Allard finishes strong June, but Rangers fall

OAKLAND -- Kolby Allard is finding his groove.

Allard ended the month on a personal high note, shaking off a rough three-run second inning to deliver six innings and another quality start in the Rangers’ 3-1 loss to the A’s on Wednesday at Oakland Coliseum. It was the continuation of the work Allard has done in recent weeks, a stretch in which Allard’s maturation on the mound has consistently been on display.

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“His attitude and his energy are really good out there,” said manager Chris Woodward. “He’s in a good mental frame of mind. He’s confident. He’s got a lot of conviction in his pitches. That’s what probably stands out. He’s been pitching really well lately.”

Allard has been pitching some of the best baseball of his career since being reinserted into the starting rotation in late May. He’s gone six innings in three straight starts for the first time in his career. In five starts in June, Allard logged a 3.54 ERA with 22 strikeouts to just four walks across 28 innings. For a team with its eyes toward the future, Allard, 23, is quickly emerging as a potential foundational piece.

Last year, however, that scenario didn’t seem all that likely. The left-hander opened 2020 in the Rangers’ starting rotation, but he was moved to the bullpen after posting an 8.80 ERA in eight starts. To go from being the last player named to the Opening Day roster -- after being optioned to Triple-A Round Rock, no less -- to putting together a month of this quality is quite the jump.

The biggest difference between last season and this one has been Allard’s effectiveness with his changeup and curveball. To Woodward, Allard’s ability to command these two pitches has been the equivalent of adding two new weapons.

Allard isn’t just throwing his changeup and curveball for strikes, he’s using them when behind in the count. That makes his fastball and cutter more effective because he’s not relying on either pitch as often. Allard credits pitching coaches Doug Mathis and Brendan Sagara for helping him tweak all his pitches, and his changeup in particular, both in his ability to locate the pitch and its movement profile.

“He tended to get a little bit fastball-cutter heavy -- definitely cutter-heavy -- but he’s been able to use that curveball, use that changeup and then effectively use the fastball,” Woodward said.

With the changeup and curveball in tow to keep hitters guessing, Allard’s fastball, as Woodward outlined, was plenty effective against Oakland, as he generated a season-high 13 called strikes and whiffs with the heater.

Allard’s lone blemish was in the second inning, when he was tagged for three runs. Sean Murphy drove in Matt Chapman with a sacrifice fly for the game’s first run. Two pitches later, Frank Schwindel, who had one career hit coming into play, launched a majestic two-run blast that reached the second deck.

The rough inning didn’t rattle Allard, who settled in and got better as the game went along. For the rest of the evening, Allard didn’t allow a runner to reach second base. In the fifth, Allard retired the side on 10 pitches with two strikeouts, easily his best frame. The southpaw ended his outing by retiring seven straight.

On most nights, three runs across six innings would’ve been enough for the Rangers -- especially considering Joey Gallo, who homered again in the ninth, has been one of the hottest hitters in the Majors. Unfortunately for Allard, he was facing Chris Bassitt, who has also been pitching some of the best ball of his career.

Bassitt was his typically sharp self, holding the Rangers scoreless across seven innings with seven strikeouts. It’s the second time that Bassitt has outdueled Allard in the past week; last Thursday, Allard allowed four runs across six innings, but Bassitt countered with seven innings of one-run ball.

Even in these tough losses, Allard is growing, improving. He’s earned some staying power in the rotation. Just don’t expect him to let off the gas anytime soon.

“No matter how old you are in this game or no matter how long you’ve been around, if you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse,” Allard said.