Why Texas Rangers manager was frozen by options in rare blowout win over KC Royals
The Texas Rangers could take more nights like this.
The Rangers scored four runs in the fourth and five in the sixth to beat the Kansas City Royals 9-4 in the series opener at Globe Life Field in front of 30,389 on Friday night.
It was the first time since July 2019 the offense put together scoring barrages of this sort in the same game.
With a 9-2 lead going into the seventh inning, Rangers manager Chris Woodward was figuratively stumped by his roster options. Which everyday player deserved a couple innings off his feet? Which reliever needed work? It has been a while since he’s had such stress-free options. Not since a 12-1 blowout win against the Dodgers on June 12, at least.
“I didn’t really know what to do,” Woodward said. “I didn’t know who to take out. It’s nice to have those, the offense busting out.”
The Rangers did it against former teammate Mike Minor, who surrendered a career-high nine runs for the Royals and matched a career-high 11 hits.
The Rangers defense was just as impressive as the offense.
“Oh, my gosh. Right from the beginning. That’s the first thing I told our group after the game, the defense,” Woodward said.
Third baseman Charlie Culberson set the tone with a charging, bare-handed pick and throw to record the first out of the game.
Eli White tracked down a foul ball up against the wall in left field in the second and Adolis Garcia made an excellent catch near the wall in right-center field in the fifth that prevented the Royals from tying the game.
“I think we kind of feed off one another. It’s always fun to make good plays and kind of get guys excited,” Culberson said.
This story was originally published June 25, 2021 at 10:55 PM.
