Texas Rangers fall to Royals to open 11-game homestand
The Texas Rangers have played well at home all season, and had every reason for optimism beginning an 11-game homestand on Thursday night.
They were facing a Kansas City Royals team that had lost three straight, and six of their last seven. They had slugger Joey Gallo back in the lineup after a brief scare with a wrist injury. And they had steady veteran Mike Minor on the mound.
But it wasn’t the Rangers night. Instead, the Royals capitalized and went on to a 4-2 victory at Globe Life Park to open this four-game series.
“We never got anything going offensively,” Rangers manager Chris Woodward said.
The Rangers were in decent shape through five innings.
The Rangers took a 1-0 lead in the third inning on a solo home run by Shin-Soo Choo. Choo sent a ball over the center field fence and onto Greene’s Hill with two outs, unloading on an 0-1 slider from Kansas City starter Jakob Junis.
Minor, meanwhile, worked out of any potential trouble the first five innings.
In the sixth, though, Minor and the Rangers ran into trouble.
Royals shortstop Adalberto Mondesi opened with a single to left field, and then Alex Gordon reached on an infield single when Rangers third baseman Asdrubal Cabrera and shortstop Elvis Andrus had confusion on who would make the play.
“I would say it’s Cabrera’s ball to go after, especially when your momentum is carrying toward second base,” Woodward said. “There was a little miscommunication. I’m not sure why he thought Elvis would have a better shot at it.”
The next batter, Jorge Soler, capitalized with a three-run home run off Minor, sending a first-pitch fastball high and inside off the left-field foul pole.
That’s just the eighth home run given up by Minor this season.
“He’s not supposed to hit that,” said Minor, referring to Soler’s scouting report. “Not right where [I wanted it]. I was going in. He’s not supposed to hit up and in, and he did. I don’t know how he’s sitting on that one when I’m throwing changeups the whole game.
“Take back the home run and maybe we win the game.”
Minor faced just one more batter, giving up a single to Martin Maldonado, ending his night after five-plus innings. It was his fifth consecutive start failing to go more than six innings.
Minor acknowledged he got in deep counts early on and, while his eight strikeouts on the night look nice, he’d rather go deeper in games.
“The last couple I’ve only been able to go five or six, so I’m not really helping out the team, helping out the bullpen,” he said.
Rangers reliever Jeffrey Springs had to finish out the sixth inning, and got the job done. It wasn’t easy, as he needed 29 pitches to get the three outs.
The Rangers pulled to within 3-2 in the bottom half on a solo shot by Nomar Mazara, but the Royals answered in the seventh inning when Mondesi took Springs deep to make it 4-2.
Royals reliever Wily Peralta pitched a scoreless seventh followed by a scoreless eighth by Jake Diekman and scoreless ninth by Ian Kennedy. In fact, Kennedy recorded his third career save, and the first save by a Royals pitcher since Kennedy shut down a win vs. Tampa Bay on May 1.
Gallo good to go
Gallo returned to the lineup after tweaking his right hand and wrist during a swinging strike in his final at-bat Tuesday in Seattle. He was given a day off Wednesday, and said a cyst on his wrist occasionally flares up.
“Wasn’t anything too serious,” Gallo said.
What is serious is what Gallo has been doing at the plate in the first third of the season. He opened the homestand with a .278 average, 15 home runs and 35 RBIs, and firmly in the All-Star conversation.
At this point, Gallo’s season is more than just a “hot start.”
“It’s still one third of the season, still a lot left, but I feel like I’ve made a lot of adjustments to be a better overall hitter,” Gallo said. “It’s definitely been an enjoyable season so far for me personally, so hopefully keep that going.”
As far as the All-Star talk, Gallo said: “It’s exciting to be in that conversation. The last two years I definitely wasn’t even close to that conversation, so it means I’m doing something right.”
Gallo went 0-for-3 with a walk Thursday. But drawing a two-out walk in the fourth inning means he’s now reached base via hit or walk in 31 of the last 37 games.
Hello, America
Ariel Jurado’s parents are making their first trek from Panama to America this week, and will see their son pitch in the big leagues for the first time in person on Friday against the Royals.
Rangers manager Chris Woodward excused Jurado from Wednesday’s game, so he could get his parents from the airport.
“It’s a cool story,” Woodward said. “They’ve never been to the United States, get to see him pitch tomorrow.
“I told him to go pick them up. We can do it without you today. You’re last on my list anyways.”
Jurado, who has been pitching in the Rangers organization since 2013 and reached the big leagues last season, will be making his 24th big league appearance. He is 1-2 with a 2.28 ERA in 11 games, including two starts, this season.
This story was originally published May 30, 2019 at 10:29 PM.
