Ohioans lead Rangers into series at Cleveland

Ryan Rua was the Texas Rangers’ starting left fielder Monday night, which wouldn’t have hand any particular significance if the game had been in any other state with an MLB team.

But Rua is from Amhearst, Ohio, just west of Progressive Field, so the start rates as one of the highlights of his early career. And he was going to share it with more than 100 people — family, friends ex-teammates and ex-coaches.

“It’s definitely cool to be back in the lineup with friends and family here, but at the same time it’s another game,” said Rua, who went to Lake Erie College just east of Cleveland. “Once I get out there after BP and stuff, it’ll be just another game.”

The Rangers have three Ohioans on their active roster: left-hander Derek Holland, who started Monday in the opener of a three-game series against the Cleveland Indians, and outfielders Rua and Jared Hoying.

Manager Jeff Banister said that Hoying, from Fort Loramie about three hours to the southwest, is likely to start one of the final two games. Hoying wasn’t sure how many people will come to watch him, but it’s also a big number. They even chanted his name during batting practice.

“There’s only about 1,200 people in my hometown, so I have a feeling it might be about half,” Hoying said. “Considering being with Texas my whole career, everything is over that way, so nothing has ever been this close to home. The closest I ever got was Nashville in Triple A. People still made it down to that, but that was six hours from home.”

While Banister is in the business of putting the Rangers in the best position to win, which he believes he did by giving Rua a favorable matchup even though Josh Tomlin is right-handed, he wants to take advantage of situations like the ones that arose with the Ohio trio.

Holland is from Newark, about 90 minutes away.

“I like those stories,” Banister said. “The path to the big leagues, there’s no guarantee that you can get and opportunity to give back to the people who have impact your life. But, also, I believe in both of those guys.”

This story was originally published May 30, 2016 at 3:48 PM with the headline "Ohioans lead Rangers into series at Cleveland."