Bartolo Colon has long had two milestones on his mind. Now he has both of them in hand.
The 45-year-old right-hander overcame a sluggish start to earn his 245th major league win and match Dennis Martinez for the most by a pitcher from Latin America when the Texas Rangers beat the Chicago White Sox 13-4 on Saturday night.
Colon already had the most wins by a pitcher born in the Dominican Republic Mark Scheifele Jersey , having surpassed Hall of Famer Juan Marichal for that distinction with his 244th victory at Kansas City on June 18, six days before a loss at Minnesota. Colon won again Saturday in his first home start since June 6 to tie Martinez, who is from Nicaragua.
Asked if he was able to put all his achievements in perspective, Colon made it clear there were two that were especially important to him.
”Not every milestone,” he said through a translator. ”Marichal and Dennis Martinez, and I got those.”
The night was done for Colon (5-5) after Matt Davidson led off the sixth with a homer to center field that pulled the White Sox to 5-3. Four relievers closed it out for Texas.
”We want to be able, if he’s got an opportunity, to put the W behind his name to make sure he gets this,” manager Jeff Banister said. ”Obviously we want to win every game we possibly can, but a situation like this for him, and the overall history and his impact on the game, and impact on himself, and just what it means for the game of baseball.”
Joey Gallo and Ryan Rua homered for the Rangers, who won for the 11th time in 13 games and clinched their fifth consecutive series. Robinson Chirinos hit a three-run double in the fourth inning that put Texas ahead to stay.
White Sox lefty Carlos Rodon (1-3) allowed five runs in 5 1/3 innings.
Shin-Soo Choo, who has a major league-best on-base streak of 41 games, didn’t play for Texas because of right quad soreness. Choo said he has dealt with the issue for at least 10 days and it really bothered him recently.
Chicago’s first two batters got hits, though neither scored. Colon then threw 42 of his 79 pitches in the second inning, when he gave up three hits and his only two walks while the White Sox took a 2-0 lead.
”He’s kind of my half-hero,” Chicago manager Rick Renteria said. ”I told (pitching coach Don Cooper), look at that guy. He’s still out there getting after it. Good for him. … Even though he gave up a couple runs early, he just kept pitching. No panic, no concern, just keep throwing strikes and let me see what happens.”
Affectionately nicknamed Big Sexy, the portly Colon retired 10 of 11 batters before Davidson went deep. Colon even got over to cover first base in time to get speedy Leury Garcia, who dove headfirst as the pitcher took a toss from Gallo to start the third. Colon had a grin on his face walking back to the mound.
”I thought that if I didn’t get the guy out, I was going out Mathieu Perreault Jersey ,” Colon said. ”So thanks that happened that he was out, so I could continue the game.”
SHORT HOPS
Three White Sox pitchers combined to throw 65 pitches in the eighth inning, when the Rangers scored seven times. The big hits were a two-run triple by Elvis Andrus and a two-run double by Jurickson Profar. … Adrian Beltre had two hits, increasing his career total to 3,107 – the most among active players and three shy of Dave Winfield for 20th all-time.
TRAINER’S ROOM
White Sox: 3B Yolmer Sanchez was back in the lineup after missing the series opener with a bruised left quad sustained when he collided with Minnesota 1B Logan Morrison on Thursday.
Rangers: Choo doesn’t think his quad issue is serious, but said he didn’t want to make anything worse. ”I know I have the streak going on, but my body and staying healthy is more important,” he said. … LHP Martin Perez (right elbow) allowed two singles in six scoreless innings in his second rehab start, throwing 73 pitches for Double-A Frisco.
UP NEXT
Rangers left-hander Cole Hamels (4-6, 3.61 ERA), one of the top starters potentially available before the July 31 trade deadline, pitches the series finale. Hamels has a 3.28 ERA over his last nine starts. He is 2-0 with a 2.86 ERA in four career starts against the White Sox.
