Jordan Lyles again put Texas Rangers in deep hole. San Diego Padres kept on scoring.
More school districts resumed classes Monday, which meant more parents going insane during at-home learning.
The Wilsons have a second-grader and a kindergartner, one at the dining room a table and one at the kitchen table. At most, they are 30 feet apart.
Between getting them to their posts by 8 a.m. and then shuttling between desks to solve whatever technical problem they were having, such as a 5-year-old not quite understanding how to unmute herself when called upon, I logged 3,000 steps.
The most harried moment came around 8:45 a.m., when the second-grader somehow logged himself out of his Microsoft teams meeting. When we attempted to log him back in, somehow he was on his sister’s account.
When we logged her off of his computer, yep, she was also logged off of hers.
It was pandemonium.
Fortunately, the issues were resolved in relatively short order and I didn’t have to Irish up my coffee.
The kids’ school district is supposed to resume in-person teaching Sept. 8. I’ve never looked more forward to a day than that one.
Tuesday is a new day with new challenges. The Texas Rangers will be glad to flush Monday down the nearest drain.
Here’s some Rangers Reaction from a 14-4 loss to the San Diego Padres.
Lyles roughed up
Jordan Lyles could have had a more dominant first inning, technically speaking.
He caught Richland High product Trent Grisham looking to start the game, did the same to world-beater Fernando Tatis Jr., and retired Manny Machado on an easy pop fly.
Maybe if he had struck out all three, or broken all three of their bats on the first pitch, it would have been more dominant.
Oddly, the Padres didn’t pack up and go home. Well, they went home in the second inning, in a manner of speaking.
Five of them scored in the second, which they opened walk, single, double, double, single. Following a free out on a sacrifice bunt, Grisham singled home the fifth run.
“I made worse pitches in the first inning,” Lyles said. “Those pitches in the second were nowhere near being perfect, but I’ve got to do better.”
The Padres scored an unearned run in the third, and Lyles surrendered a deep solo home run to No. 9 hitter Austin Hedges, who entered the game batting .121, in the fourth.
Tatis connected for a three-run homer in the seventh and a grand slam in the eighth on a 3-0 pitch that left the Rangers steaming.
Lyles exited after four with a 7.52 ERA. He allowed four second-inning runs to the Seattle Mariners in his previous start, but the Rangers rallied to win.
“I’ve got to stop putting our team in bad spots,” he said.
Lyles was signed to a two-year, $16 million deal to be the Rangers’ No. 4 starter. A couple weeks later they traded for Corey Kluber, making Lyles the No. 5 starter. He’s back to being the No. 4 starter with Kluber injured, but at times is pitching like a No. 12.
The Rangers don’t have any choice but to continue to use him. The starting pitching depth they boasted of before the season has been eliminated, with Kolby Allard replacing Kluber, Joe Palumbo (ulcerative colitis) on the injured list, Ariel Jurado traded away, and with Taylor Hearn and Wes Benjamin now in the bullpen.
Here’s something really deep: Lyles needs to be better.
Why sit Calhoun?
That question popped up in my Twitter notifications after the Rangers’ revealed their lineup. Danny Santana was in the designated hitter in his first start since July 28, and Willie Calhoun, who has been at DH more than in left field, sat.
Follower @ScottKeys7 believes that sitting Calhoun would prevent him from finding his rhythm at the plate. Calhoun is batting .170 and slugging .226 after 17 games and 53 at-bats.
“It’s not like Santana is Mike Trout,” @ScottKeys7 said, rightfully so as Santana entered with a .111 average (2 for 18).
Calhoun, though, has been playing regularly. He played in 10 consecutive games, starting six straight. He batted .267 over the stretch with both of his extra-base hits and six of his nine RBIs.
Maybe the Rangers feel as if he has found his rhythm.
Also, consider this: Shin-Soo Choo was batting .297 in his past 10 games with a .372 on-base percentage and an .805 OPS. He had three stolen bases and is a better left fielder than Calhoun.
With shortstop Elvis Andrus getting his first day off, Isiah Kiner-Falefa had to play shortstop, which meant Todd Frazier had to play third, which meant Derek Dietrich had to play first.
Choo might be the choice over Calhoun against left-handers, too, as the Rangers are sensitive to Calhoun facing lefties after he was struck in the face by one in spring training.
These aren’t easy decisions for manager Chris Woodward, but things will get easier once Santana is able to play center field. Santana worked at first base and second base during batting practice, and if he can play second, that’s one way to get Rougned Odor on the bench and free up DH or Calhoun.
The chances of Odor sitting are diminishing. He has a hit in four straight games, which you have to admit is progress, and he hasn’t been caught stealing since he last tried Friday.
Looking for positives
On a night like Monday, after a day like Sunday, the Rangers are searching for positives to make consecutive big losses go down easier.
Odor is certainly one of them, and so is the return of Santana. He flied deep to right-center in the first inning and singled in the sixth. At the very least, he looked better than he did the last time he played.
Santana scored a run on an RBI double by Joey Gallo, who now has a three-game hitting streak after dealing with an 0-for-17 skid. He went through a similar stretch early last season (an 0-for-15 road trip), but emerged from it to become an All-Star.
Mike Minor is scheduled to pitch Tuesday, and he will do so with no limitations on his pitch count. He will be pitching on an extra day’s rest, which he said he didn’t need. That’s good. The Rangers need him to stop the bleeding.
That’s about it without getting snarky.
This story was originally published August 17, 2020 at 11:52 PM.
