Guilder Rodriguez showed what September baseball for a losing team is all about on Monday night when the Texas Rangers began their final homestand of the lost 2014 season.
The 31-year-old, who was a career minor leaguer and had played more than 1,000 minor league games before finally getting his first call to the bigs when rosters expanded for September, collected his first big-league hit and his first big-league RBI in what was his second career start on Monday night as the Rangers beat the Astros 4-3.
Rodriguez got his first career hit in the third inning before a go-ahead, eventual game-winning RBI single after the Astros intentionally walked Robinson Chirinos to pitch to Rodriguez in the bottom of the seventh inning. It really was a sight to see considering who was in the stands.
Rodriguez's father and wife were seated in the first row down the first base line and got to see it all up close after his father had flown in from Venezuela to see his son play in a big-league game for the first time ever.
After the game, interim manager Tim Bogar described the moment as special and said he was trying to hold back tears of joy himself after seeing Rodriguez's father tearing up after the third-inning single and Rodriguez, himself, trying to fight back tears with a standing ovation going on in the background.
Give Bogar credit for giving Rodriguez the chance, and for not pinch-hitting for him in the seventh inning when, under normal circumstances, you probably want to do that as a manager. It was a great moment for Rodriguez, and it looks like it's earned him another start as he'll get the start at second base on Tuesday night.
