Texas Rangers Reliever Sets Intriguing Pitching Record for Live Ball Era

The use of bullpen games by Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy this week has been nothing short of brilliant. The club has responded with two wins in that scenario and has won six of its last seven games overall.  

In addition to the brilliance, one reliever was perfect in Friday night’s 3-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox. And he set a new standard for starter’s ERA in the process.

Shawn Armstrong threw a career-high 3.0 perfect innings in his first start of the season and 17th of his career. The previous 16 came for the Tampa Bay Rays, where Armstrong was often used as an opener.

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With the three shutout innings against the White Sox, Armstrong lowered his ERA as a starter to 1.04 (four earned runs in 34.2 innings). That’s the lowest starter ERA (minimum of 17 starts) for any pitcher in Major League Baseball’s Live Ball Era, which began in 1920.

As impressive as that sounds, Armstrong was content to do his job Friday. He found out Thursday from Bochy that he would be starting the series opener against Chicago.

“I’m very routine oriented,” Armstrong said, according to MLB.com. “I try not to change much and stick to the same routine as it is. It's the same game. For us right now, every inning matters, whatever the circumstances.

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“I've said since I've been here, and I think every reliever in here, we don't care when we throw, we just want to win. Just an outstanding job by the bullpen today. It was a lot of fun.”

Armstrong also became the second starting pitcher in Rangers history (beg. 1972) to exit a start of at least 3.0 innings with a perfect game intact. Alexi Ogando also exited a start after 3.0 flawless inning on June 10, 2012 against the Bochy-managed San Francisco Giants (credit: Evan Grant, Dallas Morning News).

Even though it was inevitable that Armstrong would be lifted – six relievers followed – Bochy didn’t enjoy doing it.

“I hated taking him out because he was throwing so well,” Bochy said. “He was comfortable starting that game. He was locked in, he was focused and he was exactly what we wanted.”

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