Fister a winner in Rangers debut. Will other rotation newcomers follow suit?

When the clock hit 7:08 p.m. Friday and the plate ump pointed to the mound at Globe Life Park, right-hander Doug Fister threw the first of the 3,000 or so pitches he expects to throw this season for the Texas Rangers.

Many fans were expecting to cringe at each one of them, and the same goes for the thousands of pitches left-handers Matt Moore and Mike Minor are planning to throw as well.

With Fister's first delivery (a strike, by the way) the Rangers entered into their biggest area of uncertainty — the three pitchers behind Cole Hamels who are trying to recapture their best days while being counted on to keep the Rangers from sinking to their worst.

And they have to open the season against the best, the world champion Houston Astros.

Fister, though, did his part before handing the game over the Rangers' other major question mark — the bullpen. Together, he and four relievers limited the Astros to five hits in a 5-1 victory at Globe Life Park.

"He had all of his pitches working tonight," manager Jeff Banister said. "He got some double plays when he needed to. He worked around some guys in a couple situations. This is a guy when he's working the strike zone he's going to get some ground balls. I thought it was a solid night for Doug."

Fister allowed one run on four hits in five innings. He walked three but used two double plays to help get him through four scoreless innings against one of his former teams.

The Astros finally broke through for a run in the fifth, and Fister was lifted after 77 pitches with a 3-1 lead on the strength of a Nomar Mazara solo shot in the second and fourth-inning sacrifice flies by Robinson Chirinos and Rougned Odor against Dallas Keuchel.

Chris Martin entered, and the Rangers' defense tried to let the Astros back in the game. Mazara misplayed a Jose Altuve liner into a single, which stood after review, and Rougned Odor's wild throw trying to get Alex Bregman at first two batters later put runners at second and third after a review.

Martin walked Marwin Gonzalez to load the bases but struck out Evan Gattis for the second out. Alex Claudio entered and struck out pinch hitter J.D. Davis to end a wild top of the sixth.

"I caught it 100 percent," Mazara said. "I'm glad we got out of it and got the W. But, yeah, it was a wild inning."

The Rangers added two two-out runs in the seventh, the first coming on a Joey Gallo double off the top of the center-field wall that left the bat at 116 mph. Elvis Andrus scored Gallo with a single past third.

Kevin Jepsen and Keone Kela did the rest, and the Rangers aren't going to go 0-162.

"I know it's early, however this was a group of guys we felt we could string some scoreless innings together with," Banister said. "Tonight, the situation with Fister, the plan was that if we got the lead and he was good through five and he got to that third time around the lineup, we would probably go the bullpen at that point."

Moore gets the start Saturday afternoon. He hasn't allowed himself to become caught up in low external expectations for him and the rotation or in the notion that he has something to prove after arguably the worst season by an MLB starting pitcher last year with San Francisco.

The Rangers acquired him despite his bumpy 2017 ride (6-15, 5.52 ERA), believing that he has the stuff to be a rebound candidate. The Rangers saw it in spring training, though the numbers overall (9.00 ERA in 12 innings, .404 opponents average) didn't reflect it.

They weren't what Moore wanted either, but he likes where he is physically and how his pitches are working. He needs to put it all together after working on building arm strength and sharpening his stuff.

"I'm looking forward to get out there and have my chance," Moore said. "It's not like I'm worried about what negative things will be out there. For me it's been focus on the things I can control and be as positive as I can. That's the stuff we believe in as athletes."

If Moore isn't generating the most concerns for fans, then Minor is if for no other reason than he hasn't started an MLB game since 2014. Minor was a reliever last season with Kansas City, and the Rangers will use an occasional spot starter and extra off days to monitor his workload.

Minor isn't worried, and he impressed the Rangers during spring training with "electric stuff" that arguably is the best in the rotation.

Fister watched all of the starters and entered the season feeling as if they would beat external expectations. Despite their perceived blemishes, they have experience and know how to pitch.

"I think that's a big part of it now and has always been," Fister said. "I would say it kind of gets overlooked, with some of the numbers nowadays, but your teammates knows and that's the biggest thing for me. Your teammates know it and can trust it and some of those intangibles. Whether it's grit, whether it's drive, your teammates know you're going to go out and give them everything."

On Friday night, he was right.

Rangers 5, Astros 1

Inherited runners-scored—Claudio 3-0. WP—

This story was originally published March 30, 2018 at 11:11 PM with the headline "Fister a winner in Rangers debut. Will other rotation newcomers follow suit?."