Hernández a bright spot as Rangers scuffle in opener
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MIAMI -- When Jonathan Hernández was called from the bullpen in the third inning, he had one thought: go out on the mound and do his job.
For the 3 2/3 innings Hernández pitched, he did just that. He held the Marlins scoreless and helped keep the bullpen fresh for the rest of the series.
“It makes me feel good that they have that trust in me and give me the ball at that moment,” the reliever said in Spanish. “I am very grateful for that.”
Hernández gave the Rangers a chance to get back into the game after they fell into a four-run hole early on, but it was not enough in an 8-2 loss on Friday night at loanDepot park.
José Ureña looked sharp to start his outing, retiring the side in order in the first. He began to fall behind hitters when Nick Gordon struck a two-run homer with one out in the second inning. He allowed four runs (two earned) and walked two, lasting just 2 1/3 frames.
“José was a little off with his command,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “He's been throwing the ball well. It was pretty obvious he was missing some spots, got some balls down the middle and some walks, so that's why I went to get him.”
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With one out and the bases loaded, Hernández took the mound. He allowed one inherited runner to score on a forceout before getting a second grounder to get out of the jam.
“I saved the bullpen, which is something I really cared about,” the right-hander said. “If I hadn’t done it, we would’ve played two or three more guys and have a shortened bullpen tomorrow.”
It wasn’t the first time Hernández was asked to pitch multiple relief innings -- having done so four prior times this season, including 2 1/3 innings against Cleveland on May 14 and against the Phillies on May 22.
“He’s been stretched out, so he was in an area where he’s been before,” Bochy said. “He felt good. We checked on him before he went out in the last inning and [he] went, ‘I feel great.’ So that’s why he went back out there and had a nice ending.”
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Hernández retired the last five batters he faced, improving his ERA to 3.71. He struck out three batters and allowed two hits, tossing 44 pitches, 28 for strikes.
His biggest strength of the night: limiting walks. Hernández had walked 14 batters in 13 1/3 innings entering the series opener. He allowed just one walk during his outing Friday.
With Hernández on the rubber, the Rangers were able to begin chipping away at the four-run deficit.
Josh Smith got Texas on the board in the fourth inning, launching a solo homer to make the score 4-1. The dinger extended the team’s home run streak to 14 consecutive games -- the longest active streak in MLB and the longest in franchise history.
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Wyatt Langford then closed the gap further in the fifth inning, driving in Leody Taveras with an RBI groundout to make it 4-2. The two runs, however, were all the offense was able to manage.
“Offensively we didn’t do much. … We just couldn’t get things going,” Bochy said.
After Hernández exited, Miami added four more runs off Jesus Tinoco to break the game open.
“They’re a Major League team that made the playoffs last year,” the manager said. “They have some talent in that club. They have a good bullpen. You know, the pitching has been throwing the ball better and you saw some guys that can do some damage. So you gotta play your best ball to beat anybody. We did not do that tonight."