Texas Rangers’ Ezequiel Duran gestures after reaching second base on a double that drove in two runs off Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Sammy Peralta in the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, May 19, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
David Zalubowski/AP Photo/David Zalubowski
DENVER — The best start of Rangers right-handed pitcher Kumar Rocker’s career was not a start. That might explain why the phenom-turned-prospect-turned-project delivered when needed most, though if you ask around, the exact explanation behind why an ambitious gamble paid off so handsomely in a ballpark that tends to make the pitcher pay remains to be determined.
If that’s all a tad difficult to comprehend, that’s fine, so long as it’s understood that the foundation of a 10-0 win against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field was cemented by the fear of stasis. The Rangers used Rocker, a starter who’s struggled in the first innings of games, as a reliever and were rewarded with 7 2/3 shutout innings. They reworked their lineup and were rewarded with a season-high amount of runs. They even pinch hit designated hitter Joc Pederson in the second inning and were rewarded with a franchise-record four hits off of the bench.
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It was the culmination of a myriad of managerial decisions made in an effort to shake the status quo.
“I’m not going to stand still and watch the same things happen over and over again,” Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said. “So, you try different things, and see if they worked.”
They worked from start to finish for the Rangers in their most decisive win yet this season. They started when Texas chose to use left-handed pitcher Tyler Alexander as an opener and use Rocker, who has an 11.25 ERA in the first inning of his starts this season, as a bulk reliever. Alexander pitched a scoreless first inning and turned it over to the 26-year-old former top prospect in the second for what Schumaker originally hoped could be “five innings” of work.
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Rocker, who was buoyed by a five-run lead before he even entered the game, allowed two singles in the second inning to designated hitter Troy Johnston and right fielder Tyler Freeman but held the Rockies hitless until the seventh after that. He worked around a two-out walk issued to third baseman Willi Castro in the eighth inning and struck out the first two hitters in the ninth before he walked shortstop Ezequiel Tovar and was lifted after a career-long appearance. He had had never completed six innings on the road, never posted a scoreless appearance on the road and only won a single game on the road in his first season-plus as a big leaguer.
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Catcher Danny Jansen, who’s caught each of Rocker’s starts this season, said that he couldn’t identify a specific difference in how his pitcher worked given the delayed start. Rocker, who acknowledged that he’d pitch in extended relief again if asked, said that there weren’t any major changes aside from additional catch play before he entered. Schumaker couldn’t pinpoint any specific discrepancy either in the immediate aftermath.
“Gosh,” Schumaker said when asked what looked different about Rocker out of the bullpen. “I don’t know. What an outing. Especially after a bullpen day yesterday. Going 7 2/3, a career-high in pitches, at least, in Colorado. You just don’t see that. That was big for the team what he just did. I’m really proud of him.”
The Rangers did believe that a shift in Rocker’s routine could generate results and potentially give them additional length. They also recognized the risk involved in their decision after an impromptu bullpen game the night before forced the Rangers to use five relief pitchers and largely depleted the bullpen. If Alexander stumbled, they would’ve been forced to burn another bullpen arm early. If that weren’t an option, they would’ve needed to send Rocker into the game in a dirty inning, something that Schumaker said he “didn’t want to do.”
“We had a script of ‘just in case,'” Schumaker said. “It was not fun to put together.”
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They only needed left-handed pitcher Jalen Beeks to throw three pitches to record the game’s final out.
“That was one of the more dominant starts — or, pitched eight innings, whatever you want to call it — that I’ve seen,” Pederson said. “I came to Coors quite a bit, it used to be three times a year, and pitchers, it’s tough, not only to locate their stuff because it spins a little different, but just to throw 100 pitches with the altitude and to recover like that. The bullpen was taxed, you throw that on top of it, and that can be a huge, huge outing for the Rangers and for him confidence wise.”
Ditto for an offense that’s now totaled 24 runs in its last three games. Schumaker employed a new-look lineup with designated hitter Andrew McCutchen at leadoff, second-baseman Justin Foscue in the two-hole and right fielder Brandon Nimmo in the three-hole. McCutchen was given all of one at-bat before Pederson replaced him in the second inning, collected a team-high four hits and scored a run. Foscue, who has an .899 OPS since he was recalled two weeks ago, reached base twice, scored a run and drove one in. Nimmo, who started the season as the club’s leadoff hitter, totaled three hits and crushed a two-run home run in the fourth inning that broke the game open. Shortstop Ezequiel Duran, who hit fifth behind third baseman Josh Jung, also had three hits and drove in a career-high four runs.
It just took an unconventional approach.
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That’s got to be enjoyable to nail.
“I enjoy winning,” Schumaker said. “That’s honestly what it is.”
That’s what it was Tuesday night.