Rangers get spark from DeShields in win over Twins

No Texas Rangers player had a better spring than Delino DeShields, who seemed to play every day and get on base multiple times a game.

He’d steal bases and score runs with regularity, too, and a question mark entering camp became a roster lock by the team the team left Arizona.

DeShields was among those who thought he would play a significant role early on, a starting role in which he could use the skills that made him the catalyst of the 2015 club’s offense.

Instead, he has primarily been filling a bench role that allows manager Jeff Banister to deploy DeShields’ speed in tight spots late in games, not unlike how his 2015 season unfolded.

The Rangers were having trouble scoring two years ago, just as they are now, when he got his chance. DeShields got a chance to start Wednesday and, voila, the Rangers’ offense cranked up.

DeShields reached in his first five plate appearances, stole two bases, scored three runs and drove in one, and Rougned Odor and Elvis Andrus delivered two-run singles in support of Cole Hamels as the Rangers staved off a three-game sweep with a 14-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins.

Ryan Rua connected for his first career grand slam in the eighth and Shin-Soo Choo added a three-run homer to put the game well out of reach, but DeShields had done much of the heavy lifting. He doesn’t know when his next chance to start will come, but he believes his time is coming.

“I’m just trusting my work and what I do every day,” DeShields said. “That’s the main thing. That’s what I did in spring training, and just telling myself that I’m a dynamic player and believing that to when I get in a game, it’s just Lino out there playing and not me trying to do anything more.”

DeShields went walk, single, walk, walk in his first four plate appearances, and the Rangers parlayed the free passes in the fifth and sixth into runs as they erased a 2-0 deficit.

He delivered an RBI single in the eighth after Choo opened with a triple.

The only complaint that could be lodged against DeShields came in the first inning, when he made the first out trying to steal third base after a leadoff walk and a steal of second. Andrus followed with a single that would have easily scored DeShields from second.

He and Carlos Gomez scored on Odor’s two-out single in the fifth, the Rangers’ first hit with runners in scoring position since Monday, and DeShields’ speed allowed him to score the second run on Andrus’ sixth-inning single.

For an offense that had scored two runs or fewer in six of their previous eight games and for a manager who has manipulated the lineup the past few games to find a combination that might click, DeShields’ effort can’t be ignored.

DeShields now has 19 at-bats and 24 plate appearances in 10 games/six starts this season, yet his four steals rank fourth on the club. While his throwing arm isn’t the strongest around, he has developed a quicker release on his throws and his speed allows him to get to balls sooner.

While frustrated with the way his playing time has unfolded, playing second fiddle to Jurickson Profar and Rua in left field, he has maintained a professional approach that is keeping him from rotting away on the bench.

“I definitely thought the situation was going to be different,” said DeShields, who won Thursday’s game with a walk-off single in the 13th inning. “The mindset was to come into spring training and not win a spot on the roster but win an everyday job.

“Granted, Profar had a good spring and Rua had a good spring. We made it tough on these guys, and they had to make a decision. I know it’s hard to get us all equal playing time. I just keep telling myself the opportunity is going to come at some point.”

Hamels (2-0) was the beneficiary of the Rangers scoring more than two runs for only the third time in their past nine games. Eduardo Escobar got him for a two-run homer in the second, after which Hamels allowed only one runner to reach second base over the next four innings.

He exited in the seventh with runners at first and second, and Brian Dozier singled in another run off Tony Barnette. Despite walking three and striking out only one, Hamels posted a quality start for the fourth time in five starts this season.

This story was originally published April 26, 2017 at 10:52 PM with the headline "Rangers get spark from DeShields in win over Twins."