Texas Rangers pitchers draw manager’s ire after eight walks in loss to Houston Astros

With player access limited for media last season and then to start 2021 and traveling not yet a full-go, “covering” games from home has, basically for the first time, provided some writer an extended chance to listen to the TV broadcasters.

Former Texas Rangers outfielder David Murphy has been in the booth the past two games as the color analyst while C.J. Nitkowski handles play-by-play duites with Dave Raymond off.

Quick opinion: Murphy is pretty good, and he and Nitkowski seem pretty dialed in together as former players from the same era. Their paths never crossed in an MLB game, with Nitkowski’s last game in 2005 and Murphy’s first in 2007, but they share a common feel for what happens during game.

Murphy doesn’t need to work, but it seems like he could become a more prominent piece in the booth if he wants to go that route.

He and Nitkowski had some time to kill Friday night. It was that kind of game for the Rangers.

Here’s some Rangers Reaction from a 10-4 loss to the Houston Astros. The Rangers have lost four straight games.

Ugly pitching night

Left-hander Wes Benjamin was recalled Friday from Triple A Round Rock to make a spot start in place of the injured Kohei Arihara.

The Rangers believed Benjamin found the form he showed in spring training that earned him a spot on the Opening Day roster. He was throwing his slider for strikes again, and he added his curveball back to his repertoire.

“Sending him down was more we needed to to get him right,” manager Chris Woodward said. “When he’s right, we felt like he’s earned that spot.”

What’s next for Benjamin is unknown, especially after he allowed three runs in 1 2/3 innings. The Astros got to him in the second as their first five hitters reached, the first two on walks, and forced Benjamin to throw 32 of his 49 pitches.

He struggled to put hitters away, trying to get Astros hitters to chase, and went deep in counts multiple times. But the Astros weren’t launching extra-base hits against him. All three of their hits were singles, and none was hit particularly hard.

“I was trying to play the corners too much, and that came back to bite me,” Benjamin said.

The Astros did the same in the third against Brett de Geus, though their two hits to start the inning were both hit over 100 mph. The second, by Yuli Gurriel, struck de Geus, who stayed in the game but didn’t retire any of the next three hitters.

Hyeon-Jong Yang entered, and two more runs scored, but at least he got out of the inning. He allowed three runs in the sixth, and the Astros tattooed some balls against him over his four innings.

Yang issued three of the Rangers’ eight walks, a number that drove Woodward crazy. It was easy to identify by his tone how annoyed he was throughout his postgame comments.

Four Rangers pitchers combined to throw 174 pitches, a number that will drive pitching coach Doug Mathis to drinking.

“These guys aren’t going to chase,” Woodward said. “If you don’t attack these guys, they’re going to hurt you. Eight walks in a game is never going to get it done, not against this team.”

Yang threw 72 pitches, so he is stretched out to perhaps go five innings should the Rangers decide to let him start in five days against the New York Yankees. Like the Astros, the Yankees are loaded with right-handed bats, so maybe neither Benjamin nor Yang will get the nod.

Another decision is ahead.

Notable off days

Joey Gallo’s exclusion from the Rangers’ lineup seemed curious enough, considering the Rangers had a day off Wednesday and he played Thursday. Something was up.

Was there some soreness from the awkward fall he took late Thursday on the warning track in right field? Was he off after a third straight hitless game so that he could work on something in the cages?

It turns out that Gallo has been dealing with soreness in his left hamstring, and it reached the point where Woodward thought the best course of action was to sit Gallo and let him receive a day’s worth of treatment.

Gallo could return Saturday.

The guess is that Charlie Culberson returns to third base after Andy Ibanez played for him Friday. Culberson had a rough go Thursday, with a Jose Altuve grounder getting past him and going for a base-clearing double rather than an out.

Culberson was also the runner at third with no outs in the 10th inning when Khris Davis hit a chopper to third base. Culberson had to return to the base, and Alex Bregman started a rally-killing double play.

Ordinarily, runners at third are told to head home to try to draw a throw that would prevent a double play. Woodward, though, didn’t fault Culberson, who would have run into a tag by Bregman had he attempted to go.

Ibanez’s time in the majors could be numbered. Brock Holt (hamstring) is almost ready to come off the injured list, and the Rangers don’t need to carry three third baseman.

One more off day: Kolby Allard. The left-hander was a candidate to pitch behind Benjamin, but likely didn’t because Benjamin didn’t pitch deep enough into the game. Expect Allard to pitch Saturday behind Dane Dunning.

Rangers’ star of the game

Here are the four candidates for Rangers star of the game. Yes, there were four.

Jose Trevino: The catcher drove in two runs and collected two hits from the bottom of the lineup. He is 9 for 30 over his past seven games, but is still hitting below .200 the past 19 games.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa: Another big game for the shortstop, who went 3 for 4 with two doubles and two runs scored. He collected both doubles and a single against the wily Zack Greinke. Kiner-Falefa is batting above .350 the past 23 games.

Adolis Garcia: The rookie swatted his 10th homer of the season, a solo shot in the eighth inning, and also had a single off Greinke. Garcia has eight home runs on the road this season.

David Dahl: He provided the defensive play of the game in the seventh inning when he leaped at the right-field wall to rob Chas McCormick of a two-run homer. Dahl made a sliding catch to end in eighth in his first game of the season in right field.

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