ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Joe Barlow was itching to get back into a game as quickly as possible after his first blown save this season. The Texas Rangers closer didn’t even have to wait a full day.
Adolis Garcia hit a three-run homer, rookie Glenn Otto won his third start in a row despite some erratic control Saturday and Barlow rebounded with a perfect ninth inning as the Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners 3-2 — less than 20 hours after the young closer entered the series opener with that same score before giving up a two-run homer.
“Rarely do you get that opportunity. Sometimes you have to wait around for four or five days,” Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. “I had zero thoughts of not putting him in there. … Honestly, it was like the easiest call in the world.”
Woodward said he had talked earlier in the day with some of his staff about Barlow’s mentality, and the work he puts in on the mental side to handle tough moments to be able to succeed and bounce back.
“I think just like yesterday, having a rough day, being able to stay easy, not try to get too high or too low,” Barlow said. “It makes it easy to rebound. … Like today, I don’t have to try to fight the emotions back down, I just try to stay kind on an even keel.”
Otto (4-2) allowed only two hits over five innings. But the right-hander walked five and hit a batter in the first four innings when the Mariners didn’t get any of those runners home. Their runs came when Jesse Winker hit a two-run homer in the fifth, a 446-foot blast pulled into the right-center seats right after No. 9 batter Cal Raleigh’s one-out single for their first hit.
“Not enough offensively in a winnable game,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said.
After three other Texas relievers worked scoreless innings, Barlow got his 10th save in 11…
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