With a spot starter on the menu for Tuesday night's game, and a spot starter making his first start of the 2013 season, the Texas Rangers knew they'd need their bullpen to step up when newly acquired Travis Blackley had reached his limit of 65 pitches.
Jason Frasor, Neal Cotts, Tanner Scheppers and Joe Nathan, like so many other times this year, were up to the task and kept the Rangers' 2-1 deficit after Blackley had left in place so Adrian Beltre could give the Rangers the lead in the sixth inning, earning Cotts the victory.
The foursome threw five scoreless innings, retiring all but three of the batters they faced and struck out eight, including Nathan's ninth inning that saw him strike out the side.
"We're pretty confident we can get outs," Cotts told ESPNDallas.com. "We're well rested out there and working well together. It was a good team win."
The fact that the bullpen tossed five innings on Tuesday would normally be a bit of a concern, but with Mr. 7 or 8 Innings, Derek Holland pitching Wednesday's series finale and an off-day scheduled for Thursday, it's not too much of a concern from Rangers skipper Ron Washington.
"We were trying to win a ball game," Washington told reporters. "It was about today. It wasn't about what's going to happen tomorrow. You never know what's going to happen tomorrow. For some reason if it doesn't go our way tomorrow, we have enough in the bullpen."
