ARLINGTON -- Rangers closer Will Smith doesn’t question Bruce Bochy often, if ever. He’s a Hall of Fame manager, there’s not much to argue in Smith’s mind.

So when Bochy called Smith into his office when the team was in Boston to propose the idea of “co-closing” with the recently acquired Aroldis Chapman, he once again didn’t question it.

“[Bochy is] pretty smart, and he's got a pretty good idea of what's going on, so you know,” Smith said. “I just want to win. I do enjoy the ninth and it's fun. It's nice getting those last three outs, it's always fun. It's just a cool moment to get the last three outs but as long as the Rangers win, you can't really be too mad about it.”

So he certainly wasn’t mad on Saturday afternoon, when he notched a hold with 1 2/3 scoreless innings ahead of Chapman’s first save as a Ranger as the club beat the Guardians, 2-0, at Globe Life Field to take the first series coming out of the All-Star break.

Bochy said postgame that when evaluating the co-closer situation, he and pitching coach Mike Maddux look at certain pockets in the opposing team’s lineup before deciding which of Smith or Chapman will close out that game. On Saturday, it worked out that Chapman would get his first opportunity to do so.

“He’s great,” Bochy said of Smith. “He’s a pro and it’s all about winning with him. I thought I could go one-plus with him and he gave us a great effort. He pitched very efficiently so he wasn’t overworked. And it says a lot about him. He just wants to do what he can to help the ballclub and what a great job he did doing that today.”

While picking up his first save as a Ranger, Chapman capped off a scoreless ninth inning with a 102.5 mph sinker to end the game, making it the fastest pitch ever thrown by a Ranger in the Statcast era (since 2015). He surpassed the previous high of 101.8 mph by Emmanuel Clase on Sept. 14, 2019 against Oakland at Globe Life Park.

“He’s a guy with tremendous stuff,” Bochy said. “He's been doing this for a long time. It's really amazing. He still has the same stuff that I saw, what 10 years ago or so. He comes in and throws strikes. I think that's only his third save this year if I'm not mistaken, that's amazing. It's good to get his first one as a Ranger in a big game for us and it's just fun to see him come out.”

Almost more importantly, the entire pitching staff came up big with a shutout on a day when the offense mustered just two runs on five hits. In addition to Smith and Chapman closing it out, starter Andrew Heaney tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings and rookie reliever Grant Anderson followed him with a shutout inning of his own.

“It was awesome,” Heaney said of the bullpen. “Grant came in and got what we needed, Will going multiple innings and then Chappie closing it out. I mean it's probably how you want to draw it up.

"Those guys did exactly what they needed to do. It’s not surprising. A lot of those guys have been doing that all year off and on. They’ve been throwing the ball well, so just I'm excited to do my part to let them go do what they do.”

Heaney cruised through the first five innings, allowing one hit in each frame, but never letting the baserunner get to second base. He was given the quick hook after allowing a one-out double and a walk in the sixth, but Anderson got the double-play ball to secure a clean inning.

It was a much-needed outing for Heaney, who closed the first half by allowing eight runs in just three innings of work against the Nationals on July 8.

“I didn't want to pick up where I left off, that's for sure,” Heaney said. “ I think it's hard not to progress from the way that last start went in D.C., but I think everybody wants to get off to a good start. I know what I'm capable of. I'm not ever going to doubt myself or my abilities, but at the same time, I got to go out there and do it.”