Globe iconLogin iconRecap iconSearch iconTickets icon

Young bullpen arms impressing Washington

SEATTLE -- The Rangers' seven-man bullpen includes four rookies who have all made their Major League debuts in the last two months.

So far, they are holding up. Jon Edwards pitched two scoreless innings and Alex Claudio pitched one in the Rangers' 5-0 loss to the Mariners on Tuesday. That left the bullpen with a 2.12 ERA for August -- the third lowest in the Major Leagues -- going into Wednesday's matinee.

"They have been real good," manager Ron Washington said. "These guys have been given an opportunity and they have taken advantage of it. At least we know we have some depth."

Entering Wednesday, Edwards and Claudio had yet to give up a run since being called up, Phil Klein had a 1.12 ERA in his last six games and Roman Mendez had seven scoreless innings over his last eight outings. Mendez has a 1.23 ERA overall since being called up on July 7.

The four have combined to hold right-handed hitters to a .101 batting average (8-for-79), while left-handers are hitting .250 (14-for-56) off them.

"It's definitely a growing experience," Edwards said. "It's all new, but you still play the game the same way, you just continue to make adjustments."

T.R. Sullivan is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Postcards from Elysian Fields, and follow him on Twitter @Sullivan_Ranger
Read More: Texas Rangers