ARLINGTON -- For the second time in 10 days, “No Scotland, No Party" echoed throughout the Rangers’ clubhouse, first in Fenway Park and on Monday at loanDepot park.
“No Scotland, No Party" is the unofficial anthem for the Scottish football team and its fan club, the Tartan Army, which has now coincidentally attended two Rangers road games while following Scotland during the World Cup.
“We're fired up,” Rangers first baseman Jake Burger said pregame. “I don't think we stopped playing ‘No Scotland, No Party.’ We're hoping maybe we won some of them over in Boston with our win up there, and maybe they'll be cheering for the Rangers.”
Maybe the Scots did bring the Rangers some luck. And they needed a little bit of it with the game plan for the day, which included using reliever Tyler Alexander as an opener for Kumar Rocker.
An opener only works if that first inning is clean.
Rangers manager Skip Schumaker knows using one is a bit of playing with theoretical fire. Monday night’s matchup didn’t go quite as smoothly as a May 20 situation in Colorado, when Rocker shoved 7 2/3 scoreless innings in a Rangers win.
But after Alexander threw a perfect first inning, Rocker came up behind him to toss five innings of two-run ball to put the Rangers in a position to win. He collected a career-high nine strikeouts as Texas defeated Miami, 4-3, to open the series.
The reasoning for using an opener for Rocker today was the same as it was last month in Colorado, when he turned over a career-best outing: The first-inning struggles were real. Entering the day, Rocker had a 9.69 ERA in first innings and 2.89 in all others.
“I think it worked so well in Colorado, and Rock really benefited from it,’ Schumaker said pregame. “He's been pitching really well since Colorado, but he’s had a couple starts that might have benefited him if we used an opener, so just trying to see what it looks like again tonight.”
They can’t use an opener every game. But it’s been shown to work in this small sample.
“We try to mix up his routine based on the opener in Colorado and for whatever reason, the opener has helped him,” Schumaker said. “The numbers are the numbers and they're real. And the strikeout-to-walk rate in both games -- in Colorado and today in Miami -- against a left-handed-heavy lineup that usually gives him trouble -- I mean, he was lights out. It’s something that we got to talk about, but, I mean, it's been successful.”
In eight starts before that Colorado outing, Rocker posted a 4.34 ERA. From the Colorado outing on (May 19-June 22), he’s notched a 3.93 ERA in seven appearances (five starts), though that also includes a loss to the Twins on June 16, when he allowed a career-high seven runs and two homers in 3 1/3 innings.
Rocker, who said he was upset to not be pitching in Boston when the Tartan Army first showed up, embraced the atmosphere while keeping the Rangers in a position to win. But he also affirms that he’s not totally sure why he’s been so successful in these two outings with an opener.
“I think it's just them managing the game well and just putting me in a position of success,” Rocker said. “I wouldn't say [I’m surprised]. Every time, I'm just trying to go out there and be intentional and execute and do the best I can. I've just been fortunate enough to get good results from it.”
If two times is the start of a pattern, but Rangers should also hope for Scotland to make it as far as possible in the World Cup and keep attending their games. Texas is 2-for-2 with the Tartan Army in attendance.
The Rangers have been the road team in both of those tilts. But they’re hoping to get some Scots on board with them.
“I do want to rock a kilt, so if anybody's watching this, I'll take a free kilt,” Burger said. “If you guys have an extra one, I think that'd be fun to wear.”
“If Burger wants it, I’ll do it,” Rocker said with a laugh.