Kumar Rocker, Pickle Juice Power Texas Rangers to Sweep of Chicago White Sox

ARLINGTON — Kumar Rocker fought the Chicago White Sox and leg cramps on Sunday while setting a record, as far as Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy is concerned.

“I think he broke the record for how much pickle juice you can drink,” Bochy said with a chuckle after Texas’ 2-1 win over the White Sox.

The Rangers (36-36) are back at .500 and have won seven of their last eight games after sweeping the White Sox (23-49).

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Rocker (2-4) was cruising into the fifth inning when leg cramps got to him after he struck out Michael A. Taylor. He was visited by Bochy, pitching coach Mike Maddux and team trainer Matt Lucero. He spent five minutes stretching out his legs and quickly drank two bottles of pickle juice trying to work out the cramp.

Turns out those weren’t his first bottles of pickle juice on Sunday, either.

“I had already had two down in the dugout, so that was extra,” Rocker said.

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He gave up a single to Josh Rojas and then he was brought another bottle of pickle juice from the dugout, which counted as a mound visit after a short discussion between the umpire crew.

Rojas stole second, followed by Mike Tauchman’s groundout to first baseman Jake Burger, who handled the chance himself so Rocker wouldn’t have to move much. That moved Rojas to third.

After another mound visit to check on him again, Rocker got Chase Meidroth to ground out to Corey Seager at shortstop to end the inning.

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That ended Rocker’s game, too, a resilient outing — and not just because of the pickle juice.

“He was really under control today,” Bochy said. “Calm, determined and threw strikes.”

He gave up four hits and one walk, while striking out six in the outing.

The Rangers needed a focused Rocker with a depleted bullpen and starter Tyler Mahle going on the injured list on Sunday. After a chaotic outing against Tampa Bay on June 4, Texas optioned him back to Triple-A Round Rock to work on his pitch mix, holding runners and the little things that have bedeviled him early in his career.

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The hope was that he would be there for a while, not two weeks.

He checked some boxes. Rocker threw four different pitchers at least 10 times, including a cutter that he considers to be a slider. He wasn’t over-reliant on his fastball, though he hit nearly 98 mph on his sinker. He dropped his curveball down to an average of 78.2 mph.

He did a better job holding runners, not that he allowed many. He only gave up consecutive baserunners once. In the second inning Ryan Noda walked, followed by a Taylor single.

Rocker induced a groundout to end the inning.

“I had a chance to locate better, changing speeds, got the [pitch] mix and then I just made sure I was finishing all of those pitches,” he said.

It was his third sharp outing at home this season, where he has pitched much better. In three outings he’s allowed four earned runs. On the road he’s allowed 19 earned runs in four outings.

With Mahle and Nathan Eovaldi on the IL, Rocker’s next start is probably coming in Pittsburgh this weekend. The next step in his development is to find a way to put together a quality start on the road.

Hopefully with less pickle juice.

“It shows the mental toughness in the kid when he comes back up and he does what he did today,” Bochy said.

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