May 11, 2022 - Game 29
W - Joel Payamps (1-1)
L - Kolby Allard (0-2)
S - None
HR: TEX: Seager (7) KC: Merrifield (1)
Time of Game: 2:55
Game Recap
Texas entered Wednesday on a set bullpen day. Before the game, the club sent outfielder Zach Reks to triple-A Round Rock while calling up pitcher Kolby Allard. The indication before Tuesday was Allard starting, but Texas would use Matt Bush to begin the game and then use Allard afterward. Also, the target pitch count for Kolby was around sixty pitches per Rangers’ manager Chris Woodward. It also became a bullpen game for the Kansas City Royals. Both teams tried rearranging their rotations, affected by rainouts last Friday and Saturday (Texas in New York and Kansas City in Baltimore). "I'm not going to make excuses," Chris Woodward said if the rainouts and the travel is effecting the defense. "That's part of traveling and that's part of baseball. They do say the second day after travel, especially after a long travel day, we all signed up for that. [It's] part of the deal."
The offense by both teams started slowly as the first two innings lasted less than thirty minutes. Whit Merrifield launched a home run to left-center field in the third inning to put the Royals on top 1-0. In the fifth inning, Kansas City added two more runs when Colleyville-born Bobby Witt Jr. doubled to bring two home off Garrett Richards. The Rangers answered in the six with a pinch-hit solo home run by Brad Miller, who hit for Charlie Culberson. The Royals added a run in the seventh on spottier defense with a throwing error by Dennis Santana. Whit Merrifield, the runner, moved to third on a wild pitch, then scored on a Bobby Witt Jr. groundout. The Rangers had a threat in the eighth inning with back-to-back hits by Eli White and Sam Huff. However, Brad Miller hit into a double play, and Marcus Semien grounded out, ending any threat. The Royals broke the game open with a three-run triple by Emmanuel Rivera in the ninth along with scoring on a Brad Miller error.
The media asked Chris Woodward if it would be one inning and more for Matt Bush. Woody said one inning would be the maximum, and after a nine-pitch first, Bush’s night ended. Kolby Allard threw three innings while allowing two hits, one walk, one strikeout, and the Merrifield home run in the third. "Felt good, just trying to get after [the Royals], attack them, and felt good," Kolby Allard told me after the game. "Consistency can help things, but once you get between the lines, you have to compete."
Richards struggled in the fifth, but the defense didn’t help out. For the second straight night, the Rangers had an inning where they made two errors (Corey Seager’s throw and Nathaniel Lowe having the ball pop out of his glove). Brett Martin came in to clean up the fifth while throwing a scoreless sixth inning. Dennis Santana allowed a run in the seventh on an error and walked a batter in his inning of work. Matt Moore pitched a scoreless eighth, but it unraveled in the ninth. Moore allowed four runs, three earned runs, three hits, and a walk (all of that in the ninth inning).
Postgame Notes
Rangers have an MLB lead three-pinch-hit home runs in 2022. Miller has two, and Willie Calhoun has the other on April 11th against the Rockies.
Two of Brad Miller’s four home runs in 2022 were pinch hits. The other two came in Toronto in the Opening series. He’s the only player in MLB with multiple pinch hits.
Nathaniel Lowe is 1 for his last 24 at-bats. Though his last at-bat was a 399 foot flyout.
Whit Merrifield had gone nine straight games without an extra-base hit (thirty-three at-bats)
The Royals won their first game in Arlington since May 30, 2019 (seven straight losses)
The Rangers’ defense has committed two or more errors in three of their last five games.
Rangers are 0-4 when they send a non-traditional starter in 2022.
Texas' four errors is the most since September 1st, 2021.
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