DETROIT — So what's going on with the Texas Rangers offense?
The fact that the Rangers scored two or fewer points for the fourth time in the last nine games may be a small problem. At least for now, that's a question for another day.
“We haven't been very good offensively,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said Monday night. “We needed pitching to step up and they did that.”
Starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen pitched five shutout innings in his debut with the Rangers, handed the ball to a finicky Texans bullpen and pitched four scoreless frames in a 1-0 win over the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. was recorded.
Here are four thoughts from the Rangers' win
Is the 9th inning Kirby Yates time?: If you judge based on track record and track record, sure. Yates, the San Diego Padres' 2019 All-Star closer, pitched six scoreless innings for the Rangers. He has allowed only one hit during that time.
And in Monday's win, he pitched a perfect ninth inning to earn his first save at Texas. Jose Leclerc worked nine innings the first two weeks of the season, but he was demoted to a lower leverage job after allowing more than one earned run in four of his first five games. .
Yates, 37, signed with the Rangers in December after a standout 2019 season and battling injuries.He said he didn't feel anything last week. as As good as he was in 2019, he feels like he's as good as he was in 2018, when he pitched 63 innings with San Diego and posted a 2.13 ERA.
“We're going to leave it open,” Bochy said of the closer's role. “But I think this [Yates] is throwing the ball right now and I like the position of the ball. ”
Speaking of Leclerc, He pitched two high-leverage scoreless innings in Monday's win. Leclerc relieved Lorenzen in the sixth inning, avoiding a one-out single to record a scoreless game, and in the seventh he made it 1-2-3.
He also pitched a low-leverage, scoreless inning in Friday's 12-8 win over the Houston Astros.
“That last relief job against Houston was a really, really great job by him,” Bochy said. “I thought he had great stuff. So it was good for him to be able to use a few innings. We've used this bullpen a lot. He was fresh and ready to go, so we gave him I needed to give him a few innings.”
They got defensive: Shortstop Josh Smith started in place of All-Star Corey Seager and made several key defensive plays. He helped relieve Lorenzen with a 6-4-3 double play in the fourth and fifth innings, and a 98.8 mph Kelly Carpenter line drive with runners on first and second base in the eighth inning.
“He's very good defensively,” Bochy said. “He's done a great job in third, you call him shortstop, but he's doing a great job. You can put him anywhere, including in the outfield.”
Center fielder Leody Taveras also recorded his first web gem of the season. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Detroit third baseman Gio Urshela hit a sharp drive to center field, and Taveras followed it and dove to catch it, earning the first out of the inning.
Do you know what the Midwest is?: It's been a thorny issue for the Rangers, at least lately. Some refer to the Ohio city as the “City with No Name” because of its series loss to the Cincinnati Reds last April. The Cleveland Guardians' three-game winning streak last September had some wondering who the Rangers were. Monday's win got them off to a good start on the road against a Central District opponent.
For Jonah Heim vs. Umpire: Heim was called for catcher interference in the eighth inning when Spencer Torkelson swung and whiffed on a pitch by David Robertson. However, Torkelson's bat collided with Heim's glove, who had already caught Robertson's blow. There may be more in the book, but this is the latest in an argument that doesn't favor the Rangers' All-Starbucks top. Most notably, on opening day against the Chicago Cubs, after reviewing replays, a ball that appeared to have been fouled was determined to be a passed ball.
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