Nick Goody has pitched 145 major league innings. It’s doubtful he has pitched one quite like his eighth-inning performance last night.
Goody was called into the game with bases loaded and his team trailing 3-1. A two-run deficit for this team is nearly as insurmountable as Mount Everest in the dead of winter. Anything more than that and it’s as easy as walking to Mars. So if he was to give his team any chance of winning, he had to figure out a way to keep the Athletics from scoring.
He hadn’t appeared in a game since August 11 because of a bad back. But all he did was roll out of bed, come into the game, strike out the first batter he faced, strike out the second batter, then strike out the third batter. Nothing to it. No runs scored.
And he walked off the mound like Superman.
Unfortunately, his team’s Kryptonite is a wooden baseball bat. When they hold one in their hands they are powerless to do anything. And, as predicted, his team went down meekly from there.
But you can’t ask for a more dominating relief outing than what Nick Goody delivered. He kept the Rangers in the game and gave them a fighting chance to win. But the Rangers offense is as dominating as a butter knife in a gun fight.
The Rangers didn’t win. But that has long since mattered. The rest of the season is about celebrating the positives.
They will be easy to spot. There are so few of them.
*****
TODAY’S GAME:
Chris Bassit (2-1, 2.97) vs. Jordan Lyles (1-3, 9.25)
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