Here’s how Rangers missed out on Pudge’s son last off-season

Temperature at first pitch Friday night was 60 degrees, and Texas Rangers third-base coach Steve Buechele reminded those listening of Mark Twain’s famous quote: “The coldest winter I’ve ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.”

Buechele has some local knowledge. He went to college at Stanford, about 45 minutes down the 101. Palo Alto, though, is further inland and protected from the effects of the Pacific Ocean by the Santa Cruz Mountains, and temperatures are far warmer.

AT&T Park, while chilly, is fantastic. They forgot about the bullpens, but it’s still fantastic. The view from the press box is the best in baseball.

A warning, though, for those who visit as paying customers: The cheapest beer I could find was $12.50, and they wanted cash.

Drew Hutchison probably would have forked some over in the first inning Friday night. He probably was willing to by a round after the 10th.

Here’s some Rangers Reaction from a 7-6 come-from-behind victory in 10 innings against the San Francisco Giants.

1. The Rangers had a chance to sign Dereck Rodriguez in the off-season.

The right-hander was a minor-league free agent, and they had an in. Ivan Rodriguez is his father.

So, why didn’t it happen?

“I don’t know,” Pudge said Friday evening. “It’s hard for me to say that. He’s fine. He’s OK. He’s good right here, and he’s having a blast.”

Well, he might now a little.

The Rangers scout Rodriguez as an outfielder in the Minnesota Twins organization, and at the time said he was a candidate to convert to pitching. Upon his conversion, they weren’t sure he was going to pitch in the majors.

They also had instructions from Pudge, who is an assistant to general manager Jon Daniels. The Hall of Famer said that the Rangers shouldn’t sign him if they didn’t think he would be an MLB pitcher.

So, Rodriguez is with the Giants, and he’s thriving in his rookie season.

He made his MLB debut May 29 and came off the disabled list to face the Rangers at 6-1 with a 2.25 ERA. He has allowed more than three earned runs in only one of his 15 games/13 starts.

“He’s just been outstanding,” left-hander Derek Holland said. “He’s hitting his spots, mixing his speeds, changing eye levels, getting ahead of hitters. He’s on the attack.”

Rodriguez was better Friday than Hutchison, which isn’t saying much, and probably would have made his way into the Rangers’ rotation by now. That’s also not saying much, but a team that needs young starting pitchers would gladly take him.

They had their chance.

2. Hutchison is getting his chance, and not doing a lot with it. He opened his fourth start with the Rangers by allowing four runs in the first innings and two more in the sixth, leaving him with an untidy 8.83 ERA since his debut Aug. 5.

But Hutchison is healthy, which Bartolo Colon isn’t, and the Rangers will need Hutchison at some point next week. Colon went on the disabled list Friday with a strained lower back, and the earliest he be reinstated is Sept. 1.

He will return to the rotation, manager Jeff Banister said.

The Rangers are looking at recalling one starter once rosters expand — Yohander Mendez. He’s cleaned up his act and is pitching better in the minors, though he surrendered three homers Thursday for Triple A Round Rock and needed nearly 100 pitches to complete five innings.

To be perfectly honest, I’d rather see another left-hander, Joe Palumbo. It’s not going to happen, but he has been really good on the comeback trail from Tommy John surgery. He is also on the 40-man roster and is going to be pitching in the majors at some point next season.

The Rangers will want to look at Mendez, who is out of minor-league options after this season. September is one of the two worst times to evaluate players, with spring training being the other, but the Rangers don’t have a lot of MLB experience to use in judging Mendez.

His September chances will have to come at someone’s expense. Hutchison might have picked the wrong time to have an 8.83 ERA.

3. However, the Giants and Rougned Odor helped get Hutchison off the hook in the ninth inning. Sam Dyson, ousted last season as Rangers closer, then gift-wrapped the go-ahead run in the 10th by walking in a run.

The Rangers trailed 6-0 after four innings but scored two in the fifth and single runs in the seventh and eighth on Joey Gallo’s 34th homer and his RBI single on which he twisted his left ankle.

He left the game but says he could play Saturday.

There were two outs in the ninth when Shin-Soo Choo hit a soft two-out roller to second base. The game was about to be over, but second baseman Joe Panik booted the ball and the game continued on the error.

Odor lined the next pitch just inside the foul pole and into the bay for the game-tying two-run homer. For those keeping score at home, that’s the Rangers’ second all-time “splash hit.” Mitch Moreland had the first in 2012.

“Quality of effort by the entire team,” manager Jeff Banister said.

That includes the relief work of Cory Gearrin against his old team. He entered with one out in the eighth after the Giants loaded the bases and struck out Brandon Belt and Evan Longoria to keep the Rangers’ deficit at two runs.

He then pitched a perfect 10th for his first win with the Rangers.

“That was a great team win,” Gearrin said. “That was a fun one to be a part of no matter what. You’re coming back to place where you played for a long time against guys you played with, and you want to have a good outing just because of that. But trying to get out of that jam, that’s your focus.”