The Texas Rangers scored a girthy ten runs while the Colorado Rockies scored no runs at all.
This one’ll do wonders for the ol’ Pythagorean W-L.
Maybe last night’s loss was the kick in the butt moment the Rangers needed as they came out tonight and immediately scored a couple of runs before turning to a opener to help ease Kumar Rocker into one of his best outings as a big leaguer.
The first inning has been among the biggest trouble areas for Texas this season as they have given up a lion’s share of
their runs allowed in the first frame while not scoring much of their own in the game’s first inning. That has put the Rangers in a hole in an exorbitant number of contests, which has only hindered a lineup that has clearly been pressing.
Tonight however, it felt like an upset that Texas scored only two runs in the first inning as Ezequiel Duran doubled in a pair before the Rangers left ‘em loaded.
Meanwhile, in the bottom of the first, on Rocker’s usual day, manager Skip Schumaker decided to go with reliever Tyler Alexander for an inning with Rocker being among the biggest first inning-issues offender this season.
The plan worked swimmingly as not only did Alexander enter with a lead and pitch a scoreless frame, by the time Rocker took the mound to start the second inning, the Rangers had scored three more runs to give Rocker a 5-0 lead to work with.
Big lead Rocker was a hit to put it mildly. The righty ended up going all but the final out with 7.2 shutout innings while allowing just three hits and three of walks with seven strikeouts.
Meanwhile, the Rockies also went for an opener and it, uh, didn’t work out as well for them. Left-handed opener Sammy Peralta didn’t even make it out of his opening inning and once he left, Schumaker inserted left-handed hitting Joc Pederson in for leadoff man Andrew McCutchen and Pederson ended up with four hits in five at-bats.
Texas scored runs in six of the nine innings and every member of the lineup contributed at least a hit, walk, or run scored.
The Rangers reached double digits in runs scored for the first time this season as the season-high ten runs allowed them to tie up this series ahead of tomorrow’s finale.
Player of the Game: The lineup had a lot to like tonight. Aside from Pederson, Brandon Nimmo had three hits including the game’s lone home run. Duran had three hits and drove in a team-high four runs. Justin Foscue doubled in a run and walked. Jake Burger had a couple of hits, walked, and drove in a run.
But then again, it’s hard to ignore what Rocker accomplished. 7.2 innings of shutout relief on 103 bullpen-saving pitches. It goes down as a win but it was the ultimate save!
Up Next: The Rangers close out this series against the Rockies with a day game finale with RHP Jack Leiter expected to pitch for Texas opposite LHP Kyle Freeland for Colorado.
The Wednesday afternoon first pitch from Coors Field is scheduled for 2:10 pm CDT and will be viewable via the Rangers Sports Network.
