Jun 22, 2021; Arlington, Texas, USA; Oakland Athletics relief pitcher Sergio Romo (54) is checked for foreign substances by umpire Dan Iassogna (58)after the seventh inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field. — Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

Rangers Routed By A's, Romo Drops Pants During Foreign Substance Check

The Texas Rangers were shellacked by the Oakland A's on Tuesday, but the story of the night came after the seventh inning.

Author:
Chris Halicke
Jun 23, 2021 4:05 AM EDT

Editor's Note: This story has been updated since originally published.

ARLINGTON, Texas — We saw a little bit of everything on Tuesday night at Globe Life Field — almost a little too much.

One night after the Texas Rangers won handily by a score of 8-3, the Oakland A's returned the favor with a 13-6 shellacking of Taylor Hearn and the Rangers.

Hearn, who replaced Jordan Lyles, made his second career start for Texas, with a remarkable 789-day gap between his first big league start in April 2019 until Tuesday night. Unfortunately for Hearn, he didn't fare much better than he did on that dreadful night in Seattle.

The 26-year-old southpaw only recorded two outs in the first inning before Rangers manager Chris Woodward opted to go to the bullpen. Hearn was charged with four runs on the night, which put Texas in a deep hole early.

"Talking to him before the game, I don't think it was a nervous thing," Woodward said of Hearn. "He just didn't have good command. He was all over the place. I think that was the biggest factor there."

On a night that was supposed to be dedicated to rest, Jordan Lyles was asked to log some mop-up innings to salvage the bullpen. Lyles turned in a solid six innings of relief, giving up two runs on five hits with one walk and three strikeouts.

To continue on a positive note, the Rangers offense scored six unanswered runs in an attempt to claw back into the game, highlighted by a four-run fifth inning. The A's ended the Rangers' chances of pulling off an unlikely comeback with a four-run ninth inning, pounding on young Texas reliever Demarcus Evans.

But, to the skipper's delight, the young Rangers, led by Eli White's three-hit game, displayed mettle.

"They just continued to fight," Woodward said. “These guys don't quit. They had quality at-bats, I felt like. Even after we were down 9-0. It was quality at-bat after quality at-bat, even though we didn't have much to show for it. ... Overall, I thought our offense actually did a really good job tonight.”

Romo Drops His Pants...

Major League Baseball's crackdown on pitchers using illegal substances officially began on Monday night. For the most part, it went without any major glitches. Chris Woodward said the process felt a little weird, and Rangers starter Kyle Gibson nonchalantly said, "It went about as I thought it would."

That changed drastically on Tuesday night, even in the Rangers' own backyard.

In a contest with the Phillies, Nationals starter Max Scherzer grabbed the attention of the baseball world first. After undergoing two separate checks with the umpires in the first and third innings, Phillies manager Joe Girardi asked the umpiring crew to check Scherzer again, but this time in the middle of the fourth inning.

The veteran hurler was clearly frustrated by the whole process, and subsequently tossed his hat and glove, and even began to undo his belt. The umpires found no substances and Scherzer finished the inning.

After the conclusion of the fifth inning, Scherzer walked back to his team's dugout with a fixed stare in Girardi's direction. The Phillies skipper came out of his dugout after Nationals hitting coach Kevin Long began yelling at Girardi, which earned him an ejection from the game.

But Scherzer wasn't done. He had some strong comments in his postgame Zoom with the media.

"These are [Rob] Manfred rules," Scherzer said. "Go ask him what he wants to do with this. I've said enough. Go ask Alec Bohm how he feels about 95 (miles per hour) at his face."

Scherzer also added, "I'll take off all my clothes if you want to see me. I've got nothing on me."

And that's the perfect segue to what happened in Arlington. After his appearance in the seventh inning, Oakland A's reliever Sergio Romo was checked for illegal substances by third base umpire and crew chief Dan Iassogna.

Similar to Scherzer, Romo clearly wanted nothing to do with the inspection, tossing his hat and gloves. However, in a Steve Lyons fashion, Romo completely took off and tossed his belt, then began to pull his pants down on the field.

“He’s a playful guy,” said A's manager Bob Melvin. “I don’t think he meant anything by it. I will give credit to the umpires with the way they’ve handled this. They’ve been fantastic in it. Try to make light of it, smile with guys and do it quickly. So, that won’t happen again.”

There were other instances that took place throughout the league on Tuesday night that will put considerable doubt into just how efficient this whole process will be. Who knows how this will continue to play out. But after just two nights, it's the talk of the baseball world. If that's what Rob Manfred and the league wants, then bully for them. If not, there may need to be a better way to police the issue.