The Texas Rangers took full advantage after a changed call. A misplayed flyball only made things worse for the San Diego Padres.
Robinson Chirinos drove in the first of five runs Texas scored in a decisive sixth inning on the next pitch after it appeared he had struck
out
Pierre
Desir Jersey , and right fielder Hunter Renfroe was charged with an error
on the next play as the Rangers rallied for a 7-4 win Monday night.
There were two runners and Chirinos had two strikes when he had a foul tip. Home plate umpire Tony Randazzo initially indicated he was out, and it looked
like catcher Austin Hedges had secured the ball in the mitt that kicked up dirt
when he reached down.
But was changed to a foul ball after the umpires got together to discuss the play.
”From my vantage point, our dugout, we saw dirt fly, which seem to indicate that the ball hit the ground,” said Rangers manager Jeff Banister, who said the
umps got together on their own.
Padres manager Andy Green obviously had a much different view.
”Yeah, it’s frustrating. They missed it. I think it’s obvious when you see the film that they missed it,” Green said. ”It’s a frustrating overturn on an
obvious call. We had chances, though. We had some plays we could have made that
we didn’t make. It’s one of those innings that flat out got away from us.”
After Chirinos’ got Texas within 4-2, Ronald Guzman then hit the deep flyball misplayed by Renfroe, who drifted to the ball on a windy night into the
right-center cutout. Guzman wound up at second on the error and was credited
with a sac fly. Delino DeShields and Choo followed with consecutive RBI
singles
Josh
Ferguson Jersey , and Elvis Andrus added a sac fly.
”You’ve got to be mentally tough enough to bounce back from it and make a better pitch than what I made,” said Craig Stammen (4-1).
Choo extended his career-best on-base streak to 38 games with three hits, including that tiebreaking RBI single in the sixth. Chirinos had an RBI double
in the seventh.
San Diego (35-46) reached the midpoint of its season by losing for the eighth time in nine games. The Rangers (35-45), who play their 81st game Tuesday night,
have won eight of nine.
Tony Barnette (2-0) retired all three batters he faced after Manuel Margo and Jose Pirela homered off Rangers starter Cole Hamels. Keone Kela worked the nine
for his 19th save, the most in the majors without a blown chance and matching
the longest season-opening span in team history.
”Being able to see what the team was able to do when you put them a little behind, they were able to battle,” Hamels said. ”When you’re winning,
everybody’s happy, and you can move on to the next day.”
GOING DEEP
Margo’s three-run homer in the fifth was his second homer in as many days, and his third overall. His only other homer this season came April 5. … Pirela
went deep to start the sixth for a 4-1 lead and chase Hamels.
BEING CAUTIOUS
San Diego starter Joey Lucchesi allowed only one hit over four scoreless innings. But the lefty was limited to 70 pitches in only his second start after
being out more than a month because of a right hip strain.
”You’re managing a guy’s career as much as you are a baseball game,” Green said. ”To
me
Clayton
Geathers Jersey , wasn’t quite stretched out enough to send him back out
there for the fifth inning.”
SHORT HOPS
The Padres had allowed five runs or fewer in their 14 previous road games, a club record. … It was the 10th time in Hamels’ 16 starts this season that Texas
scored no more than one run while the lefty was on the mound.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Padres: Green said an MRI on the pitching elbow of RHP Jordan Lyles showed that he does just have inflammation. Lyles was scratched from his scheduled
start Saturday after feeling discomfort while warming up. Lyles will rejoin the
team in Texas, but won’t start throwing again before the weekend.
Rangers: Guzman left in the sixth and went into MLB concussion protocol. His head struck the knee of third baseman Christian Villanueva when diving back on
an attempted pickoff by Hedges. ”It was very evident when we got out there, just
his words, kind of the symptoms that he gave us,” Banister said. … RF Nomar
Mazar left with tightness in his left hamstring after an infield single in the
eighth. Banister described that as ”pretty precautionary.”
UP NEXT
Padres right-hander Tyson Ross (5-5), who received no run support in his last two starts, faces the team he pitched for last year. Ross was 3-3 with a 7.71
ERA in 12 games in his only season with the Rangers after previously being with
San Diego from 2013-16.
—
One bad inning seems to spoil every Michael Fulmer start.
The Detroit Tigers right-hander can look overpowering most of the time, but the opposition catches up to him at some point.
In Cincinnati three starts ago, he dominated for five innings before giving up two home runs in the sixth.
Against Oakland in his next outing, he lasted eight innings but gave up three runs in the third. Facing the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday, Fulmer tossed four
scoreless innings but allowed three runs in the fifth.
He wound up with two losses and a no-decision in those starts. He’ll try to break the habit in the finale of a four-game series against the Texas Rangers on
Sunday afternoon.
“Overall Jabaal Sheard Jersey , it’s just kind of eliminating that one big inning,” Fulmer
said of his struggles. “I feel like that’s what it is every start. If I can just
keep the crooked numbers off the scoreboard every inning and just try to put up
zeroes the best I can, the results will come eventually. I know I’ve been saying
that for a while, but I feel like we’re close and I’m still happy with my stuff
right now.”
Fulmer (3-7, 4.22 ERA) has posted one victory in his last seven outings. Run support has been spotty at best for him this season — he has given up two or
fewer runs in eight starts — but he’d rather make things easier on his team.
“I feel like any given start, it just needs one complete game and we’re going to turn the corner,” he said. “Everything else feels good. I feel healthy, I
feel strong and you can see that by the way I’m executing my pitches.”
Fulmer is 1-1 with a 4.58 ERA in three career starts against the Rangers. He can take inspiration from Jordan Zimmermann’s performance Friday after the
veteran right-hander limited Texas to one run in eight innings and struck out
11.
“His command (Friday) was impeccable,” Fulmer said. “The biggest key for myself is trying to command the ball a little better.”
Detroit got another strong start Saturday from Mike Fiers, who gave up one run in six innings of the Tigers’ 7-1 win.
Right-hander Austin Bibens-Dirkx (1-2, 4.40) will oppose Fulmer. He has made three starts since being recalled from Triple-A Round Rock.
Bibens-Dirkx gave up five runs in six innings against Houston in his last start, but it could have been worse. All the runs came in the first three
innings Margus
Hunt Jersey , but he settled down and retired nine of the last 12 batters
he faced.
This will be Bibens-Dirkx’s first career start against the Tigers, but he tossed 4 2/3 innings of scoreless relief last season. He’s 4-1 with a 3.81 ERA
in 14 road appearances (five starts) since making his major league debut as a
32-year-old last season.
Texas designated hitter Shin-Shoo Choo can establish a franchise on-base record Sunday. He tied Julio Franco’s 1993 mark by reaching base for the 46th
consecutive game Saturday.
He had two doubles after homering Friday despite dealing with a quad injury.
“Very impressive what Choo’s doing,” manager Jeff Banister said. “Any time a player is battling through some nagging things and continuing to go out and
perform is highly impressive. He’s a tremendous player. For me, it’s not just
the on-base (streak), it’s how he’s playing, how he’s swinging the bat, the
power, the extra-base hits and the walks.”
