With a gauntlet of 20 games in 20 days — mostly against World Series contending teams — looking squarely at the Texas Rangers heading into Game 1 of the stretch on Tuesday in Fenway Park, the Rangers were hoping for much more than they got from rookie starting pitcher Justin Grimm.
Grimm lasted just 1 2/3 innings, needing 60 pitches to get to that point, and was touched up for eight earned runs and watched his ERA jump from a respectable 3.93 to 5.13, thanks to two brutal innings that saw the Red Sox put the game away in a hurry.
That forced the Rangers to use four relievers — none of whom were winning pieces, but four relievers nonetheless — and that doesn't count the fifth reliever, outfielder David Murphy.
You'd have to think everyone who pitched on Tuesday will most likely not be available Wednesday, with the exception of possibly Ross Wolf, and Joseph Ortiz is likely to be sent down to the minors to make room for Alexi Ogando's return from the DL, putting added pressure on Ogando to have a good first outing back after his 15 days on the shelf.
If things go poorly for Ogando, it could become a really ugly situation for the Rangers' bullpen moving forward and all of that will eventually be traced back to Grimm's rough outing on Tuesday.
