14-14 - Rangers fail to close out Pirates, fall 6-4 in 11

Someone has obviously put a hex on Rangers closers during the month of April. Call it The Jinx of Feliz. Happy’s Curse.

Since 2015, the Rangers have opened the year with the following closers:

2015: Neftali Feliz (5 ER in 9 IP in April, lost the job in May)

2016: Shawn Tolleson (6 ER in 9 IP in April, lost the job in May)

2017: Sam Dyson (14 ER in 7 ¹⁄₃ IP in April, lost the job by mid-April, traded in June)

2018: Keone Kela (3 ER in 9 IP in April, pretty much what will have to suffice as a success story, apparently annoyed the team a lot, traded in July)

2019: Jose Leclerc (10 ER in 10 ²⁄₃ IP so far, allowed 10 ER during the entire 2018 season)

Player of the Game: What a shame for Adrian Sampson who pitched 5 ²⁄₃ innings of shutout baseball and was in line to win his first big league game until Leclerc blew a 3-0 lead in the ninth and Jesse Chavez allowed three runs in extras.

But at least Joey Gallo exists. He walked thrice and menaced the scoreboard by launching one upper tank for the Rangers’ final run in the 11th.

Up Next: The Rangers and Pirates conclude this brief Interleague affair with RHP Shelby Miller set to take on RHP Jameson Taillon in the finale. First pitch from The Ballpark is scheduled for a real dang early 1:05 pm CT.