ARLINGTON — Manager Bruce Bochy suspected Billy McKinney might have been on a fishing pond when he received the call. Luckily, the outfielder was in Frisco.
So, when McKinney picked up his phone at 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday night with the news that he was “heading to Arlington,” he only had to drive around 40 miles or so to Globe Life Field. Even if the drive was easy, McKinney had about five days of rust to shake off after Triple-A Round Rock’s season ended in Sacramento on Saturday. He hadn’t been on a field since. He was “pretty shut down.”
“I just thought it was over,” McKinney said. “So, I guess it hadn’t really set in yet because I literally just got home two days before.”
Still, rust and all, the Plano-native led a seventh-inning spark that propelled the Texas Rangers to a 4-2 win over the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday night. With one out on a 1-1 count, McKinney singled to left field, pushing shortstop Ezequiel Duran home for the go-ahead run and recording his first Rangers RBI. It catapulted a three-run inning and broke a 1-1 stalemate after both squads hit solo home runs.
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“I was excited and just woke up today like it was a normal day to go to the yard,” McKinney said.
Following a brief two-game stint with the Rangers in July, McKinney was recalled to replace outfielder Wyatt Langford, who moved to the injured list ahead of Wednesday’s game. He’s seen eight different teams since being drafted in 2013.
McKinney helped break the Rangers’ eight-game losing streak, the longest of the season. And he did it in front of at least eight family and friends.
“Here he is in the big leagues and helps us a win a game, a big game, break this streak,” Bochy said. “So, good for him. I thought he had good at bats all night, too. He looked like he saw the ball well.”
It’s some joy in what has been a bleak two weeks for the Rangers, culminating in an official playoff-eliminating 4-1 loss to the Twins during Tuesday’s series opener. Bochy said it was the Rangers worst game of the season. Still, even if they are not fighting to play in October, the Rangers still have a chance to go .500 if they win two of their last four games.
Bochy knows McKinney was hoping to get called up again. And he became the unlikely salvation.
It just so happened to be as he was gearing up for those few weeks after the season where he does nothing.
But on Wednesday morning, he woke up a little earlier, drove to Arlington and became the difference with less than 24 hours notice.
“I wasn’t planning on doing anything,” McKinney said. “But yeah, I’d rather be doing it here.”
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