Rocker, Rangers put up 'a really good fight' in battle with Dodgers

LOS ANGELES -- Kumar Rocker only threw his changeup 6.1 percent of the time in 2025, compared to 25.4 percent for his cutter.

But in the first inning on Friday, he threw two changeups to Shohei Ohtani, getting the four-time MVP to swing at a 91 mph change in the dirt for Rocker's first of five strikeouts.

"Any time you can get a good hitter out like that on a pitch that’s not necessarily your top three, to move on week to week and kind of know that’s in the back of your mind, that’s a good feeling,” Rocker said after the Rangers dropped the series opener to the Dodgers, 8-7. “I’ve been working on it a lot the last two weeks, and I’ve had a lot more trust in it.”

Over the first four innings, Rocker showed why he had won the fifth-starter job out of Spring Training. He had five punchouts and no walks, and his only blemishes were two solo home runs by Max Muncy. The rest of the L.A. lineup was 1-for-13 against him.

Things got dicier in the fifth. Rocker allowed a leadoff walk to Andy Pages, a single to Alex Freeland and a sac fly to Hyeseong Kim to pull the Dodgers within a run. An Ohtani single and Kyle Tucker walk loaded the bases with one out for Will Smith.

With the Dodgers’ middle of the order up and Rocker at 81 pitches, manager Skip Schumaker could have pulled his 26-year-old starter. But he stuck with him, and Rocker navigated out of the threat by getting Smith to hit into a 5-3 double play turned by Josh Jung at third base.

"I thought he had pitched really well against Smith the previous at-bats,” Schumaker said. “I know it’s the third time through [the lineup], it’s a tough lane for anybody -- right, left, another pitcher coming in. I think the dangerous thing with this stretch of games that we have, if we go to our bullpen too early too often, we’re going to feel it in not only this series, but in Sacramento and Seattle.”

Schumaker said challenges like that are crucial for young pitchers’ development.

"You have to let these guys grow up in the big leagues, like Rock,” Schumaker said. “That was a big moment, a high-leverage spot with 40-plus thousand fans, four decks of screaming fans. I think it was a really good moment for him, and us giving confidence in him that he can do this. And he can get big outs in big spots, and he got a big ground ball and JJ turned a big double play.”

The gravity of the moment was not lost on Rocker.

“I knew it was going to be hard,” he said. “That was a big inning to finish, to save the bullpen and put the team in a decent position. A couple better pitches that inning, a couple better decisions, and maybe we don’t need [Evan Carter's] home run [in the ninth], or little things like that. But it was a big inning.”

Rocker said overall he was pleased with his pitch mix, and he credited catcher Danny Jansen for his game-calling. He wasn’t even too bothered by Muncy’s homers.

"It was one of those things where that’s the place to get beat,” Rocker said. “I went there twice and got beat there twice. Something to learn off of and move forward on. But if you throw it there, that’s where you’re supposed to hit it.”

Once Rocker exited, however, things got, well, rocky.

Robert Garcia and Luis Curvelo each allowed two runs, as the Dodgers took a 7-4 lead entering the ninth, with All-Star closer Edwin Díaz on the mound.

But a pinch-hit single from Joc Pederson -- whose ABS Challenge overturned a strikeout -- cued Carter for a two-run home run to cut the lead. With two outs, Jung singled and Brandon Nimmo drew an intentional walk to set up Duran for a game-tying single.

But the comeback fell just short, as Corey Seager -- who had launched a three-run home run earlier -- struck out to strand the go-ahead run on second. Muncy then hit his third home run, a walk-off with two outs in the bottom of the ninth off Jacob Latz. It was the first hit Latz has allowed in six appearances this season.

"I love the character of this team, the fight,” Schumaker said. “This is not an easy place to come in and a team to play against, but we fought ‘til the end, got to their closer. Tied it up there and forced them to hit in the bottom of the ninth. It was a really good fight. I know we lost, but I’ll take that fight any day of the week.”