Will Smith Closes Big Rangers Win
- Matthew Postins
- 0
Texas Rangers closer Will Smith earned his 100th career save on Wednesday when he secured the final five outs in the 3-2 win at the Pittsburgh Pirates.
It laid bare just how well Smith is pitching lately — and how inconsistently the rest of the bullpen is pitching.
Smith normally pitches no more than an inning. But in light of the pitcher in front of him — José Leclerc — Smith had to corral five outs to get his ninth save of the season.
Leclerc retired the first hitter he faced, Bryan Reynolds. After that, he allowed a Ke’Bryan Hayes single, Carlos Santana single and Connor Joe walk to load the bases for Smith.
The veteran left-hander pitched his way out of the jam. He got Rodolfo Castro to fly out to left field and that was shallow enough to prevent Hayes from trying to score. Jack Suwinski struck out to end the inning.
Smith then went for it in the ninth, retiring the side in order, with Andrew McCutchen’s fly out to center field ending the game.
Smith is now the 18th current player with at least 100 career saves. He also did something a Rangers reliever hadn’t done since June 6, 2006, when Francisco Cordero did it.
Cordero also recorded a save of at least five outs and stranded three inherited runners.
“I put Smitty in a tough spot and he hadn’t pitched in a week,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “I was concerned about his command, but what a job he did out there. I kidded him before the game because he had a week off and said, ‘It could be two innings,’ and he ended up getting 1 2/3 innings. Big save for him.”
And a big save for the Rangers on a day when they needed it.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
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