ARLINGTON — In one corner, at 30-years-old, was a journeyman relief pitcher who took a most circuitous route to his major league debut. In the other, at 19-years-old, was a prodigious shortstop who signed a nine-figure extension shortly after his debuted in the big leagues as a teenager.
The winner, by unanimous decision (or, rather, a strikeout swinging), was the one with a story unique to the sport he’s worked relentlessly to survive in.
“I still don’t think I’ve caught my breath from the first pitch or the jog in there,” Gray said. “It was awesome.”
He entered in the ninth to a round of applause from the home crowd, retired third baseman Nick Gonzalez on a first-pitch groundout and got first baseman Spencer Horwitz to fly out. Then, against Pirates shortstop Konnor Griffin, Gray turned to his bread-and-butter changeup. Gray threw one changeup for a called strike, a second for a swing-and-miss and a third that forced Griffin to chase for a strikeout that sealed the series win.
“Kind of saved the changeup for the end,” Gray said. “That was fun.”
“It makes me feel pretty old,” Gray said. “He just signed an awesome extension, so he’s obviously a pretty good player, so getting my first career strikeout on him is pretty neat.”
That might be an undersell.
“I love this game so much because of stories like that,” Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said. “You saw this kid that just came out of high school not too long ago and then another guy who’s spent, in the minor leagues so to speak, 10-plus years trying to get his moment … for him to get a strikeout against a future All-Star over there, that’s what the beautiful part of this game is, you don’t see this in every sport. That just doesn’t happen.”