Rangers, needing relief help, escape after Scheppers’ meltdown

Here’s one for the growing number of those who have become disenchanted with the pitching win as a relevant statistic: Tanner Scheppers was the winning pitcher Wednesday afternoon for the Texas Rangers.

The Rangers won the kind of game that really seems to take place only at Coors Field, where no lead is safe.

Any batted ball in the air is liable to do more damage than it would at any other ballpark, either because it carries further or because outfielders are playing too deep to catch a blooper, and every ground ball scoots a tick faster.

The Rangers felt that way after Scheppers surrendered a four-run lead in the eighth inning and left them needing Elvis Andrus’ two-run single in the ninth to leave town with a 10-8 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

Even Scheppers felt that his struggles in the three-game series were in part a byproduct of baseball at altitude, though he also admitted that he hasn’t been executing pitches the way he needs to in order to be a shutdown eighth-inning reliever.

He had been struggling before the three-game series, and he knows it.

“It’s kind of part of the game,” Scheppers said. “It just comes down to execution. I just need to be able to hit spots and throw the ball where I want it.”

Asked if the ballpark was an issue, Scheppers said yes, but he didn’t throw Coors Field entirely under the bus.

“You can probably assume that I’m not going to sign here as a free agent,” he said. “At the same time, I didn’t make quality pitches.”

For all the talk about Cole Hamels coming to the Rangers — none of which is coming from sources inside the organization and none of which makes sense on many levels for a team that is lucky to be only four games below .500 after Wednesday’s close call — the Rangers have needs in the bullpen.

Hamels, no doubt, would be an instant upgrade to the Rangers’ rotation, which hasn’t exactly been lights-out this month and is relying on two pitchers fresh off the 60-day disabled list.

But the Rangers don’t have the money and would be kidding themselves to think that they are on the cusp of the playoffs with five teams ahead of them in the wild-card standings and, as of dinnertime Wednesday, 8 1/2 games between them and the division lead.

It’s not impossible for the Rangers to surge into the wild-card hunt, but it’s a taller task without a more reliable arm in the eighth inning.

With Scheppers’ struggles this season, which included being demoted to Triple A earlier in the year, and with rookie Keone Kela’s first-half workload a potential issue down the stretch, adding a reliever is a must.

General manager Jon Daniels said that’s the kind of move the Rangers are likely to make, not a deal for Hamels, the Philadelphia Phillies’ ace, or Justin Upton, the San Diego Padres’ slugger.

Adding a veteran reliever would be far more affordable, both in terms of finances and prospects. Double A outfielder Nomar Mazara, for instance, won’t be going anywhere in exchange for a bullpen piece, except possibly to Triple A Round Rock.

For now, Scheppers will continue to work the eighth inning. Jeff Banister likes Scheppers’ stuff, calling it “electric.”

The manager was also of the mind that Rockies hitters used the ballpark to their advantage in the eighth, when catcher Nick Hundley hit a solo homer and Carlos Gonzalez tied it with a three-run shot after a DJ LeMahieu grounder raced into the outfield.

The Hundley homer is likely an out at Globe Life Park, and the thought was that LeMahieu would have been retired in Arlington, too. Gonzalez’s homer, though, was no cheap shot, and it apparently won’t knock Scheppers out of his role.

“He’s still going to be out there in the eighth inning for us and the seventh inning at times when we need to,” Banister said. “I haven’t lost any confidence in Schepp.”

The meltdown cost Martin Perez his first victory in more than a year. The left-hander allowed four runs (three earned) in six innings, but he wasn’t lamenting that he didn’t pad his record.

“The most important thing is we won the game,” he said.

The Rangers’ winning rally started when Rougned Odor, who needed a double for the cycle, fought back from an 0-2 count to draw a leadoff walk, and went to third as Adrian Beltre followed with a single.

The bases were loaded three batters later for Andrus. He sent a grounder to the left of Gold Glove-winning third baseman Nolan Arenado, whose dive came up empty and allowed Odor and Beltre to score.

This story was originally published July 22, 2015 at 7:34 PM with the headline "Rangers, needing relief help, escape after Scheppers’ meltdown."