Rougned Odor didn’t get the Texas Rangers’ key hit. His potential replacement did.
In the exciting world of ballpark cutouts, the Colorado Rockies have taken a different tack.
Rather than allowing fans to plop down money for the right to have their likeness fill seats at Coors Field, the Rockies have plugged in past players in the seats behind home plate.
Larry Walker, whose induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame was delayed by COVID-19, has at least two cutouts. Todd Helton, a potential Hall of Famer, is represented as well.
The Rangers have two of their greats, Ivan Rodriguez and Adrian Beltre, in cutout form. A fan paid $50 for a DoppleRangers of a bloodied Nolan Ryan.
The Rangers should borrow from the Rockies, but put their own twist on it.
Sure, get all the Rangers Hall of Famers in the crowd (isn’t Richard Greene already represented?) and all National Baseball Hall of Famers who wore a Rangers uniform, but then take things a step further.
How about an Alex Rodriguez cutout, but put him in the worst seat at Globe Life Field?
Or a Frank Francisco cutout in a folding chair in the bullpen?
Or one of Esteban Loaiza in his prison uniform?
Fans are doing a great job, with more than 5,000 DoppleRangers sold. They’re still on sale, and new ones should be added by Monday for a quick two-game homestand.
The DoppleRangers will be watching a Rangers team that has no worse than a .500 record.
As of Saturday night, the Rangers are 10-9.
Here’s some Rangers Reaction from a 6-4 victory over the Rockies.
Dietrich delivers again
If the Rangers were waiting for tangible proof as to why Derek Dietrich should replace Rougned Odor at second base, they got it.
Odor had made contact in his first three at-bats, including a single for a second straight game. Runners were at second and third with one out in the eighth inning for his fourth at-bat, and Odor popped out down the third-base line.
Dietrich was next, and he popped a three-run homer to left field for a 6-2 lead.
“To come through with a two-out hit like that was huge,” Manager Chris Woodward said. “That was the difference in the game.”
It was the big hit the Rangers had been missing all game. They had put 13 runners on base, but were only 2 for 15 with runners in scoring position before Dietrich’s blast.
The Rangers left 22 runners on base overall. Twenty-two!
“I was part of that,” said Dietrich, who played first base while Odor was at second.
The Rangers led only 3-2 before the homer. The Rockies scored once in their eighth, plated another in the ninth, and twice sent the tying run to the plate.
“In this ballpark, no lead is safe,” Dietrich said. “The ball does travel, and the outfield is big, so you’ve got to add on. You’ve got to keep battling. You’ve got to keep trying to add runs here.”
The Rangers finished with 13 hits, 10 of which were singles. Shin-Soo Choo, who had a team-high three hits, and Jose Trevino had doubles. Trevino and shortstop Elvis Andrus had two hits apiece.
Gallo snaps skid
For as badly as Odor has struggled, Joey Gallo has also wallowed at the plate of late.
He snapped an 0-for-17 skid in the eighth inning with a single. He also didn’t strike out, which is almost as notable.
The 1-for-3 game, which included a walk, came a night after a postgame walk back to the hotel with first baseman Todd Frazier.
Frazier was once a young player who had high expectations heaped upon him. He understands the pressure Gallo feels and the weight he carries into each at-bat.
And the veteran had some wise words for Gallo.
“I just tried to tell him no matter what happens, have as much fun as possible,” Frazier said. “He’s a guy where he wants to do so good so badly. And it kind of reminds me of myself when I was young, too, that if I’m not helping the team, even though we’re winning, I feel like there’s a thousand pounds on my shoulder. I feel like that’s how he feels right now.”
Woodward said that Gallo hasn’t been complaining of any wrist pain, which sidetracked him during the three-game series at Oakland. He’s just in a funk at a time when too many of his teammates also aren’t hitting.
The slump has been more mentally taxing than it has been a physical beating.
“Swing-wise, I don’t think he feels as comfortable as he’d like,” Woodward said. “A couple pitches last night were debatable early, and I think that kind of a little bit derailed him, because he ended up chasing a few that were down below that. “
Woodward was hoping a hit, especially a home run, would get Gallo going. A conversation with Frazier might have been what pushed Gallo over the hump.
“I tried to tell him, ‘Have as much fun as possible. Understand that people look up to you,’” Frazier said. “’You’re a guy that I look up to, even though I’m older than you.’ I want to hit the ball like him just because when he does hit the ball, people are watching. All eyes are on him. He’s an exceptional player. I want him to understand and be as confident as possible, and know that this game is tough. It’s very tough, man. He’s got the support from me and all our teammates as well.”
Gibson delivers
Another Rangers starting pitcher stared down the high altitude at Coors Field and left without too many bruises. Unlike Lance Lynn on Friday, though, right-hander Kyle Gibson had never pitched there until Saturday.
Gibson allowed two runs in 6 1/3 innings in his best start with the Rangers, and danced around trouble a few times to do so. Gibson stranded runners at third base in the first, third and fifth innings, and each time it was shortstop Trevor Story.
“Trevor Story was the only guy he had trouble with,” Woodward said.
Story, the Irving High graduate, had a triple, which was misplayed by Gallo in right field, and two doubles against Gibson, who allowed four hits to the other eight Rockies he faced.
Gibson didn’t get to face Story a fourth time. Jonathan Hernandez entered with one out in the seventh, with Rockies down a run and with runners at first and second, and induced an inning-ending double play.
Story nearly took Hernandez deep for an eighth-inning, go-ahead homer at Globe Life Field on Opening Day.
“The game’s on the line and maybe the biggest situation that kid’s been in in his career,” Gibson said. “That probably saved the game.”
Hernandez surrendered a run in the eighth, and Rafael Montero had to get leadoff man Garrett Hampson and Story as the potential game-tying runs to end it.
Montero, who came off the injured list Aug. 7, already has five saves.
This story was originally published August 15, 2020 at 11:27 PM.
