Texas Rangers Rotation Reset Helps Sweep Tampa Bay Rays

When Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy announced his starting rotation for last weekend’s series with the Cleveland Guardians, he was asked if moving both left-handers into that series had anything to do with throwing three right-handers against the Tampa Bay Rays in the following series.

Bochy said no.

“It was more about giving guys a break,” Bochy said. “We really wanted to give them a break and that was kind of the way it lined up.”

No one will complain about the results.

The Rangers (58-39) are riding a six-game winning streak, in part because Bochy’s reset of the rotation allowed him to avoid what happened in Tampa Bay last month.

Back in June, the Rangers went to Tampa Bay and threw both of their lefties — Andrew Heaney and Martín Pérez – against the Rays’ right-handed heavy lineup. The Rangers lost both games.

The only game the Rangers won in Tampa Bay was right-hander Nathan Eovaldi's start.

Jon Gray started the opener after the All-Star Break against Cleveland, followed by Heaney and Pérez (the pair were broken up by Eovaldi’s start in Tampa Bay). That set up Dane Dunning to start Monday’s game, followed by Eovaldi and Gray in the Wednesday series finale against the Rays.

Did the Rangers win all three games against the Rays because they ran three right-handers out there?

Perhaps. The Rangers scored no more than five runs in any of those games, so they needed good starts. The Rangers beat the Rays, 3-2, in the opener, with Dunning throwing a quality start — seven innings. He gave up five hits, two runs, one walk and struck out four.

Eovaldi won his 11th game on Tuesday, throwing a six-inning, two-hitter in which he didn’t allow a run. He walked three but struck out two. The Rangers won, 5-3.

Gray had to leave the game after taking a comebacker off his shin in the fifth inning. He allowed eight hits but didn’t give up a run and struck out four against one walk. The bullpen held the Rays to one run over the final 4 2/3 innings in the Rangers' 5-1 win Wednesday.

The Rays had 21 hits the entire series.

The benefit for the Rangers wasn’t just a sweep. The Rangers have a 4-2 season series win over the Rays, which will help come tiebreaker time for the playoffs.

Plus, the Rangers are closing in on the best record in the American League.

Maybe Bochy planned it. Maybe he didn’t. Either way, it worked.

You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.

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