Chirinos didn’t stir the pot before the game, but he seemed to enjoy beating the Rangers
The announced attendance Monday for the opener of a three-game series between the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers was 18,056.
Fans on the Twitter said that the reason for the poor showing was that it was Monday, that it was cold, and that the Rangers aren’t very good.
Maybe they were bracing for another game close to four hours in length, and after two innings, it sure looked as if that would be the case.
But the Astros and Rangers sent everyone home in only 2 hours, 39 minutes. Pitching dominated the day, with Brad Peacock holding the Rangers to only two base runners.
The Rangers haven’t had that few base runners since July 7, 2007.
The Rangers, meanwhile, turned to someone who would match Peacock but couldn’t get his former battery mate with the game on the line.
Here’s some Rangers Reaction from a 2-1 Astros victory.
1. Karma is a witch, or something like that, and Robinson Chirinos’ efforts in lifting the Astros over his old team are proof.
The catcher, who revealed earlier in the day that he had been told by general manager Jon Daniels that his 2019 option would be picked up by the Rangers, doubled in the go-ahead run in the sixth. He then snuffed out any chance at a Rangers rally in the seventh by throwing out Rougned Odor trying to steal second after a leadoff walk.
That was as mean as Chirinos was, even when recalling the shocked he felt when informed he would become a free agent. He said that he had no hard feelings for the Rangers, and he was gracious as he spoke about all they did for him and his family in his six seasons in the organization.
He wasn’t trying to start a fight or stir the pot.
Daniels didn’t speak about Chirinos’ comments, but a club source said that Daniels has a different recollection than Chirinos. The Rangers expected to pick up the option at various points, according to the source, but Daniels never said it was a done deal.
Whatever, Chirinos essentially said before the game. But he did seem pretty fired up after his double and after throwing out Odor, who said before the game he was going to steal two bases off Chirinos.
“I said, ‘All right, go ahead,’ ” Chirinos said. “I knew he was going to go. He told me before the game. I thought he was going to go early, but he waited three or four pitches.”
If the Rangers were questioning his defense, there was his answer.
The Astros, meanwhile, worked with Chirinos on his defense throughout the spring. He also spent time getting to know what can be a finicky pitching staff, one that can form a negative opinion about a catcher and never give him a second chance.
That’s Chirinos’ main task. And beating the Rangers.
2. Drew Smyly worked slowly, couldn’t command his off-speed pitches, had trouble putting hitters away, and needed 73 pitches to record nine outs.
And that is the best start by a member of the Rangers’ rotation through four games this season.
Smyly, who hadn’t pitched in an MLB game since September 2016 because of an elbow injury, said that he felt fine during and after the game, and he believes he can build on a performance in which he didn’t have a feel for his off-speed pitches.
“I’ve been waiting on that day a long time, so it felt good to be back on a major-league mound and compete and go out and try to help the team,” he said. “I wish I could have lasted longer, but results weren’t going to mean much to me today. Being back out there, it’s been a long road recovering, and it was just a special moment to get back.”
But by the end of the game, Smyly had in essence acted as an opener for Adrian Sampson, whose day started with him in Nashville and ended with him turning in the finest performance this season by a Rangers pitcher.
Told Sunday that his minor-league contract would be purchased Monday, Sampson entered in the fourth inning and allowed only one run in six innings. Yes, he was the losing pitcher, but he deserved much better.
His slider was the pitch that kept the Astros off-balance, and the pitch that made him one of the Rangers’ best pitchers this spring and put him in consideration for a spot on the Opening Day roster.
“That slider is a real pitch,” manager Chris Woodward said.
The Rangers needed Sampson after the heavy workload put on the bullpen in the season-opening series against the Chicago Cubs. He likely won’t be able to pitch again for three days, and he was also tentatively scheduled to start Saturday at Triple A Nashville.
He’s right on turn, in other words.
“Just whatever I can control and go from there,” Sampson said.
The Rangers have two relievers at Triple A who have options remaining, right-hander Nick Gardewine and left-hander Brett Martin. Kyle Bird, another lefty, was optioned to make room for Sampson and can’t be recalled for 10 days unless there is an injury.
The Rangers’ bullpen is rested, thanks to Sampson, but what will it look like in three days after Shelby Miller makes his 2019 debut, also coming off injury, and after Edinson Volquez starts Thursday at Anaheim in his second start since Tommy John surgery?
Sampson might get to stick around until then. He deserves to stick around longer.
3. The Rangers have no idea if Grant Anderson will be a major-leaguer in a couple years.
They had a feeling that Connor Sadzeck would not have made it through waivers after being designated for assignment last week.
It was better to trade him for something, to any team, than to lose him and his big right arm for nothing.
So, Sadzeck is now a member of the Seattle Mariners and Anderson will open his first full professional season with Low A Hickory. The swap of right-handers was completed Monday.
The deal rates as a good one, as the Rangers got something instead of nothing, but they also are high on Anderson after watching him late last season and on the back fields this spring.
He throws from the side, and throws pretty hard from down there. He wiped out hitters last season after being the Mariners’ 21st-round pick from McNeese State, and Rangers scouts say that he has gotten better since then.
Anderson was born in Port Arthur, grew up in Beaumont and went to West Stark Orange, so there are some Texas ties in play.
Sadzeck goes to an American League West foe, and some believe intra-division trades are taboo. The Cliff Lee trade was with the Mariners, though, and the Rangers sent Jurickson Profar to the Oakland A’s in December in part for the prospect haul but also because they aren’t sure the A’s will be able to re-sign Profar if he hits free agency.
Maybe Sadzeck becomes a star with the Mariners. He’s also out of options, so perhaps he finds himself on DFA’d again this season and traded to or claimed by another team.
As things stand, the Rangers did well to trade him.
This story was originally published April 1, 2019 at 11:30 PM.
