Patton Renewing Team's Confidence

Spencer Patton was nothing short of an open container of highly flammable chemicals being thrown on the Rangers out of the bullpen, and he was pretty disastrous for a good amount of time.

On Monday night, he allowed two runs โ€” his third straight outing of allowing at least one โ€” in the Rangers' 12-9 win over the Astros, which was a game they led 11-3 at one point. Patton and the Rangers' entire bullpen, really, tried its best to blow the game before they eventually pulled out a win.

After that game, as Patton told the Star-Telegram's Stefan Stevenson, he went into manager Jeff Banister's office and pleaded his case to remain in the mix for work out of the bullpen, even after his rough stretch.

Whatever he and Banister talked about seemed to work like a charm.

The past two nights have been arguably the best two of Patton's brief MLB career. They came in high-leverage situations protecting one-run leads against a rival club that happened to be in first place in the Houston Astros.

In those two games, Patton faced seven batters and retired them all, suddenly putting his name in the conversation of one of a few reliable relief pitchers the Rangers have at the moment.

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