Chris Martin’s homecoming lone bright spot in Rangers’ opening day loss

Chris Martin doesn’t see any reason to change his walk-up music.

Eric Church’s “Give Me Back My Hometown” suited the hometown guy just fine in his Texas Rangers’ debut Thursday. He worked a perfect seventh inning and served as one of the few bright spots in the Rangers’ 4-1 loss to the Houston Astros.

“So far, so good,” Martin said of his music selection. “I think we’ll keep it.”

He won’t get an argument from manager Jeff Banister.

“Love the song,” Banister said.

Banister also loved the way Martin pitched in his homecoming return. Martin needed just 12 pitches to get through the seventh, striking out the two batters who took starter Cole Hamels deep (Jake Marisnick and George Springer).

“I know when he came off, as only Chris can do, I could tell with a big smile that he was happy to get that one under his belt,” Banister said. “He can move on and get to work.”

Martin didn’t argue the importance of getting it out of the way. This is a guy who grew up down the street and had a standout high school career at Arlington High. The Detroit Tigers drafted him in the 18th round of the 2004 MLB Draft, but Martin opted for junior college ball.

From there, Martin has taken a long, winding path to the big leagues.

He’s battled injuries; he’s worked at places such as Lowe’s, UPS and Texas Appliance; he revived his career in the independent leagues with the Grand Prairie Air Hogs; he reached the big leagues with Colorado (2014) and the New York Yankees (2015); and he’s pitched overseas in Japan (2016 and 2017).

Now, Martin is pitching for the team he grew up rooting for. Thursday marked the start of his next chapter.

“It’s really good to get in the first game and get your feet wet and get back into it,” Martin said. “Obviously the jitters, get them out, they’re always going to be there no matter what game you’re in.

“Then there’s that ‘you don’t know what’s going to happen’ scenario of coming back from Japan. But I had all spring training to kind of feel it out and know what I can and can’t do anymore.”

What Martin can do is get quick outs and pitch efficiently. He had his slider working well and stuck with it.

“He was outstanding,” catcher Robinson Chirinos said. “He was throwing the ball where he wanted to throw it. Everything was really good. The way he pitched that inning, it was fun to catch.”

And fun to watch on a day the Rangers’ offense managed to score just a single run on a wild pitch, and Hamels surrendered early home runs to put them in an early hole.

Martin impressed his family and friends in attendance, as well as his teammates.

“I was really impressed,” shortstop Elvis Andrus said. “He impressed me since the first time that I saw him in spring training. I know he has the stuff to be really good in this league, so hopefully it stays that way.”

Just like his walk-up song.

This story was originally published March 29, 2018 at 7:15 PM with the headline "Chris Martin’s homecoming lone bright spot in Rangers’ opening day loss."