Another Cody Bradford Start for Texas Rangers

Cody Bradford takes Dane Dunning's place in the Texas Rangers rotation for Sunday's series finale at the Baltimore Orioles.

How much did Cody Bradford learn from his first Major League Start with the Texas Rangers? We’re about to find out.

Bradford (0-1, 10.80) will make his second MLB start on Sunday at the Baltimore Orioles in place of Dane Dunning, who is on the paternity leave list after the birth of his son.

Bradford was scratched from his scheduled start with Triple-A Round Rock on Saturday to return to the Bigs.

“I know he’s excited to come back up and get another start,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “I know the last start didn’t quite go as well as he wanted, but he’s so good and he’ll figure it out.”

Bradford made his MLB debut on May 15 against the Atlanta Braves at Globe Life Field. His call-up was strategic. The Rangers had just returned from a 10-game road trip without an off-day and each starter had taken two turns on the trip. The Rangers wanted to give each an extra day of rest.

From that standpoint, Bradford’s start was a success. The Rangers are 7-2 since his start and the starting pitcher has taken the win in each of those games. That includes Saturday’s 5-3 win over the Orioles, with Andrew Heaney claiming the victory.

But from Bradford’s standpoint, he took a beating against one of the best lineups in baseball.

The Baylor product and native of Aledo, which is just west of Fort Worth, gave up a pair of two-run home runs — to Kevin Pillar and Ronald Acuña Jr., respectively.

Bradford threw 90 pitches in five innings, giving up seven hits, six runs (all earned) and two walks. He struck out three.

The day after the game he was sent back to Round Rock and continued his masterful season at Triple-A. He faced El Paso last week and threw 5 2/3 innings. Bradford (6-1) gave up four runs, but only one was earned and his ERA actually dropped to 0.99. He allowed seven hits, struck out five and walked one. He did allow two home runs.

He remains one of the Pacific Coast League’s best pitchers. He has the best ERA, opponent batting average (.176), and WHIP (0.93) among qualifiers, ranking among circuit leaders in wins (T1st, 6), innings (5th, 45.1) and strikeouts (7th, 42).

On Sunday, the AL West-leading Rangers (33-18) get the chance to see if he can be better the second time around. Baltimore is starting Kyle Bradish (2-1, 4.34), with first pitch set for 12:35 p.m. CT.

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