Kohei Arihara was good, bats were solid, but Joely Rodriguez won it for Texas Rangers
The Texas Rangers have played only 17 games, but it appears as if some fans are starting to warm to the team’s style of play and the young players who are trying to develop against the best players in the world.
There are many cynics, of course. They can be found on Twitter.
But with the rebuilding mode as a backdrop, fans have reasons to like what they’ve seen so far. There will be hiccups, lots of them, but the positive performances won’t be too hard to find.
The starting pitching has been really good. Newcomers are making a difference. The offense is inconsistent, but several players have had some big moments and the at-bat quality has improved over last season.
Unfortunately, most of that has happened on the road, where the Rangers have won four straight games.
Here’s some Rangers Reaction from a 6-4 win over the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium.
Arihara does it again
Maybe in the near future manager Chris Woodward will allow Kohei Arihara to finish the sixth inning. Woodward says he’s going to let that happen eventually.
For now, though, the Rangers are keeping an eye on their new right-hander, who came from Japan pitching almost every game on extra rest. That’s not the schedule in the majors, where pitchers usually have only four days’ rest between starts.
Arihara, though, hasn’t had any troubles the two times he has pitched on four days’ rest. The second time came Monday, and he was better than the first time last week at Tampa Bay.
The result was the same — 5 2/3 scoreless innings and a victory. Arihara allowed only two hits this time, walking two and striking out a career-high six.
“Hopefully next time I can complete the inning and really finish my inning out,” he said.
Arihara retired countryman Shohei Ohtani, the Angels’ two-way star, twice with a little help from the defense. First baseman Nate Lowe snagged a hard first-inning grounder from Ohtani and converted it into a 3-6-3 double play, and center fielder Adolis Garcia leaped at the center-field wall to take at least a double away from Ohtani in the fourth.
“He’s an amazing player,” Arihara said of Ohtani, his former teammate with the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. “His swing is extremely fast. The vibe he gives off is of a superstar. I’m glad I was able to get him out.”
The Angels have another potent hitter you might have heard of, Mike Trout. Arihara struck him out twice.
“I’m pretty sure every player in Japan knows Mike Trout,” he said. “To be able to get him out in that manner gives me a boost confidence, and I hope I continue that throughout the season.”
Rodriguez saves the game
Ian Kennedy worked the ninth inning and picked up his fourth save after pitching around a pair of two-out singles. He’s veteran whose stuff plays up in shorter stints, and is the best candidate to work as the closer.
But Joely Rodriguez saved the game in the eighth. Heck, he won it.
The Angels had just scored four runs in the seventh, starting with Justin Upton’s solo homer off Brett Martin. He allowed two more hits and was replaced by Kyle Cody, who didn’t fare much better before getting the final two outs of the inning.
All Rodriguez had to do in his inning, coming off a lousy outing Saturday in his 2021 debut, was retire Ohtani, Trout and Upton.
Strikeout, strikeout, groundout.
What’s the big deal?
“That was the game,” Woodward said. “They had as much momentum as you can have in a game after being down 6-0 and scoring four, and now you have your 2-3-4, who are pretty good by big-league standards.”
Rodriguez rolled his ankle while working out in the offseason and didn’t pitch in spring training, so newcomers like Kennedy didn’t get much of a chance to know him. Rodriguez is a good dude who is always happy, and he has terrific stuff.
“I’ve heard nothing but good things talent-wise,” Kennedy said. “I played catch with him a couple times, and it’s pretty nasty. I know it’s not fun catching him. It’s pretty fun watching him on the other side.”
The outing earned Rodriguez the cowboy hat as Rangers player of the game.
Rangers offense shows up
After scoring a whopping four runs in three weekend games against the Baltimore Orioles, the Rangers scored five in the sixth inning against the Angels to give them a 6-0 cushion.
Garcia had given them a 1-0 lead with his second career homer in the third inning, but that was all Dylan Bundy had allowed. But he walked Joey Gallo to start the sixth, and the next three hitters singled.
The first run scored as Jared Walsh booted a Nick Solak single and allowed Gallo to race home. Nate Lowe, who had singled after Gallo’s walk, scored as Willie Calhoun followed with a single.
Jose Trevino delivered Solak with a sacrifice fly, Calhoun scored on when Luis Rengifo booted a Garcia grounder to third, and Garcia scored as Brock Holt followed with a hit.
“The thing that struck me in that inning was it was a really good walk by Joey to start the inning, and then it was opposite-field hit, opposite-field hit, opposite-field hit,” Woodward said. “It’s these guys not trying to do too much and just taking what they’re given.”
The Rangers have scored 25 runs in their past four road games, all wins, but only eight runs in their past six home games. They are 1-5 in those.
Woodward said on Sunday, after a 1-0 win in 10 innings, that it’s too early to worry about the offense’s woes at Globe Life Field, which doesn’t play anything like Globe Life Park did.
Woodward also said that if the next homestand is as fruitless at the plate as the last one, then the Rangers might have to do some digging.
Home runs can be hit at Globe Life Field. Just ask the Los Angeles Dodgers, who hit 29 homers in 16 playoff games there last year.
The Rangers hit 27 in 30 games.
This story was originally published April 20, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
