This was an ugly, unpleasant game. Kolby Allard wasn’t good as the starter, the defense was all sorts of gross, and a late rally after several starters had been pulled meant that the Rangers almost were faced with Rob Refsnyder batting in a key situation in the ninth instead of Joey Gallo, because Gallo had been pulled because the game was a blowout.
Allard gave up 6 runs in three innings of work. He was undermined by his defense but also didn’t pitch well.
Juan Nicasio, added to the active roster yesterday, made his Ranger debut and gave two runs in the fourth. That was not good.
Wes Benjamin made his Ranger debut in the fifth inning. This was also the major league debut for Benjamin, a fifth round pick in 2014 out of the University of Kansas. He also allowed two runs in his inning of work, but still, it’s obviously a special, memorable day for the lefty.
Taylor Hearn had a scoreless inning. That was good to see.
Jesse Chavez and Jimmy Herget each had a scoreless inning as well, so, you know, huzzah.
The offense wasn’t good. The six runs is somewhat misleading — they had just six hits on the day, albeit with six walks. Joey Gallo and Rougned Odor each homered, and the homer for Odor hopefully gives him a shot in the arm, given his recent struggles. That said, Odor’s home run was high but not terribly deep, a ball right down the line that was just fair and not really barreled up. Odor also had a botched throw on a potential double play that led to a big Rockies inning. Time may be running out for Rougie.
Todd Frazier had two more doubles. Elvis Andrus had a double. Danny Santana came into the game for Shin-Soo Choo, having just been activated from the injured list, and picked up a single and a walk.
Gallo’s homer had an exit velocity of 104.3. Todd Frazier’s doubles were 104.8 and 103.1. Nick Solak had a GIDP with a 102.8 mph exit velocity, and Scott Heineman and Elvis Andrus had outs that were 102.0 and 100.3, respectively. Elvis’s double had a 99.9 exit velocity.
Juan Nicasio topped out at 96.3 mph tonight among the Rangers pitchers, while Taylor Hearn hit 96.1. Kolby Allard touched 93.4, but generally was at 91-92.
Bad end to the series, but the Rangers are at .500 one-third of the way through the season, and took two of three in Colorado. Things could be worse,