Rangers to open '20 schedule at Globe Life Field

ARLINGTON -- The Rangers are scheduled to open the 2020 season at home against the Rockies on July 24. The game is scheduled to start at 7:05 p.m. CT and will be the first regular-season game at Globe Life Field.

The Rangers are scheduled to play two exhibition games against the Rockies on July 21-22 at Globe Life Field. They open the season with three games against the Rockies at home on July 24-26 and two against the D-backs on July 28-29 at Globe Life Field, according to the schedule released by Major League Baseball on Monday.

• Here is the Rangers' 2020 regular season schedule

The Rangers are not anticipating having fans during their first homestand. The club will continue evaluate whether fans will be allowed at MLB parks in August.

“I'm less concerned with fans' impact on the players' safety than on their own and the employees with whom they'd have close contact,” general manager Jon Daniels said. “I'm more concerned about transmission between fans, and between fans and the [game-day] employees.

“We want and need to feel comfortable that we can all feel as safe as possible. That's why we've got to take things seriously if we want to put a dent in this and play the season. It goes back to masks and being socially distant."

The Rangers are scheduled for 60 games this season, including 30 at Globe Life Field. They will play 40 games against the American League West, including 20 at home. The other 20 games will be against National League West teams.

For home games against Colorado and Houston, the normal game times will be 7:05 p.m. CT for weekday night games, 6:05 p.m. on Saturday and 1:35 p.m. on Sunday.

For home games against teams in the Pacific time zone (Arizona, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland, San Diego, Seattle), the normal game times will be 8:05 p.m. CT on weekday nights, 6:05 p.m. on Saturday and 1:35 p.m. on Sunday.

Per agreement with Major League Baseball, the Rangers will play 8:05 p.m. CT weekday night home games against teams in the Pacific time zone, with those clubs starting weekday night home games against Texas at 6:05 p.m. PT/8:05 p.m. CT. Weekday night game times may be adjusted if fans are allowed to attend.

Lyles not happy with outing
Rangers pitcher Jordan Lyles was able to throw to catcher Robinson Chirinos on Monday instead of a mattress. His workout situation is getting better. Now he needs to get his curveball working again.

Lyles allowed four runs in 3 1/3 innings in an intrasquad game on Monday at Globe Life Field. He allowed eight hits, including a two-run home run to Adolis García. He walked two, struck out five and finished at 74 pitches.

“I didn’t locate well,” Lyles said. “Fastball was OK, but I couldn’t rely on everything else. They were just teeing off on fastballs. That’s all they really had to respect. Next outing, I need to get my curveball back dialed in.”

Denver was one of the first big cities to shut down because of the COVID-19 crisis and Lyles had trouble keeping up his throwing program after leaving Spring Training. He started out throwing into a mattress, until pitching coach Julio Rangel sent him a net. He was able to get in three live batting practice sessions before coming to Texas.

“I feel like, in the last month, he was in a much better situation,” manager Chris Woodward said. “Obviously, we are evaluating every guy. I thought Jordan looked pretty good today. He got hit hard at times. I know he was working on a few things. At the end, we saw a lot of what we saw at the end of last year with his success.”

Rangers beat
• Left-handed reliever Joely Rodríguez, sidelined with a strained lat muscle, is progressing in his throwing program and is scheduled to throw his first bullpen session on July 15.

• Right-handed reliever Wei-Chieh Huang has a mild strained of his left oblique muscle. He is able to play catch, but not throw off a mound right now.

• Right-hander Luke Farrell threw two scoreless innings during the intrasquad game on Monday. He allowed two hits and a walk with two strikeouts. Farrell, a candidate for middle relief, was impressive in Spring Training, with 7 2/3 scoreless innings over six Cactus League outings.

• Right-hander Jesse Chavez, who had weakness in his right shoulder during Spring Training, struck out all three batters he faced on Monday. Closer José Leclerc retired four of five batters and struck out two.

• Scott Heineman had a two-run home run off reliever Cody Allen. Nick Solak had a three-hit afternoon, while Eli White and Jose Trevino both had two hits.

• Left-hander Kolby Allard pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings, but walked five. Right-hander Wes Benjamin faced four batters, allowing a hit and a walk with one strikeout.