TORONTO -- No opener, no problem.
Kumar Rocker dealt six scoreless innings against the Blue Jays on Sunday afternoon, carrying the Rangers to a 3-2 win to finish off a four-game sweep of the reigning American League champions at Rogers Centre.
And Rocker was able to do it without the opener crutch.
The Rangers have used Tyler Alexander as an opener twice ahead of Rocker: Once in a May 19 win in Colorado, when Rocker shoved 7 2/3 scoreless innings, and again in Miami last week, when he allowed two runs in five frames in a win.
But they couldn’t utilize an opener ahead of Rocker on Sunday with the Rangers using five relievers in a bullpen game the day prior.
“It probably would have crossed my mind -- it has to, right? -- because it's worked,” manager Skip Schumaker said pregame. “But my goodness, our bullpen is crushed. It was gonna be challenging to do that and after yesterday. It was like not even an option.”
But what followed was the best road start of Rocker’s young big league career.
It was much needed and the Rangers bullpen, for the fourth day in a row, allowed the Blue Jays to get back into the game, when Cole Winn allowed a game-tying, two-run home run from Nathan Lukes in the eighth inning.
The Rangers scored the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth inning when Josh Jung doubled and pinch runner Jarred Kelenic went from second to home on a wild pitch.
Starting pitching was meant to be the strength of this team entering the season. It hasn’t gone particularly smooth every time out. But this weekend, it all came together,
As starters, Rocker, Nathan Eovaldi, MacKenzie Gore and Cal Quantrill -- filling in for the injured Jack Leiter -- combined to allow just three runs in 24 innings during the four-game sweep. That’s good for a 1.13 ERA. And that’s without ace Jacob deGrom even taking the mound.