ARLINGTON -- On Friday night, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker stated that he was “counting the outs” when having to pull starter Kumar Rocker in the fifth inning.
If he was counting outs then, it was even worse on Saturday.
Schumaker, pitching coach Jordan Tiegs and head trainer Matt Lucero made the unfortunate walk to the mound in the second inning shortly before starter Cal Quantrill -- who has seemed like an automatic six innings every time out -- departed the game with right lat tightness. There was just one out in the frame with what felt like a million to go in the game at the time.
The Rangers’ already overworked bullpen would have to cover 7 2/3 innings in the midst of a postseason push where there’s a razor-thin margin for error.
It was a daunting challenge.
But Schumaker was able to fit the puzzle pieces together, with five relievers covering the rest of the night behind Quantrill to carry the Rangers to a 6-2 win over the Blue Jays at Globe Life Field.
With the win, the Rangers (78-77) climbed above the .500 mark for the first time since Aug. 10 (60-59) to pull a game ahead of the Astros in the American League West.
The hero of the day was long relief man Jordan Montgomery -- who threw 16 pitches out of the bullpen just two days ago -- taking over after Quantrill departed and tossing 3 1/2 hitless innings.
Nathan Eovaldi, who threw 46 pitches in four scoreless innings against the Red Sox on Sept. 16, allowed one run in one inning. The “traditional” relievers -- Robert Garcia, Chase Silseth, Jacob Latz -- covered the rest of the way. Garcia allowed a solo homer to Davis Schneider in one inning of work.