Robby Ahlstrom’s First Rangers, MLB Victory Delivered Five Days Later

For rookies, certain milestones are the culmination of years of hard work. The first hit, the first home run, the first run scored, the first win claimed.

The last is a milestone for a pitcher. It’s a big day. The catcher shakes his hand. The pitcher gets the ball from the final out. It goes up on the mantle.

But what happens when that milestone happens on a Thursday and the pitcher finds out on a Monday? Well, welcome to Texas Rangers reliever Robby Ahlstrom’s odd path to his first Major League victory.

Robby Ahlstrom’s First MLB Win

Texas Rangers pitcher Robby Ahlstrom throws the baseball to a hitter. — Texas Rangers pitcher Robby Ahlstrom. | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

The Rangers beat the Kansas City Royals on Thursday, 4-2. Kumar Rocker started the game and had the lead when he left. But he didn’t pitch five innings. He only threw 4.2 innings. So even though he was ahead, 3-2, he wasn’t in line for the win.

Ahlstrom replaced him and threw 1.1 innings of scoreless relief. He struck out one and walked none. The rookie entered the game in the fifth with a runner on first but retired the first hitter he faced to end the inning. He gave up a single in the sixth, induced a double play and then struck out Michael Massey.

Cole Winn took the seventh inning, and Jacob Latz took the final two innings. The Rangers never surrendered the lead and even added to it with a run in the sixth inning.

By rule, Ahlstrom should have gotten the win. If the starting pitcher doesn’t go five innings, then the win goes to the reliever that was on the mound when the team took the lead for good. Since Ahlstrom inherited the lead, didn’t surrender it, and neither did Winn or Latz, the win should have gone to him.

But it didn’t. When the final box score came out, Latz was credited with the victory.

But the rules are clear. Ahlstrom should have gotten the victory. On Monday, MLB made the proper change, highlighted by a post at MLB Scoring Changes on X (formerly Twitter).

Now, Ahlstrom has his first career victory. But does he have the baseball? Does he have anything from that game? Scoring changes like this typically happen after the game or even the next day. But five days later? That’s rare. And it robbed Ahlstrom of a moment that should be one of the biggest of his pro career.

Officially, Ahlstrom entered Monday’s game with the Minnesota Twins with a 1-0 record and a 0.00 ERA in five games, with four strikeouts and one walk in six innings. Batters are hitting .190 against him.

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