Maybe I should criticize the Rangers’ offense more often.
On the same day we ripped into their inept bats pretty good, they responded with 11 hits, eight runs and a career-high five RBI from Robinson Chirinos. Oh, and say so long to the power outage as the Rangers hit two homers – by Chirinos and a seldom-seen moon shot by Elvis Andrus.
But the real light at the end of the tunnel was on the mound in last night’s win over the Angels. With Yu Darvish and Derek Holland out of the rotation, the Rangers need a pitcher to step up and give this staff some quality starts.
Hello, Nick Martinez.
Slated to be a back-end starter all season, Martinez is pitching like a No. 1 ace. After shutting down the A’s last week he blanked the Angels on Tuesday, running his season-starting streak without allowing an earned run to 14 innings.
Martinez isn’t 2-0 with dominating stuff. But he has control of the strike zone and his emotions, and isn’t afraid to pitch inside. Sounds simple. But it’s working wonders. He limited Anaheim to five hits over seven innings.
So while we whine about pitchers No. 1 and 2 being on the DL, ol’ No. 5 is producing some pretty impressive stuff. As in, he’s joined Darvish (2014) and Jon Matlack (1980) as the only Rangers’ pitchers to go 7+ innings without allowing an earned run in their first two starts of the season.
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So far, Martinez is just what the doctor ordered.
A native Texan who was born in Duncanville and graduated from UT-Arlington, Richie Whitt has been a mainstay in the Metroplex media since 1986. He’s held prominent roles on all media platforms including newspaper (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Observer), radio (105.3 The Fan) and TV (co-host on TXA 21 and numerous guest appearances, including NBC 5). He currently lives in McKinney with his wife, Sybil, and two very spoiled dogs.
