Texas Rangers needed a win to complete DFW trifecta. Kyle Cody, Sam Huff came through.
When it came time to flip the channel to the Texas Rangers game Sunday afternoon, the Dallas Cowboys had just failed on a 2-point conversion, were down nine and had just kicked off to the Atlanta Falcons.
With two lost fumbles and two failed faked punts earlier in the game, the Cowboys were in trouble.
Meanwhile at Winged Foot, former SMU golfer Bryson DeChambeau had just made par at No. 7 to stay at 4 under and to keep his lead at the U.S. Open. He had the look of a player who was in control.
He won, and so did the Cowboys with a remarkable late comeback that included recovering an onside kick.
Could the Rangers complete a pretty good day in the local sports world?
Here’s some Rangers Reaction from a 7-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.
Cody’s health
Shoot, manager Chris Woodward said, right-hander Kyle Cody was so efficient that he could have gone six or seven innings.
Sure enough, Cody threw only 61 pitches in five innings en route to his first MLB win. He need 74 last week at Houston just to finish three.
But this is Cody’s most significant action since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2018, and the Rangers don’t want to push a rookie who looks as if he will be a strong candidate for the 2021 starting rotation.
Though he has thrown more pitches than he did Sunday, Cody hadn’t had as many “ups,” which is actually downtime between innings before heading back to the mound The Rangers gave him two more ups than he has had, and that was enough.
After throwing a career-high five innings and after logging 17 2/3 innings this season, Cody said that his elbow and body feel great.
“Honestly, after the last Houston outing, I was pretty drained,” he said. “That was probably the most sore my whole body has felt in a while. But I can already tell after this one, I feel a lot better just because of the pace of the innings, getting my rest in in between innings, and I wasn’t running right back out there. I already know that I’m going to recover a lot better after this one.”
Cody could win a rotation spot and still see his innings limited no matter how good he feels. The Rangers will have several young pitchers they will want to see, and there are a number of ways they can accomplish it.
But if Cody pitches as he did Sunday, the Rangers might be tempted to push his workload.
He allowed only three hits and retired the final 11 batters he faced. He struck out five, thanks to his best slider of the season, and didn’t issue any walks.
“Attacking the zone. First-pitch strikes,” catcher Sam Huff said. “Today we were talking about how we needed it more in the zone early and to be in the zone and make him not throw too many pitches.”
Three rookie left-handers — John King, Taylor Hearn and Kolby Allard — finished off the win and could also be in the rotation mix next spring. Joe Palumbo and Brock Burke are two more lefties who will be under consideration.
Throw in right-handers Tyler Phillips and Jason Bahr, and maybe Cole Winn, and the Rangers could have their deepest group of young starting pitchers next spring in quite some time.
The Rangers need one or two of them to hit.
Huff’s big day
Cody’s first MLB win also marked the first Rangers victory with Huff starting behind the plate, and don’t think for a minute that isn’t a big deal.
“He’s had some rough ones back there,” Woodward said.
The first Huff start was Sept. 11 against Oakland. Opener Luis Garcia started the game walk, walk, walk, grand slam. Huff has been diligent with his scouting reports and game calling, Woodward said, but hasn’t has much to show for it until he guided Cody through five strong innings.
“He did a great job behind the plate today,” Cody said. “It was a lot smoother. I felt like we had a lot better chemistry coming from Houston. We just felt like we’re on the same page a little bit more today.”
Huff also collected his first career home run, which he said didn’t dawn on him until he was rounding second base and headed for third. Some members of the bullpen were scrambling for the ball, which landed near the faux rocks in center field.
Once Huff gets the ball, he plans on giving to his father.
“He’s been there since the start, so it will be for him,” Huff said.
Open it!
The fall equinox arrives Tuesday, and temperatures this week are forecast to be in the lower-80s and upper-70s. The Rangers’ season ends with a 2 p.m. game next Sunday against the Houston Astros.
If the current forecast holds, it will be 79 degrees with a 20% chance of rain.
To that I say, open the Globe Life Field roof.
It would be the first day game with the roof open, and a nice way to finish the season no matter how much farther the ball carries.
And the early data shows that balls go farther with the roof open, though general manager Jon Daniels said the Rangers don’t have enough evidence to say Globe Life Field will be hitter-friendly when the lid isn’t closed.
Daniels also said the Rangers will seek more data with the roof closed before determining if they would want to move the fences in. That won’t be on the table until after next season at the earliest.
