Smyly, Odor lead Rangers to win vs. Toronto

ARLINGTON -- Rangers pitcher Drew Smyly and second baseman Rougned Odor both needed a day like this. They both needed a game where they could find their timing and have some badly-needed success on the field.

Manager Chris Woodward even said Saturday that he might say a prayer for them before he went to sleep.

“It came true,” Woodward said after Smyly and Odor stepped up with big games in the Rangers' 10-2 victory over the Blue Jays on Sunday afternoon at Globe Life Park.

“Yeah, anybody would take a game like that,” Odor said.

• Box score

Odor led Texas' assault with a two-run home run in the second inning and another RBI single in the fifth. The home run snapped an 0-for-21 slump that had dropped his batting average to .122 entering the game. The two-hit performance was Odor's first since March 30 against the Cubs, and it bumped his average up to .141.

“We obviously have been waiting for Rougie to have a day where he could breathe,” Woodward said. “He’ll have a good night’s sleep tonight. Really good to see him have some success. Huge homer to get us going today and an opposite-field single to drive in a run. All the hard work he has been putting in, to have a game like today, hopefully that could snowball into something moving forward.”

Smyly, making his first start since April 19, gave the Rangers four crisp innings coming off an injured list stint with left arm fatigue. He allowed just one run on two hits, including a home run to Eric Sogard, walked two and struck out five.

“That’s as good as I’ve seen him, to be honest with you,” Woodward said. “Everything was crisp. His breaking ball was good, his fastball was getting in on guys, he used his changeup. That was a real positive moving forward.”

For both players, it was all about timing. Odor said he has been a little late on pitches and needed to get his timing down. He was out on the field Sunday taking early batting practice and working on starting his swing earlier.

“I was not getting frustrated,” Odor said. “I have been through this before. I was just staying positive, playing the game and keep swinging. I wasn’t feeling bad. I knew I was close to getting back to where I can be. I was just a little late on pitches. The coaches just said, 'Get back your timing and you will be fine.”'

Smyly said the timing problem was he has been rushing with his delivery, getting his arm out too quickly trying to get extra velocity instead of using his legs and the rest of his body. He said his delivery was more “in sync” on Sunday afternoon, and that made the difference. The time off on the injured list also helped for a pitcher who missed the past two seasons recovering from Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery.

“I think I needed it,” Smyly said. “It was a nice little break. I was able to rest my body and build up strength in my arm. Hopefully that will carry me through the rest of the season. I felt strong. I still felt strong in the fourth inning, which is a good sign.”

Texas limited Smyly to 68 pitches, which was the plan going into the game. The four-inning outing was still the second longest of his five starts. It was also only the second one in which Smyly held the opposition to just one run.

“He wanted to stay in there, which I was happy about,” Woodward said. “He was begging for that extra inning, but today I wasn’t going to do that, first game back. Hopefully next time around we can bump that up and get him on a roll.”

Cabrera’s big day
Rangers third baseman Asdrubal Cabrera also had a big day, with an RBI double and a three-run home run. He now has 22 RBIs in 18 games at Globe Life Park, the most by any player at home in the American League.

Cabrera also started a double play by the seat of his pants in the fifth inning after getting knocked over by a hard ground ball by Danny Jansen.