ARLINGTON, Texas – Short starts for a Texas starter have usually led to bad results for the Rangers given the uneven season the bullpen has had.
But with a chance at winning a series against first-place Houston and an opportunity to get back to .500 for the first time in a month at stake Tuesday, the Texas bullpen rose to the occasion.
Four Texas relievers held Houston scoreless over four high-stress innings as the Rangers won their third-straight game with a 4-3 decision over the Astros. The win moved Texas to 7-4 against Houston this season and guaranteed the Rangers a winning homestand.
And it all came down to a bullpen that came into the game with the highest ERA in the majors and the second-most appearances in the American League.
Left-hander Sam Freeman came in the sixth in a one-run game and Houston having the tying run at first base. He escaped that frame and turned the ball over to Spencer Patton, who worked a perfect seventh. The newly-acquired Jake Diekman needed just five pitches in his perfect eighth.
Then closer Shawn Tolleson, who pitching for the sixth time in seven games, pulled Houdini-like save out of his hat. After a walk and single put runners on the corners with no outs, he got defensive help on a snared grounder from Mitch Moreland and then did the rest of the work himself. Tolleson struck out Jason Castro and then Jose Altuve to finish the game.
Just like a bullpen's supposed to do.
"It was awesome," said Tolleson. "We haven't performed how we've wanted to as a squad down there. Tonight was fun. It was encouraging for us. For us to go out there and throw four scoreless and get the big outs we got and Sam (Freeman) go out there and do his thing and get through that inning, it was awesome. It was just a good team win."
The Rangers put themselves in position to win after falling behind 2-0. They got a run on a Prince Fielder homer in the fourth and then scored three times off Houston starter Dan Straily in the fifth inning. Delino DeShields' RBI triple tied the game at 2 and Rougned Odor followed with a single to give Texas a lead. Josh Hamilton made it 4-2 with another single.
Texas starter Yovani Gallardo, who had allowed five earned runs in each of his last three starts, gave one of the runs back in the sixth on a leadoff homer to Carlos Gomez. He then walked Carlos Correa, which put the Texas bullpen to work in support of Gallardo.
Gallardo, who hadn't won a game since June 27, was glad the relievers had his back.
"They did a great job tonight," Gallardo said. "They picked me up for sure, especially there in the sixth inning; Sam comes in there with a guy on first base, the tying run, and gets out of it. There are a lot of guys that can pitch back there. That's how baseball is, you're going to struggle throughout the year but they stayed positive and they kept moving forward and did what they do like they did tonight."
The additions of Diekman, who has already pitched four times, and Sam Dyson have provided a lift for the Rangers. It's allowed manager Jeff Banister to mix his pieces differently since the trade deadline.
Tuesday he had just the right recipe.
"I think as these guys gain traction, they gain understanding and they gain confidence," Banister said. "Again, they can slow the moment down, they understand where they're at, and they make pitches. We're not perfect. But what we do is to grow up, we make pitches."
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