KANSAS CITY -- The Rangers have lost a lot this week.
They’ve lost baseball games -- four of five on this road trip, in fact. They lost ace Jacob deGrom for a start when the Rangers decided to skip his turn in Kansas City this week due to shoulder soreness. On top of all that, they also lost future Hall of Fame manager Bruce Bochy for the day as he attends to a family matter.
The losses were piling up, but a break finally went the Rangers’ way on Wednesday. In a game that should have been started by deGrom and his 2.76 ERA, acting manager Luis Ureta was forced to piece together a bullpen game in an eventual 6-3 win over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
“The toughest thing about managing a game is managing a bullpen, in my opinion,” Ureta said pregame. “Obviously putting in this situation, on a bullpen day, that makes it a little bit more challenging. But whatever, we should be fine.”
It didn’t look fine to start, when starter Caleb Boushley surrendered a three-run homer to Vinnie Pasquantino in the first inning. But then the offense chipped away all game, while the bullpen -- Boushley included -- virtually shut down the Royals afterwards.
Boushley labored through a 38-pitch first but ultimately completed three full innings with no more runs before handing it off to Jacob Latz. Latz, Shawn Armstrong and Hoby Milner carried the Rangers to the finish line, pitching around traffic to keep the Royals from putting any more runs on the board.
“It wasn't an easy game to maneuver and get through,” Ureta said postgame. “Bos, obviously, lacked some command and made a couple mistakes in the first inning. After that, he kind of settled in a little bit and made pitches when he needed to. I think it was a big team effort. The bullpen did an amazing job in a game that we needed to win.”
Kyle Higashioka -- batting cleanup for the first time this season in Ureta’s lineup -- delivered the final blow with a bases-loaded double with two outs in the top of the ninth.
Ureta didn’t take all of the credit for putting together his first Rangers lineup, noting that he ran it by Bochy and the hitting coaches. But it no doubt worked in his favor.
"Higgy, he's been swinging the bat,” Ureta said. “Without [Jake] Burger [wrist injury], without [Sam] Haggerty [ankle injury], we just gotta be creative with how we construct the lineup against a lefty. He's been swinging the bat well, and we thought it was a good spot for him. He came through and got us a win.”
It was just the 19th comeback win of the season for the Rangers, which is the third fewest in the Majors, more than only the Pirates (16) and White Sox (17).
And it couldn’t have come at a better time. Every game at this point is a must-win for the Rangers, who now sit five games back of the Mariners in the American League Wild Card standings with 34 games remaining. The Royals and Guardians also remain ahead of Texas in the standings.
Now the Rangers must win Thursday's finale to avoid their fourth straight series loss and sixth in their last seven, which came on the heels of a four-series win streak.
"I just think we needed something to go our way,” Higashioka said. “We've been getting in our own way a little bit. I think sometimes one win can kind of set you back on the right track.”