has had more in a game for the Rangers over the last two seasons.

“When it’s working as well as it did tonight,” Gray said of the slider, “I want to use it as much as I can.”

The slider was also effective when guys didn’t miss it. Consider the fifth in which Gray worked into a basesloaded, one-out jam. Next pitch: A slider in to Julio Rodriguez, who grounded it to third and an inning-ending double play started by Josh Jung.

“That’s the Jon Gray we know,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “He had a good fastball and a great slider. He didn’t get flustered by the homer and just looked in synch out there. You could see the confidence grow with each inning.”

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