CLEVELAND – Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy had hoped to get about 60 pitches out of right-handed pitcher Jon Gray in his first start since returning from the injured list Saturday against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field.
As it turned out, it wasn’t the number of pitches that was the problem, but the location where the problems occurred.
Gray allowed six earned runs on six hits and two walks in two innings of the Rangers’ 13-5 loss to the Guardians on Saturday and did not record an out in the third inning before being replaced by rookie left-hander Walter Pennington.
“His stuff was good,” Bochy said. “It was just the command that was his biggest problem.”
The 32-year-old was awarded an unearned run in the first inning after Cleveland’s second baseman Andrés Giménez got to first base on a fielding error by first baseman Nathaniel Lowe and was able to score on a ground out by Josh Naylor, tying the game 1-1.
The second one was uglier.
Cleveland right fielder Jhonkensy Noel opened the inning with a single, and after a groundout and strikeout, Gray committed a major pitching sin when he walked No. 9 hitter Brayan Rocchio on five pitches to set up a two-run double by leadoff hitter Steven Kwan. In the next at-bat, Giménez hit a high fastball to center field to score Kwan and give the Guardians a 4-1 lead.
Gray allowed the first three batters to reach base in the third inning on a walk (Naylor), a double (Will Brennan) and a three-run home run (Noel), knocking Gray out of the game after 53 pitches. Pennington allowed two runs in three innings, one earned, before right-hander Grant Anderson allowed three home runs to batters hitting from the left side – Josh Naylor, Bo Naylor and José Ramírez – to extend Cleveland’s lead to 10-1.
“I felt good the first couple of innings,” Gray said. “I think I lost a little bit of power the last couple of at-bats. The first couple of innings look terrible when you look at the scores, but a lot of the at-bats were awkward, but they really found a lot of holes.”
Saturday’s start was Gray’s first since July 23 against the Chicago White Sox. He was taken out of a July 28 game against the Toronto Blue Jays during warmups and was placed on the injured list a day later with a groin strain. He was activated again Tuesday and pitched two innings of one run out of the bullpen against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
“I’m hoping the velocity gets a little better,” said Gray, whose fastball averaged 95 mph on Saturday and reached 96.4 mph. “I know it’s gotten better, but I’d like to see it get a little higher.”
For more Rangers coverage from the Dallas Morning News, click here.
Click or tap here to subscribe to our Rangers newsletter.
