Nick Tepesch took the mound for this start, and while I didn’t think his line showed a very good outing, I didn’t feel it was that bad. Oh, by every measurable number he didn’t do too great. 5.2 innings pitched. Threw 102 pitches, allowed nine hits, four earned runs. Pretty “meh” outing. However, the “gut feeling-ometer” in my head didn’t think he was as awful as his line seemed to indicate. I like this kid, really want him to do well. Would love for one of our kids to come up, claim a spot, and not give it back. With the surgery for Harrison, plus Colby Lewis still out, we need at least one of these guys to claim a spot on the rotation. Hoping it’s Tepesch.
Can’t write a whole lot more about Nick, because everything that I’d write from a factual standpoint would be bad. Michael Kirkman & Tanner Scheppers, two other guys I want to see succeed had good outings. Between them, they pitched 2.1 innings, only allowed a single hit (Kirkman), and struck out three. So they had a great outing in relief. The damage was done against our starter.
Offensively, we had just six hits. Gifted three walks. Nobody and more than a single hit, but they were bunched together enough that we managed to get three runs out of it. Moreland & Cruz had doubles. Leury Garcia had a triple. Soto, Murphy, & Berkman had singles. That’s it for hits.
Have to hand this one to Brandon Maurer, who kept the Rangers in check. 6IP, 5H, 3R, 2ER, 1BB, 5K. The M’s also had four relievers who combined for 3 innings of shutout ball.