Latz shines as fill-in, Rangers survive 9th inning chaos

PHILADELPHIA — It’s all part of the strategy.

If one Jacob goes down, another Jacob naturally rises, hence why the Texas Rangers keep a roster full of them in case of emergency. Right-hander Jacob deGrom — the eldest of their four Jacob’s, Jakob’s and Jake’s — was scratched from Saturday’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park with a stiff neck roughly four hours before first pitch. Left-hander Jacob Latz, the youngest of the quartet, was tabbed to start in his place.

You might not have noticed a difference.

Same thing can be said for the ninth inning. The Rangers, whose 56.1% save percentage was the fourth-worst in baseball last season, blew their first save opportunity and had to win in extra innings to avoid a series loss.

Rangers

Before things unraveled, Latz pitched masterfully, and the Rangers swatted a pair of home runs in regulation to even the season’s first series and win 5-4 on a chilly afternoon.

Here are five observations from the game.

Ninth-inning chaos: The Rangers, who held the Phillies scoreless through eight innings, were a strike away from a shutout win.

Here’s what happened.

Left-hander Robert Garcia was given the first save opportunity against a host of left-handers. He struck out designated hitter Kyle Schwarber for the first out and got first baseman Bryce Harper to ground out for the second before third baseman Alec Bohm, a righty, reached on a single. Garcia then walked pinch-hitter Edmundo Sosa, also a righty, on eight pitches before Rangers manager Skip Schumaker lifted him in favor of veteran right-hander Chris Martin.

Martin faced former Rangers outfielder Adolis García in his first at-bat. García hit a high pop-up into foul territory that would’ve ended the game had it been caught. First baseman Jake Burger bobbled it, dropped it and extended the game.

García then hit a double three pitches later that scored Bohm and snapped the shutout bid. Right fielder Brandon Marsh, in the next at-bat, slapped a cutter into right field that scored two runs, tied the game, sent it into extra innings and secured the club’s first blown save of the year.

How the win was wrapped: The Phillies brought elite right-handed closer Jhoan Duran in to pitch the top of the 10th inning. Center fielder Wyatt Langford led off with a single (on a 100.9-mph fastball) and moved ghost runner Brandon Nimmo to third. Nimmo scored on a wild pitch, and two at-bats later, Langford scored on a single from designated hitter Andrew McCutchen to give the Rangers a two-run lead.

Southlake Carroll alum Tyler Alexander, in his first appearance with his hometown team, allowed a run in the bottom of the 10th on a Harper two-out single. He got Bohm to pop out to clinch the win.

Latz-minute hero: So, to recap, deGrom realized at 8:22 a.m. Saturday morning — when he rolled over in bed to check the time on his phone — that his neck didn’t feel quite right. Sometime between then and the club’s official announcement that he’d been scratched at 11:55 a.m., Latz, who lost the fifth starter competition in spring and opened in the bullpen, was told he’d start the season’s second game.

He pitched like a guy who’d still like to remain in the rotation long-term.

Latz threw four scoreless innings and didn’t allow a hit before he was removed after a leadoff walk in the fifth. He deftly navigated a Phillies lineup that scored the fifth-most runs in the National League last season and allowed just one runner to reach base. Take the first inning, for example, when he struck out reigning NL batting champion Trea Turner and reigning NL MVP runner-up Kyle Schwarber to start the game before he won a 10-pitch battle against eight-time All-Star Bryce Harper.

His fastball velocity dropped by more than three miles per hour between the first and fifth inning, which had been a concern of the club’s as they decided between him and right-hander Kumar Rocker for the fifth spot, though it didn’t limit him much. His 12-pitch fourth inning, when his fastball ran just 91.9 mph, was his most efficient.

Windswept: The blustery winds both gave and took away. Burger can confirm as much.

In the second inning, well before his ninth-inning blunder, Burger fumbled an infield pop-up from García with two outs. Burger tried to track the ball down but lost it in the wind and was charged with an error. García reached second base but Latz struck out Marsh to strand him.

Then, in the third, Burger hit a two-run home run off the left field foul pole that gave the Rangers a 3-0 lead. The wind, which blew left to right, might’ve helped keep the ball in play. The 104.1 mph exit velocity helped get it out as Burger, who also homered in the season opener, has carried his strong spring play into the regular season.

Langford might’ve hit his first home run of the season two at bats before Burger’s with a 107 mph blast to center. Instead, the gusts knocked it down, and Phillies center fielder Justin Crawford made an exceptional catch at the wall.

The challenge of challenges: Center fielder Evan Carter became the first Rangers player to challenge a called strike in the fourth inning of Saturday’s game. Home plate umpire D.J. Reyburn’s strike call — on a pitch that just grazed the lower left corner of the plate — was upheld and the Rangers lost one of their two challenges.

There were two outs already in the inning and no one on base when Carter challenged the call. Rangers manager Skip Schumaker acknowledged Thursday that the team may be wise to save their challenges for higher-leverage situations. In the fifth, with a runner at first base, Burger was called out on a pitch low-and-outside that would’ve been ruled a ball had he challenged. It’s a tad harder to tap the helmet, though, when half of your challenges have already been burned.

Twitter/X: @McFarland_Shawn

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