ARLINGTON, Texas — Cal Quantrill allowed 2 singles and 2 walks over 7 scoreless innings Thursday night at Globe Life Field. The Texas Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-0 to open a four-game series.
Jakob Junis and Chase Silseth finished the combined three-hitter. It was the 13th shutout of the season for Texas.
Quantrill improved to 7-5. He entered Thursday with a 3.01 ERA over 28 appearances, 11 of them starts, and 89 2/3 innings.
Quantrill’s fastball worked at the top of the zone, and he threw the split off of it.
“Obviously, we faced one of the top pitchers in the game. And what Cal provided today was incredible,” Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said. “Seven innings, two hits, I think it ended up being. Fastball was just really working at the top. And he threw the split off of it. Everything was working. It was just so much fun to watch. Really, really incredible. Really incredible night for him.”
“But yeah, it’s a good start against a really good team, obviously, in a four-game set,” Schumaker continued. “And we need every win we can get. And what he provided tonight was not only for the win, but relieved our bullpen a little bit as well going seven innings. That providing length and a win was huge.”
Since July 28 at Tampa Bay, Quantrill has a 1.25 ERA over 8 outings, 7 of them starts. His ERA in 7 career starts against the Rays is 1.77.
Cal Quantrill On The Tampa Bay Rays And Milwaukee Brewers
The Rays and the Brewers are both hard to strike out from top to bottom in the order.
“They’re both really good teams, right? It’s the best team in the NL followed by the best team in the [AL]. They play a good brand of ball. It’s hard to strike them out top to bottom in the order,” Quantrill said. “I think we had a good plan against Milwaukee, a couple bad pitches in the first. This time I think we really came out of the chute hot and were able to kind of continue it all the way through.”
“That being said, every team’s a little bit different,” Quantrill continued. “But yeah, I think that we’re well aware of the style of ball and the level of baseball quality that we need to play at to try and beat a team like this. And I thought we did a good job.”
Texas went 2-4 on its most recent road trip, dropping two of three at Chicago and two of three at Milwaukee before returning to Arlington to face the Athletics.
Quantrill was named the Rangers’ Player of the Month for August, an award voted on by the media members and broadcasters who cover the team on a regular basis. It was his first monthly award with Texas, and he posted a 1.45 ERA over 31 innings last month.
Quantrill said the Rangers are frustrated with how they have played on the road.
“I think the end is in sight,” Quantrill explained. “We have bigger ambitions than the regular season. I think that we’re well aware of how important each one of these games is. I think that we’re frustrated with how we’ve played on the road and we want to make sure that we’re not throwing away a good opportunity here. At least for myself, I know how important these games are and I want to make sure that there’s nothing left in the tank as we get into September. It’s rewarding but we have a job to do here.”
Cal Quantrill’s Move Into The Texas Rangers Rotation
Quantrill signed a minor league deal with Texas last offseason and opened the year at Triple-A Round Rock. He worked in long relief after his callup and then as a leverage arm out of the bullpen.
Quantrill moved into the rotation behind injuries to Jack Leiter and Nathan Eovaldi. Leiter is on the 60-day injured list. Eovaldi is on the 15-day injured list, and he made 22 starts with a 4.21 ERA before landing there.
“Gosh, what he did in August and now what he’s doing the start of September with some pretty significant injuries with Jack [Leiter] and Evo [Eovaldi], and he has stepped right in and filled in the role like pretty much he is like an ace,” Schumaker explained. “He’s pitched like an ace, and I don’t know what we’d be doing because he’s not only provided quality start after quality start, but he’s become like this innings eater as well, which has been huge.”
“And so, especially with some guys that haven’t provided some length, Cal has been kind of that guy that stops the bleeding and has provided that for us,” Schumaker added. “So, yeah, even his losses, like the one that he lost in Milwaukee, he still had a quality start. So, yeah, he’s been excellent.”
How The Texas Rangers Scored Six Runs
Texas took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning. Wyatt Langford doubled into the left field corner and scored on Justin Foscue‘s single to left. Foscue entered Thursday batting .258/.322/.500 with 11 home runs and 27 RBIs in 81 games. He homered twice on the homestand, and the single off Shane McClanahan was his first RBI of the series.
Foscue trusts the coaching staff to prepare him, he told Rangers Sports Network.
“Look, I just take it back to my preparation, believing in myself, trusting the coaching staff to prepare me,” Foscue said. “I would just credit it to that, really.”
Ezequiel Duran flared a ball to right in the fifth inning that scored Logan O’Hoppe. Corey Seager followed with a two-run homer to right. Seager had hit balls to the warning track in left and center earlier in the game, and he entered Thursday batting .223/.324/.404 with 13 home runs in 80 games.
Duran carried a .276/.336/.455 line with 16 home runs and 75 RBIs in 131 games into Thursday. His 4.4 wins above replacement led the Rangers.
Texas added 2 runs in the eighth inning. Evan Carter tripled home Langford and scored on Jake Burger‘s sacrifice fly.
Schumaker said the extra runs meant the Rangers did not have to use Jacob Latz. The left-hander has 28 saves and a 1.63 ERA over 49 appearances, and he was an All-Star this season.
“That’s a good question. If I knew exactly what it was, I’d tell you and I’d tell them because we’d be doing it every single game,” Schumaker said. “But it starts with the RBI from Foscue, big RBI, two-out RBI from Zeke [Duran] that fell in. Zeke ran a ball down the first inning, by the way, acting like he’s an everyday center fielder. Easy in the gap that Caminero hit. And then obviously Corey Seager with a huge home run to really open it up. We needed that. We needed the extra runs so we didn’t have to use Latz. So that was good also. Overall, good team win.”
Foscue said the defense behind Quantrill held up and the offense put runs on the board.
“No, I definitely don’t think so,” Foscue said. “Right now, he’s going through a stretch where he’s been extremely dominant and helping us win baseball games. Tonight, he did his thing, seven shutout. Guys played good defense behind him, and we had collective offensive approach and put some runs on the board. But man, he doesn’t get the credit he deserves. He’s done a phenomenal job for us all year long and especially as of late, and we need him down the stretch here.”
McClanahan gave up 4 runs in 5 innings and fell to 10-7. The left-hander has not finished 6 innings in a start since July 8. Junior Caminero and the rest of the Tampa Bay lineup matched a season low in hits, and the Rays were shut out for the eighth time this season.
Tampa Bay has lost 10 straight games in Arlington. The last Rays win at Globe Life Field came on June 2, 2022.
The Rays are 83-57 and lead the American League East by 3 games over the New York Yankees. They are 9-11 since Aug. 14 after an 18-4 stretch.
Foscue counted 3 games left in the series and 21 left in the season.
“It was huge, right? Got three more. But 22 games left and then now 21 for the rest of the season,” Foscue said. “Good start. Go 1-0. And now we focus on tomorrow. A good start.”
Texas is 70-71, one-half game behind Cleveland for the American League’s final wild-card spot and 2 games behind first-place Houston in the West. First pitch on Friday is set for 7:05 p.m. CT at Globe Life Field, with Rays right-hander Nick Martinez (13-4, 2.99 ERA) opposite Rangers right-hander Kumar Rocker (5-10, 4.44). Martinez spent his first four major league seasons with Texas.
