Wednesday Newsletter time: Rangers keep giving Kolby Allard chances to be good. He delivered Tuesday.
The left-hander allowed two runs in six innings for the second straight start after going 0-5 with a 9.13 ERA in July.
Of the all pitchers getting an extended look this season, left-hander Kolby Allard might be the one the Texas Rangers want to believe in the most.
He can be very good, as he was in relief to start the season and has been at times since he joined the rotation. He opened the Rangers series Tuesday night with three no-hit innings against the Seattle Mariners.
The first three hitters in the fourth, though, went homer, homer, single. Allard’s wheels were spinning, which is what brought pitching coach Doug Mathis to the mound. He knew Allard need someone to hit the pause button.
The visit changed the game.
Allard recovered, and the back-to-back homers were the only runs he allowed in six innings. He didn’t hurt himself with walks, issuing none, and the Mariners had only three hits the rest of his outing.
The Rangers won, eventually and miraculously.
After a sloppy blown save by Spencer Patton in the ninth — in which the Mariners had the bases loaded with no out in a tie game — Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Yonny Hernandez drove in runs with two outs in the 10th inning en route to a 5-4 victory.
It was the Rangers’ first road win since July 3, also at Seattle.
Allard’s outing was a big reason for it.
It was a near carbon copy on his first start of the month Aug. 4 against the Los Angeles Angels. The back-to-back starts with six innings and two runs mark a stark turnaround from July, when he went 0-5 with a 9.13 ERA.
Allard doesn’t have the overpowering stuff that allows him to get away with mistakes, and he hasn’t gotten away with many this season. Allard has surrendered 17 home runs in 87 2/3 innings.
He needs to locate better than other pitchers do. He needs his off-speed pitches to be effective more than others do. He has to find a way to limit big innings.
But in a season geared toward player development, Allard has made progress. He might never have fans rushing to Globe Life Field for his starts or cause a spike in TV ratings each time he starts, but he’s headed toward the rotation again in 2022.
Hero goes cold
The last time the Rangers played the Mariners was July 30-Aug. 1. July 30 was the trade deadline, when the trade of Kyle Gibson (and Ian Kennedy and Hans Crouse) added to the gut punch of the Joey Gallo trade a day earlier.
Jonah Heim helped the Rangers recover by hitting walk-off homers in back-to-back games Aug. 1-2. The rookie became the first rookie in baseball history to pull that feat, and he hit four homers in the three-game series.
Entering Tuesday, he hadn’t had a hit since.
“He’s going through some things right now,” Woodward said.
The catcher rode an 0-for-19 skid into T Mobile Park as pitchers apparently figured something out in a matter of days. Pitches at the top of the strike zone have given Heim fits.
He swung through one in his first at-bat Tuesday to push his drought to 0-for-20, but singled in the fourth inning.
“I expect him to bounce back and make those adjustments,” Woodward said.
Heim entered Tuesday batting .204 overall. The other catcher on the roster, Jose Trevino, was batting .244.
A fun memory
One of the Tuesday tweets from Super 70s Sports was funny because it’s true. Nothing fired me up for the school year like a set of NFL pencils.
That tweet also sent me down a rabbit hole in a Google search for some of my own. Fortunately, it wasn’t deep rabbit hole.
In rather short order I found a vintage set, though for $55 for 14 pencils. I also came across a set of the current 32 NFL teams for $39.95. The listing says there are 144 pencils in the package, which works out to four full sets and some change. Maybe one of the conferences?
That same site is selling a set of the 30 MLB team and the 30 NBA teams. There was also a set of NBA All-Star pencils, though from several years back. Same price, and, yes, 144 per package.
Doggy video!
Like big-league veterans teaching rookies how to be pros. Enjoy. See you Thursday.
