ARLINGTON, Texas — You don’t get style points added to the standings when you win a series in Major League Baseball, which is why the Texas Rangers are surely glad to escape Motor City having claimed three games in the four-game set despite the peculiar circumstances that played out during their midweek stay in Detroit.
The series against the Tigers falls under the category of just happy to get the Ws in the win column. The brand of baseball was ugly with the two teams combining to commit nine errors over the four games, and with various things going wrong in each game for both teams, the Rangers eventually overcame to end their recent series losing streak.
As Texas nears the end of their current 17-game in 17-day stretch, there must be a certain level of relief from the locker room to get back on the winning side of things, even if it wasn’t pretty.
Game 17: Rangers 1, Detroit 0 (W: Lorenzen, 1-0, L: Olson, 0-2, Sv: Yates, 1)
Game 18: Rangers 2, Detroit 4 (W: Chafin, 1-0, L: Ureña, 0-2, Sv: Foley, 5)
Game 19: Rangers 5, Detroit 4 (W: Yates, 2-0, L: Miller, 3-1)
Game 20: Rangers 9, Detroit 7 (W: Leclerc, 1-2, L: Miller, 3-2, Sv: Yates, 2)
Leit up
There had been talks since Sunday about the arrival of Jack Leiter to the big leagues this week. The former No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 MLB draft, and college star at Vanderbilt, debuted in the finale of the series, opposite Kenta Maeda, as a spot starter designed to give the rest of the rotation a breather.
Leiter, the son of New York Mets’ franchise Hall of Famer Al, had a mouthwatering beginning to his afternoon, striking out Riley Greene looking on three straight pitches. The first inning was a success, with Leiter striking out two in the scoreless frame. With the Rangers’ offense sparking in the first two innings, it looked like a potential victory would be a nice notch in the cap for the famous prospect.
Unfortunately, Leiter struggled with command, the bugaboo that has plagued his time in the minors to dull some of his luster as a prospect over the last couple of seasons. That issue ultimately cut his afternoon short at 3 ⅔ IPs, having given up seven earned runs in total.
The final three runs came after center fielder Leody Taveras was unable to snare a two-out triple to the left of the 412 ft sign in a cavernous center field at Comerica Park. The righty, therefore, pitched better than the box score would indicate, and there is still plenty to dream on from Leiter after his hotly anticipated debut.
The good and bad of Ureña
Through his first five appearances of 2024, reliever Jose Ureña was masterful. He gave up just four hits in that time, a stretch totaling 11 ⅔ scoreless innings. Against Houston, the offseason signee was not as fortunate, getting blasted for five runs in just 1 ⅓ innings. Looking to bounce back in Detroit, the righty came on in relief for Jon Gray in Tuesday’s contest with the score tied and surrendered the winning run in the eighth.
Where it looked like the wheels had potentially come off for Ureña, he was not deterred. Coming on in relief of Leiter in the finale, Ureña kept the Tigers off the board after Detroit had tied the game against the starter. For three innings, the Dominican gave up just two hits and a walk in 42 pitches to buy Texas time to eventually score late and win. While he didn’t earn the victory or a hold, Ureña was undoubtedly the star pitcher in the series finale win.
More debuts
Not to be lost in the hype of Leiter’s debut was the season and team debut for starter Michael Lorenzen. A complete nonfactor until signing late in the spring, the veteran stepped in for the injured Cody Bradford after ramping up with a few outings at Round Rock.
Manager Bruce Bochy had said before Lorenzen’s start that he could be good for around 90-100 pitches. The former Tiger went to 79 pitches, but those came in a hard fought five innings. Lorenzen only surrendered three hits and gave up zero runs, but he did walk five during his outing, and needed a trio of double plays to wiggle out of danger resulting in the somewhat early pull from Bochy.
Regardless, the results of the debut were as much as the Rangers could have hoped for and when combined with a stellar effort from the bullpen, the team started off on the right foot with their first 1-0 win since 2021.
Garcia back on track
Much like the rest of the team, Adolis Garcia struggled with the bat in the first game of the series. In the second game, Garcia was used as a pinch-hitter and failed to reach base, rendering him hitless for two consecutive games as Texas scuffled at the plate.
On Wednesday, however, the two-time All-Star made up ground, hitting a two-run double and scoring himself. Garcia went yard in the finale, launching a solo homer to left-center to give him five on the year.
El Bombi’s contributions at the plate have been quite significant for the Rangers; the selectiveness with which he is hitting has been impressive to watch, and he still has a penchant for game-changing and atmosphere-shifting hits.
Unexpected hero Josh Smith
The absence of Josh Jung, who was the American League’s starting third baseman at the All-Star Game in his rookie year last season, was certainly a source of worry for the Rangers. Texas already has Nathaniel Lowe trying to hurry back from an oblique strain, and Jung, who only got to play in four games before a broken wrist sent him to the 60 day IL, had racked up seven hits, a homer, and six RBI to fuel the Ranger lineup.
Jung is no stranger to injuries, as his season debut in 2022 was delayed by a shoulder ailment before he missed all of August last season with a fractured thumb. With Jung out, the Rangers tasked Josh Smith with stepping in, and the utility man has done the job in a big way.
Smith was a huge factor in the Rangers’ win over Detroit on Wednesday, in fact. With the game tied in the top of the ninth and with two men on with one out, Smith laced a first-pitch, pinch-hit double to the right-center field gap to drive in the game winning run.
Smith has been a part of the last 14 games for Texas and he is hitting .333 while driving in seven and scoring six runs. He’s not a power hitter like Jung by any stretch, but he’s giving the Rangers exactly what they need in their starting third baseman’s absence – some level of production that keeps the lineup feeling lengthy.
With an error-filled, closely-contested series in Detroit behind them, the Rangers now head to Atlanta trying to finish out this early long road trip on a high note.
Do you think the Rangers are turning around their one-run game luck? Share your thoughts with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.
