Rockies’ first two batters singled vs. Lance Lynn. That was it vs. the Rangers’ ace.
The toughest work-releated COVID-19 pill to swallow came this weekend, when for the first time as a beat writer I missed a trip to the great state of Colorado.
Born and raised in Metro Denver, the work trips served as family trips, too.
Before my time on the Texas Rangers beat started, I covered TCU when the Horned Frogs played in the Mountain West Conference. That meant trips to Colorado State and Air Force, and we’ll go ahead and throw Wyoming in there, too, as I would fly to Denver and drive to Laramie.
Travel, though, just isn’t happening this season by plane, but it’s possible if there is a playoff game or series to cover. Houston, though, will be teeming with Rangers beat writers.
Only eight more road games from the home office until then.
The next two are in Denver, where the ball wasn’t flying Friday night.
Here’s some Rangers Reaction from a 3-2 victory over the Rockies.
Lynn again
Coors Field opened in 1995 and since its inaugural game has been the best hitter’s park in baseball.
To that end, more than 2,000 games have been played there, but only eight times has a pitcher tossed a complete game on two or fewer hits.
Lance Lynn became No. 8 on Friday with a two-hitter.
The hits were singles by the Rockies’ first two batters, meaning Lynn tossed a no-hitter starting with the world’s hottest hitter, Charlie Blackmon.
Only one of the runs was earned, and an argument could be lodged that the first run shouldn’t have scored.
Oh, and Lynn did so while dealing with a soreness in his groin after covering first base to record the Blackmon out.
“He threw a no-hitter after the first two hitters,” Woodward said. “I’m looking at my card, and I’ve never seen a card like that. It’s stunning.”
Lynn threw 110 pitches, didn’t walk a batter and struck out. He recorded 13 groundball outs as he adjusted to a two-seam fastball after noticing early on that the Rockies were trying to ambush his four-seamer and cutter.
And get this: Lynn said he likes to pitch at Coors Field, as his numbers there, 2-1 with a 2.36 ERA in five career starts, would indicate.
“All I throw is fastballs,” he said. “Breaking balls struggle here.
“It’s cool, it’s dry, you don’t sweat, and you just have to outlast the other pitchers. That’s the way I think about it when I come here. If I outlast the other starter, you get a win.”
After five starts, Lynn is 3-0 with a 1.11 ERA and is a Cy Young candidate. The Rangers are 4-1 when he starts.
The Rangers, by the way, have leveled their record at 9-9 thanks to a 6-1 stretch dating to Aug. 7.
Not many people saw that coming.
Why Odor?
Rougned Odor was out of the lineup Wednesday.
His replacement, Derek Dietrich, went 3 for 3, reached in all four plate appearances, and sparked one of those eighth-inning rallies that is supposed to carry over into the next game.
Well, Odor was back in the lineup Friday, following a team off day, and Dietrich was back on the bench.
Manager Chris Woodward has some ‘splainin’ to do before the game.
It turns out, Woodward said, that in that one day off Odor fixed what was ailing him, and that he wasn’t all that far off in the first place.
That’s true. At .116, he was only a handful of hits away from matching last season’s average of .205.
But to Woodward’s credit, he said the Rangers don’t have time let Odor sit multiple games to work on his swing. They need to see progress against live pitching now and make a decision on how to use Odor going forward.
And how did Odor do? Good enough to play Saturday, as he went 1 for 3 and drove in a run.
“It was good to start, right from the very first at-bat,” Woodward said. “For him to put it in play, it looked better. It’s Day 1. It’s better. My message to him will always be you’ve got to keep doing it every day.”
Dietrich pinch hit in the eighth, was hit in the calf, and scored the go-ahead run two batters later as Isiah Kiner-Falefa rolled into a double play.
Woodward said Dietrich will play Saturday and Sunday, though not necessarily second base. He has played first base, third base and outfield in his career.
Defense rests
It’s been said dozens of times already this season: When a team is struggling to score runs as the Rangers are, their defense can’t afford to give the opposing offense extra outs and more chances to score.
The Rangers managed to eek out a win despite their worst fielding game of the season. Fortunately for them, Lynn was on the mound.
“The big thing is you can’t let it affect you or it will blow up into a big inning,” Lynn said. “We were able to win. I kept it at 2. It could have been a little uglier.”
The Rangers were tagged for two errors, but there were three other plays they didn’t make. All five came in the two innings in which the Rockies scored.
No errors were charged on the first three in the first inning.
Odor tried to bare hand a slow roller from Garrett Hampson, the Rockies’ first hitter, but missed it. In hindsight, it looked as if he could have gloved it.
The next one came two batters later as first baseman Todd Frazier bobbled a Blackmon grounder while trying to turn two. He avoided an error as the Rangers got the out at first with Lynn covering and tweaking his groin.
Nolan Arenado was next, and he sent a grounder to Elvis Andrus for an RBI, but Andrus’ throw pulled Frazier off the bag and Arenado was called safe. The Rangers appealed the call, and it was overturned.
Lynn got out of the inning without further damage, but the Rangers trailed 1-0.
“He needed to pick our defense up by getting out of that inning,” Woodward said.
The Rangers fell behind 2-1 in the sixth as they committed two errors, the first of which came as Jeff Mathis’ throw on a roller in front of the plate sailed into right field to put Tony Wolters at second base.
He was at third two batters later. Trevor Story sent a grounder to Andrus, who was playing in but missed a ball right at him for an E6.
“I think Jeff’s play was just a tough play,” Woodward said. “The ball to Elvis was hit pretty hard. He looked like he was in good position to catch it. It just squirted by him.”
It wasn’t all bad. Nick Solak took two hits away from Arenado, racing in and diving on both a high flyball and a line drive to center field. While Lynn downplayed the mistakes, he played up Solak’s plays.
Solak continues to get a feel for center field with Danny Santana out, Scott Heineman on the bench and Leody Taveras at the alternate camp.
“I feel good, made the two plays and was just running after the ball trying to make a catch,” Solak said.
Solak was also only hitter with more than one hit. He had three of them, two doubles and his first home run of the season.
He currently is the Rangers’ best hitter.
“He’s going about as good as we’ve got right now,” Woodward said. “We needed it tonight.”
This story was originally published August 14, 2020 at 11:43 PM.
