Willie Calhoun helps extend Texas Rangers’ win streak with clutch triple
The Texas Rangers have slowly regained a swagger.
Sure, it might have returned with a little help from the Detroit Tigers.
But it’s back and they’re suddenly fun again. The Rangers won their four consecutive game with a sweep-clinching 9-4 win Sunday afternoon at Globe Life Park.
And once again, they did it with a late rally.
Willie Calhoun’s bases-loaded triple — the first of his career — snapped a 4-4 tie in the seventh. Calhoun lined the triple into the right-field corner and made it to third standing up. He later scored on a wild pitch to make it 8-4.
The rally was set up by walks from Jeff Mathis, Shin-Soo Choo and Nomar Mazara, who fought back from a 1-2 count to load the bases ahead of Calhoun.
“Maz saw a lot of pitches,” Calhoun said. “for him to be able to fight back and see that many pitches it kind of set it up for me. I was able to see how [the pitcher] was attacking him and that’s how I approached it.”
Danny Santana’s two-run home run in the fifth gave Texas a 4-3 lead but Detroit tied it with an unearned run in the seventh.
Texas is now three games over .500. It’s the Rangers’ longest winning streak since they won six consecutive games at the end of June. That also included a sweep of the Tigers, who are an MLB-worst 32-75.
Choo’s double in the eighth drove in Delino DeShields to make it 9-4.
It’s the Rangers’ fourth series sweep this season.
Since being recalled from Triple-A Nashville, Calhoun is batting over .300. Seven of his 10 hits have been for extra-bases, including three homers and three doubles.
Rangers manager Chris Woodward knew Calhoun as a coach for the Dodgers when Calhoun was a rising prospect. Texas acquired him in the 2017 trade that sent Yu Darvish to Los Angeles.
“It’s amazing to watch his development and who he’s become since then,” Woodward said. “Kudos to this organization because they put a lot of people in place to help him.”
Calhoun, 24, is a top prospect because of his hitting ability. The Rangers have seen it in the minors and glimpses of it during his time in the big leagues. That experience, along with Calhoun’s dedication to physically altering his body during the off-season, has helped him reach a point where he’s unlikely to ever return to the minors.
“The things he’s learning as a hitter, it’s very encouraging because he’s a special hitter already with his ability level,” Woodward said. “Now he’s starting to understand how to be a great hitter.”
The game-winning triple was a fine example, Woodward said.
With a 2-0 count, Calhoun jumped on a fastball when others may have been fine with taking.
Woodward laughed off the notion of conventional baseball thinking.
“With a 2-0 count, the right thing to do according to the baseball people [is to take a pitch],’” Woodward scoffed. “Nah, he’s a hitter first. He’s got no fear with the bat in his hand.”
The success for Calhoun, which has been sprinkled with some setbacks and agitating demotions the past three seasons, bodes well for his future, Woodward said.
“If he’s going in the right direction physically and mentally,” he said, “he’s going to be a dangerous hitter for a long time.”
This story was originally published August 4, 2019 at 5:38 PM.
