Rangers’ Choo, Banister move on from ‘non-issue’

Shin-Soo Choo said that he spoke with Texas Rangers manager Jeff Banister on Thursday morning as they cleared the air about the right fielder’s postgame comments late Wednesday.

“I talked to him today, and we’re good,” Choo said. “It’s over. We can’t do anything about it.”

Choo missed the cutoff man on an eighth-inning throw as Josh Reddick went to third on a Ben Zobrist single. Reddick would come home as third baseman Joey Gallo threw to second base to get Zobrist, but the ball went back into right field.

Zobrist went to third and scored the tying run two batters later. Oakland scored once in the ninth to win 5-4.

Afterward, Choo felt that the throw had been singled out as the main reason for the loss during a conversation with Banister, though Banister told the media that Choo was attempting to make the right throw but it sailed on him.

Twelve hours later, Banister was still backing Choo.

“I trust what Choo does on the field and what he tells me,” Banister said. “Choo in our clubhouse is one of the most passionate about team and winning.

“I’ve moved on. … We’re all in this pot together. Move forward. Move on. Non-issue.”

Blanks activated

Kyle Blanks was activated from the disabled list Thursday, nearly three weeks after he was sidelined by a Pilonidal cyst, and jumped right into the lineup even though he hadn’t seen live pitching since May 19.

Banister and Blanks weren’t too concerned about him jumping into the lineup without a rehab assignment. Blanks was able to continue hitting during his recovery and tracked pitches during bullpen sessions.

“I can’t say the first pitch I see gets torched, but I don’t feel like I’ve missed much,” he said. “It’s a matter of being able to get comfortable quickly and making adjustments.”

The right-handed hitter played first base, where he will stick until the injury heals, as the left-handed-hitting Mitch Moreland got a day off against A’s lefty Scott Kazmir.

Joey Gallo, another lefty hitter, received his first day off since making his big-league debut June 2. Gallo is 2 for 13 with nine strikeouts against lefties.

Right-hander Spencer Patton was optioned to Triple A Round Rock, giving the Rangers a seven-man bullpen.

Gallardo fans 10

Right-hander Yovani Gallardo needed 30 pitches Wednesday to get through the first inning, but he was still standing after seven innings. He also had collected 10 strikeouts, the most by a Rangers pitcher this season.

Gallardo, who has 19 career 10-strikeout games but only two since 2013, struck out six of the final seven batters he faced, and six of his strikeouts were called.

“I tried to get ahead, and strike one makes a big difference,” Gallardo said. “After that it opens everything else. I was able to get ahead and make pitches.”

His previous double-digit strikeout game was last season with Milwaukee. It came Sept. 19 against Pittsburgh, where Banister was the bench coach.

“With Yo, more than anything else, when he has premium command, he can put the ball on the thread of that plate,” Banister said. “Plus, he has a great understand of what hitters are looking for, so he can play that game with them.”

Gallardo allowed two runs in seven innings, lowering his ERA to 3.45 and 1.80 over the past four starts.

This story was originally published June 11, 2015 at 10:01 PM with the headline "Rangers’ Choo, Banister move on from ‘non-issue’."