Robby Ahlstrom was robbed of his first career victory last week in Kansas City, but the Texas Rangers jumped into action with Major League Baseball to right a wrong.
ARLINGTON — Everyone with the Texas Rangers, from the players and coaches to Hall of Fame radio voice Eric Nadel, knew June 11 that left-hander Robby Ahlstrom had earned his first career victory.
So did Ahlstrom. He entered for the final out in the fifth inning with the Rangers up 3-2 and got it with the potential tying run at first base, then returned to toss a scoreless sixth. Cole Winn worked the seventh, and Jacob Latz tossed two perfect innings to close out the win.
The Rangers greeted Ahlstrom in the clubhouse with a beer shower, a common celebration for a rookie who achieves a career-first. Ahlstrom then took a real shower, looked at his phone afterward and saw that the official scorer in Kansas City had taken it upon himself to give the win to Latz.
Nathan Eovaldi “was the first one I talked to, because he was right next to me in the locker room,” Ahlstrom said. “I go, ‘Hey, uh, looking at my phone, I didn’t get the win.’ So he was like, ‘Oh, boy.’ “
The Rangers jumped into action, dead set on righting a Royal wrong.
A club official filed an appeal with Major League Baseball, and Latz was urged to do the same. He did so without hesitation, glad to exchange a win for Ahlstrom’s first.
In his mind, Ahlstrom should have had the win, Winn could keep his hold and he would get the save everyone thought he had secured.
“I put, ‘We believe Robby earned his first career win, and I came in in a save situation,'” Latz said. “It made sense to give Robby the win.”
Ahlstrom, who made his MLB debut June 3, said that he wasn’t too bummed out because he had pitched in a Rangers win for the first time, and the team win is always the ultimate goal. But Latz told him that he was going to appeal and see what happens.
The news was delivered Monday, three days before Ahlstrom turned 27. Manager Skip Schumaker walked to Latz’s locker to shake his hand on a job well done. He and the Rangers had won the appeal. Schumaker’s next stop was to the field, where the relievers were stretching and getting ready to throw.
Another handshake was exchanged, this time with Ahlstrom, and the relievers broke into applause. Ahlstrom was 1-0.
“Everyone started joking, like, ‘We’ve got to redo the beer shower,'” Ahlstrom said.
Jeff Wilson, jwilson@alldlls.com
