PITTSBURGH -- When Hunter Pence became an unrestricted free agent this past offseason, he went to the Dominican Republic to play winter ball with Toros del Este, hoping to prove that he could still impact a Major League roster.

On Feb. 7, the Rangers signed a Minor League deal with the 36-year-old, who was coming off his least productive Major League season to date: A .590 OPS over 97 games. The move has paid off thus far, and in Tuesday’s 5-4 loss to the Pirates at PNC Park, Pence’s three extra-base-hit performance raised the question of if he deserves more playing time.

• Box score

“It’s getting to that point,” Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. “We’ve definitely got to find a way to get him in there more often.”

Pence became the first Rangers player with three extra-base hits in a single game this season, as he lifted a 429-foot homer and lined two doubles to produce all of the Rangers’ four runs. The game boosted his “astounding” stat line, per Woodward, even further, as he’s now slashing .333/.403/.603. through 21 games (15 starts). His 1.006 OPS trails only Joey Gallo on the team.

So with the success, is Pence thinking about his playing time at all?

“Nope,” he said. “I’m just here to help [the team] win and play the best I can. Keep preparing to contribute [for] whatever’s necessary.”

Pence spent the offseason tweaking his swing. Though he feels like his swing has had a lot of force behind it even last year, the results this season show a marked growth in hard-hit rate, per Statcast, to 42.9 percent from 33.1. Woodward, who played against Pence as a member of the Dodgers, has noticed some of the changes, like the increase in Pence’s in-zone time and the “life in his body” throughout the swing.

“He looks like a young kid out there competing his [butt] off,” Woodward said. “It’s fun to watch.”

The two words that Pence cares about right now, though, is “help” and “win.” He accomplished the former in noticeable fashion on Tuesday, though the latter was a swing or two away from being achieved.

“I put in a lot of work this offseason in changing my swing, and sometimes, it feels good to have some results,” Pence said. “But at the end of the day, it was just out of the pure joy of baseball and trying to help the team win. That’s the main thing.”

Pitching points

• Two of last year’s standout relievers with the Rangers, Jesse Chavez and Jose Leclerc, have really struggled to begin the year. But their recent outings, including those on Tuesday night, have given some reassurance to the Rangers.

After allowing 15 runs (14 earned) through his first 14 1/3 innings of the season, Chavez has recorded a pair of scoreless innings in his two most recent outings. He worked around a leadoff walk and single to retire the next three batters.

Leclerc pitched the final two innings of relief with Texas down a run on Tuesday, as he gave up just a walk in a shutout performance. He pitched a scoreless inning on Saturday as well, against Toronto, with two strikeouts after he was demoted from the closer’s role.

“We need to rely on those guys,” Woodward said. “Those guys are going to be huge factors in us winning a lot of ballgames.”

• Adrian Sampson hit his first setback in a string of ever-improving starts. Though he worked 5 2/3 scoreless innings against the Pirates in his start on April 30, on Tuesday night he was tagged for five runs in five innings, including a decisive two-run homer by Gregory Polanco.

“[I was] just missing spots a little bit,” Sampson said. “I was fighting that from the bullpen before the game. Especially facing a team in back-to-back weeks and not having your best stuff like I did before, they just make adjustments, and obviously, it showed today.”