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Ian Desmond, Trevor Story and Colorado starter Chad Bettis each had quite a return to Texas in a record comeback for the Rockies.
Playing his first game in Texas since being an All-Star center fielder in his only season for the Rangers, Desmond homered twice. Story had a pair of RBI hits in his first big league game at home and fellow Texas native Bettis overcame a tough first inning as the Rockies won 9-5 in the opener of an interleague series Friday night.
”Lot of emotion,” said Desmond, who went to Colorado in free agency after playing for Texas in 2016. ”Good time to have a good game.”
Desmond, a converted shortstop and now the primary first baseman for the Rockies, homered leading off the second inning. That ignited a six-run outburst after Bettis (5-1) allowed two-run homers to Jurickson Profar and Joey Gallo in a five-run Texas first.
The Rangers didn’t score again against Bettis, who made it 5 2/3 innings – or any of the three Rockies relievers.
”For them to get six there right after I had given up five was huge,” said Bettis, who is from Lubbock and pitched at Texas Tech. ”I needed to go out there and show these guys thanks for picking me up.”
The last time the Rockies won after trailing by five runs after the first inning was against Atlanta on Sept. 24, 2006, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. They had never had such a comeback on the road until Friday night.
”Yeah, it was (surprising). I felt like our guys there in the first, the approach was solid,” Texas manager Jeff Banister said. ”They were getting some pitches to hit. In the second Michael Hutchinson Jersey , we grounded into a double play when we had a run-scoring opportunity. … I felt like that once Colorado got the six runs, an experienced pitcher settled in and started making some pitches.”
Texas has a seven-game losing streak, its longest of the season. The Rockies had lost five of their previous six.
Story grew up about 15 minutes away from the Rangers’ ballpark before he was the 45th overall pick in the 2011 draft by the Rockies out of Irving High School. The shortstop, who still lives in the area in the offseason, leads the National League with 52 RBIs.
After Desmond’s homer in the second off Yohander Mendez (0-1), the lefty making his first big league start, D.J. LeMahieu and Charlie Blackmon had consecutive RBI singles before Nolan Arenado snapped a career-worst 0-for-19 slump with a two-run double. Story then had the tiebreaking RBI single.
”Yeah, it was special. I grew up loving the Rangers, so coming here I’ve always dreamed of playing in this stadium,” Story said. ”It was kind of surreal at first and I was a little nervous at first. Those kind of went away pretty quick.”
ROCKIES GOING DEEP
Arenado led off the ninth with his 13th homer. … Desmond’s second homer, in the fifth, was his 14th of the season for his fifth career multihomer game. … Desmond was only 10th Rockies player with a multihomer game in an interleague road game, the first since Blackmon at Yankee Stadium in 2016. … Desmond is the first Rockies player to homer twice at Texas.
BIG INNING
The six-run second was the highest scoring inning this season for Colorado, and the most in an American League ballpark since eight in the 10th inning of a game at Detroit on June 15, 2012.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Rockies: RHP Carlos Estevez, who has been out all season with a left oblique and elbow strain, threw a bullpen session. Manager Bud Black said he threw all of his pitched at a high-level intensity and is ”really gaining momentum.”
Rangers: Carlos Perez, starting in place of Chirinos, rolled his right ankle extending to catch a ball in the top of the second inning. Jose Trevino, recalled from Double-A Frisco, made his big league when he batted for Perez in the bottom of the inning and then stayed in the game as the catcher. … RF Nomar Mazara was a late scratch from the lineup because of left wrist soreness. … Right-handed relievers Matt Bush (right elbow strain) and Chris Martin (right calf strain) were put on the 10-day DL.
UP NEXT
Lefty Kyle Freeland (6-6), the Denver native who was 4-0 in interleague starts as a rookie last season, takes the mound for the Rockies in the first of consecutive day games to close out the interleague series. Rangers left-hander Mike Minor (4-4) is working on extended six days of rest after Texas had two off days during the week.
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