Rangers Send Pitcher, Rookie Infielder to Triple-A

Texas will make corresponding moves before they take the field on Sunday against Washington

ARLINGTON — Taylor Hearn pitched some of the best baseball he’s pitched all season on Saturday. All it got him was a trip to Triple-A Round Rock.

After the Rangers’ thrilling 3-2 win over the Nationals, the Rangers sent both Hearn and infielder Ezequiel Duran to Round Rock. The Rangers will announce corresponding roster moves on Sunday.

Hearn, whose lost his turn in the rotation after he struggled in Detroit last week, pitched four scoreless, hitless innings in relief Sunday. He was expected to pitch at some point this weekend. He entered the game in the second inning in relief of Brett Martin, who pitched one inning to start the game.

Hearn walked two, struck out one and had a wild pitch.

Hearn spoke to the media after the game and gave no hint that a move was coming, so it was unclear if he knew at that point. The Rangers did not announce the move until the media cleared the locker room.

Hearn is 4-5 with a 5.86 ERA this season.

Duran, who had never played above Double-A before his promotion to the Rangers on June 4, did not play on Saturday. With the Rangers he was hitting .258/.281/.435/.716 with two home runs and eight RBI. This could be a case of sending Duran to Triple-A so he can get consistent at-bats, which was the similar logic the Rangers gave for sending catcher Sam Huff back to Triple-A earlier this week.

Hearn has had two issues this season — pitch count and quality starts, which go hand-in-hand. Hearn has completed six innings just once this season, coming on May 28 at Oakland. He threw a season-high 92 pitches, giving up eight hits, three runs and a walk while striking out five. He only had one appearance where he threw shutout baseball, May 12 against Kansas City,by going five innings, giving up one hit and leaving with a 1-0 lead.

He was also coming off perhaps his worst start of the season last Saturday against Detroit. He gave up eight runs and 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings pitched in a loss to Detroit.

The Rangers may not need a fifth starter for the foreseeable future. Glenn Otto is expected to start on Sunday, with Martín Pérez, Jon Gray and Dane Dunning set to pitch the three games at Kansas City starting Monday.

The Rangers have an off-day on Thursday, which means Otto could pitch on his normal five days’ rest when the Rangers get to New York to face the Mets. Because the Rangers have an off-day the next two Thursdays, they may not need a fifth starter until the tail end of their nine-game, 10-day road trip that starts on Monday.

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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