For a rookie starting pitcher, the beginning of Tuesday's game against the Milwaukee Brewers could have been a horrific disaster for Texas Rangers starting pitcher Justin Grimm, the reigning AL Rookie of the Month for April.
Grimm threw 28 pitches to get through the first inning as the Brewers jumped out to a 5-0 lead. All runs were earned but not all were truly Grimm's fault as he had some defensive issues behind him, and one of his own, that basically gave the Brewers six outs to score the five runs in the opening frame.
Even still, Grimm made the most of his early struggles and threw four scoreless innings to go five innings and strike out seven to keep his team within striking distance on a night when the offense also spoiled a few golden scoring opportunities that could've given Grimm a no-decision instead of his second loss of the season.
Grimm is now 2-2 and his ERA climbed from a 2.28 to a still-respectable-but-not-nearly-as-good 3.45, as it's climbed almost a full two runs over his last two starts.
