Tepesch's Relief Appearance Not Smart

After Scott Baker had pitched the bottom of the 12th inning of a scoreless game against the New York Yankees on Tuesday and kept it that, the Texas Rangers broke through in the top of the 13th with a J.P. Arencibia homer to take a 1-0 lead.

That seemingly good moment ironically messed up the Rangers' pitching plan when, as he should have, manager Ron Washington brought closer Joakim Soria into the game for the bottom of the 13th to try to shut the door on the Yankees.

Well, he didn't. The Yankees tied the game to force a 14th inning, and while Baker could've easily still been in the game, he was long gone. Soria couldn't work another inning because he's a closer, and Washington had used his entire bullpen by that point.

So what did he do? None other than bring in starting pitcher Nick Tepesch, who's next scheduled to pitch on Friday night against Oakland. The same Tepesch who's a young, fairly promising starter getting a long-term audition in the Rangers' lost season.

Tepesch lost the game that inning, getting just one out, but that wasn't the issue. At this point, what's another loss? The issue was Washington going to a young starter in relief in a game that really meant nothing, as all the games do at this point.

At that point, Washington should've brought out Chris Gimenez or another position player to pitch the 14th with the thought that a loss is a loss is a loss at this point.

The Rangers said Tepesch would be set to still throw on Friday, but what's the point of risking it?

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