BOS 6, TEX 1: Rangers Troubled as Arihara's Issues Worsen
ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers may be at a crossroads with Kohei Arihara.
The Japanese-born right-hander was pummeled by the Red Sox lineup early and often, as the Rangers fell to Boston by a score of 6-1 on Friday night. Arihara started the game with back-to-back walks, then back-to-back home runs that immediately put the Rangers in a 4-0 hole just four batters into the game.
Arihara only lasted 2 2/3 innings, earning all six Boston runs on four hits with two walks and only one strikeout. He also allowed four home runs on the night.
Now with two troublesome starts in a row, the Rangers' level of concern is rapidly increasing as they attempt to pinpoint the issues with Arihara.
"The stuff just hasn't looked the same," said Rangers manager Chris Woodward. "The velo was down. The split and everything is just not as sharp. Typically when the velo is down, everything else suffers. I don't know. We asked him [if there was something wrong], and he said he feels fine. I don't know if it's the four days rest. It's something we're going to have to address. What he had tonight didn't look like anything we had seen in the past."
The Rangers are not ruling anything out when it comes to helping Arihara. Obviously, Friday night's loss is still fresh, but the Rangers may consider a spot start in his next time around, giving him an extra day of rest.
An emerging candidate for a spot start could be Hyeon-jong Yang, who came in and extinguished the fire with relative ease. He shutout the Red Sox for the next 4 1/3 innings, giving up only one hit and one walk while striking out four.
Yang has now pitched two 4 1/3-inning relief outings in his first week in the big leagues. He has opened the eyes of everyone in the Rangers organization, maybe to the point of an increased role on the team.
"I don't think it's too early to talk about that," Woodward said. "He's been really impressive. ... He knows how to pitch. He just had never pitched in the big leagues. He's faced some pretty good lineups — two of the best in baseball. He doesn't seem to be bothered by much out there."
While Arihara put the team in a deep hole, the Rangers offense couldn't get anything done. The only run came on an RBI single by Brock Holt in the second inning. Holt had a great game against his former team, going 2-for-3 with a walk and two stellar defensive plays at third base.
The Rangers (11-16) will try to avoid back-to-back losses in the third game of the series with the Red Sox (17-10) on Saturday night. Jordan Lyles (1-2, 6.75 ERA) will take the mound for the Rangers, and go up against Boston left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez (4-0, 3.52 ERA).
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