PHOENIX — Cal Quantrill‘s back tightened up after the fifth inning Sunday at Chase Field, and he stayed in the game. The right-hander finished six innings and won his fifth of six starts as the Texas Rangers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-6 to take the series.
Quantrill threw 70 pitches, his fewest in six starts, and Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said the two of them stayed in contact between innings from the fifth on.
“He was outstanding,” Schumaker said. “I mean, Cal was on the attack, gave up one run through six innings, whatever it was. And then after the fifth, he had back tightness and it was pretty significant back tightness. And so we agreed to go kind of hitter to hitter or inning to inning and hitter to hitter and keep communicating throughout as soon as the seventh inning started. And we talked about it. And if one guy got on, we’re going to kind of go to the bullpen. And that’s what happened.”
Geraldo Perdomo opened the seventh with a single, and Quantrill came out. Tyler Alexander took over and gave up a three-run homer to Nolan Arenado, one of the runs charged to Quantrill.
Cal Quantrill Threw 70 Pitches, His Fewest In Six Starts
His four previous outings ran 88, 95, 93, and 96 pitches. On Sunday, he needed 70 to get 22 batters, throwing 50 for strikes and putting the ball in play early against a Diamondbacks lineup that had scored 9 runs against Texas on Friday.
The final line was 6 innings, 5 hits, 2 earned runs, no walks, and 4 strikeouts. He has not walked a batter in either of his last two starts.
No roster move followed the game, and Texas did not place Quantrill on the injured list.
Cal Quantrill Has A 2.90 ERA A Year After A 6.04 Season
Quantrill signed a one-year contract with Texas in January. He is 9-5 with a 2.90 ERA over 31 appearances, 14 of them starts, and 108.2 innings. His 1.049 WHIP is a career best, and his 134 ERA+ is the highest mark of his eight seasons.
Across his last six starts he has a 1.89 ERA, a stretch that began with 7 scoreless innings against the Los Angeles Angels on Aug. 18. He shut out the Angels again on Aug. 23 and held the Tampa Bay Rays to 2 hits over 7 innings on Sept. 3.
Last season he went 4-12 with a 6.04 ERA over 26 starts split between the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves. He has pitched through arm trouble before. Two stints on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation cost him 72 games in 2023, and a right triceps issue put him on the 15-day list from Sept. 1 to 15 last year with the Colorado Rockies.
Texas has 12 games left. The Rangers open a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday at Globe Life Field, with first pitch at 7:05 p.m. CT on Rangers Sports Network, and host the Toronto Blue Jays for three beginning Friday. On normal rest, Quantrill’s next turn falls in the Toronto series.
