SerpApi.Org
ARLINGTON - He wanted to look like he'd been here before, and at this rate, he may just remain.
Rangers center fielder Cam Cauley hit his first career home run in a 4-2 loss vs. the Chicago White Sox at Globe Life Field Monday night and was arguably the lone bright spot as the team has now lost four of six games since the All-Star break. Cauley, who made his big league debut at the end of last month, hit left-handed pitcher Anthony Kay's high fastball into the right field seats to tie the game at one run apiece in the bottom of the second inning.
He hustled hard around the first two bases before he downshifted as he rounded third.
"I didn't want to run too fast and look like I'd never been there before," Cauley said. "In my minor league homers, I kind of slowly trot, so I was like, 'alright, calm down, just relax.'"
That exact thought process has allowed Cauley to settle in at the big league level. The 23-year-old has slashed .357/.471/.714 in his last seven games, has recorded a hit in four of his last five and largely played in the outfield for a team that's mostly needed to crowd its bench depth in the infield.
"I just try and keep it simple," Cauley said. "I know what my role is. I'm not here to slug and I'm not here to hit homers. I'm here to get on base - whether that's reaching on an error, hit by pitch or a homer - any way I can get on base, and help the top of the lineup out, that's what I'm trying to do."
Cauley, a former third-round draft pick, went unselected in last winter's Rule 5 draft before he turned heads at big league camp this spring because of his speed, defensive ability and improved hit tool. He reached base in the bottom of the sixth inning when he used his 30.6 feet per second sprint speed to force an errant throw from White Sox third baseman Miguel Vargas.
"I really like what he's doing," Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said. "He got on base a couple of times if you include the home run. That's all you can ask for a young kid, to get on base, cause some havoc, put some at-bats together. I don't know what his OPS is, but it's over .750, so he's doing a heck of a job so far."
The issue Wednesday night was that Cauley's second-inning home run accounted for half of their runs and his sixth-inning sprint provided their last base runner of the game. The Rangers finished 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position, and with the bases loaded with nobody out in the bottom of the fourth inning, they scored all of one run when catcher Elias Diaz grounded into a double play.
Their .481 OPS with the bases loaded is the worst in baseball this season.
"That was the difference in the game," Schumaker said, "and a little bit of an issue the whole year, quite honestly, in bases-loaded situations."
It nullified an otherwise fine patchwork pitching performance. The opener-and-bulk duo of left-handed pitcher Tyler Alexander and right-handed pitcher Cal Quantrill allowed three runs in five innings as the Rangers continue to make creative efforts to maximize their advantages. Alexander started against a White Sox lineup that was stacked with left-handed hitters at the top of the order, but in the second inning, right-handed hitter Chase Meidroth singled in the game's first run off of him. Quantrill relieved him after that and allowed two runs on two walks and two singles in the fourth inning before high-leverage arms Jakob Junis, Peyton Gray and Jacob Latz finished the game.
"We had the bullpen set up to keep us in the game and give our offense a chance," Schumaker said, "and I thought they did that quite honestly."
The offense - save for a rookie - didn't hold up its end of the bargain.
Read this story on dallasnews.com
