Now that Riley Curry and American Pharoah have enjoyed their 15 minutes of fame, let’s get back to the important things in sports:
Front and center, Chi Chi Gonzalez.
Back in March I was impressed with the young Rangers’ starter. But none of us expected anything like this.
The rookie righty continued his impressive debut Tuesday night, shutting out the Dodgers for eight innings before giving up the game-tying, two-run homer in the 9th inning of a 3-2 win. Gonzalez didn’t get the win for his work, but he continued to prove he belongs on Texas’ staff.
Gonzalez, 23, basically threw one bad one pitch out of his 105 pitches on a muggy night in Arlington. He walked Howie Kendrick with one out in the 9th with a 2-0 lead, then surrendered the game-tying blast to Justin Turner on the next pitch. He was replaced by closer Shawn Tolleson, who picked up the win when catcher Robinson Chirinos homered for the win in the bottom of the inning.
Keeping the Rangers’ club-record streak of quality starts going at 12, Gonzalez gave up only five hits and allowed only one Dodger to 2nd base until the 9th. He’s started his big-league career by allowing only three runs in 30 innings, for a record of 3-1 and an ERA of 0.90.
The silver lining in the cloud of Yu Darvish’s injury just might be the discovery and advancement of Chi Chi Gonzalez.
Sports Connection
Connecting you to your favorite North Texas sports teams as well as sports news around the globe.
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 lives in McKinney with his wife, Sybil, and two very spoiled dogs.
