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.
“You have these pitcher meetings, and honestly, today was the longest meeting that we've had,” Schumaker said. “We were trying to figure out exactly how we were going to match up based on availability, and then I'm taking Cal out after the first inning. You can just throw that whole meeting out the window.”
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. It’s Texas’ first time alone atop the division since Aug. 24 (+0.5 GA) and first time with a lead of one or more games since July 29.
“We're just here showing up every day to play and try and get in the playoffs,” said outfielder Wyatt Langford. “To be in that position right now is great. But yeah, there are still a lot of games left. We need to keep it that way.”
The hero of the day was long relief man Jordan Montgomery, who threw 16 pitches out of the bullpen just two days ago, took over after Quantrill departed and tossed 3 2/3 hitless innings.
Montgomery retired 11 of the 12 batters faced, good for his longest scoreless outing of the season and second-longest relief appearance of his career. (He threw 4 1/3 scoreless innings on Aug. 27, 2024, against the Mets while with the D-backs).
“That happened because of Trevor Williams,” Schumaker said. “[It happened] because of Trevor Williams going back out in the ninth last night. Monty was pitching that ninth inning if Trevor couldn't give us another inning. He was out of gas, and he said, ‘I can give you guys one more if you need it.’
“That's what this team is all about right now. … Monty was fantastic. But again, these are team wins, and it's also because of what happened the day before, really covering us today.”
After Montgomery, the Rangers tried to match up the best they could with who was available, since they had only gotten 14 1/3 innings from their starters in the first four games of the homestand.
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, Silseth pitched around a pair of hits and Latz closed it out like clockwork.
The Rangers bullpen has fashioned a 1.84 ERA (6 ER in 29 1/3 IP) during this homestand, earning three of the club’s four wins.
“[They are] literally saving us,” said third baseman Josh Jung, who hit a homer in the win. “Especially for Monty to come out in that spot and be ready to go and throw up zeros. That was incredible, especially against another team in the playoff race? Just shows Monty’s resilience to come in whenever you need him.”
Unlike much of the last two months, the Rangers now control their own destiny when it comes to the postseason. While they spent much of August and September chasing the Astros, they now can handle this thing all on their own with seven games to go.
That starts with trying to sweep the Blue Jays tomorrow.
“I'm worried about tomorrow,” Schumaker said. “I'm going to celebrate this for another hour or so and then figure out what we have pitching-wise going into tomorrow. We’ll celebrate this one first for the next hour or so, and then have a meeting right now and see where we're at.”