 gave up singles to the first batters he faced and Garrett Hampson scored from third on Nolan Arenado's groundout. Two Texas errors in the sixth led to an unearned run for Colorado.''It was kind of stunning,'' Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. ''He didn't feel that great, which is amazing. He didn't throw his best. After the fourth or fifth inning, he obviously knew he had to pick us up. We weren't hitting much. He picked our defense up by getting out of that (sixth) inning, only gave up one that inning.''After the eighth inning, he came by me and I knew I wasn't going to take him out,'' Woodward added. ''I said, 'How are you feeling? He said, `I'm going to finish this thing.' I said, `Well, then go do it.' That was it.'' Lynn fanned six, struck out the side in the eighth before closing out his first complete game since Sept. 11, 2014, at Cincinnati.''I actually enjoy pitching here,'' said Lynn, who threw 110 pitches in going the distance at hitter-friendly Coors Field. ''It's weird. It's cool, it's dry, you don't sweat. You've just got to outlast the other pitcher. That's the way I think about it when I come here. If I outlast the other starter, you get a win. I was told that a long time ago in my earlier years.'' He lowered his ERA to 1.11. It was the third career complete game for Lynn, who also beat the Rockies in Texas on opening day with six scoreless innings.''He was on again tonight,'' Rockies manager Bud Black said. ''We just couldn't solve him. He kept us off-balance. He had enough velocity and he kept his velocity the whole game.'' Solak evened the score at 1-1 when he led off the fifth with his first homer of the season, driving the first pitch from Ryan Castellani into the right field seats. The homer snapped the Rangers' four-game homerless streak, their longest since going homerless for four games Sept. 4-7, 2015.Solak helped to tie the game again in the seventh, doubling off Jeff Hoffman and scoring on Rougned Odor's single.Daniel Bard (1-1) took the loss. He hit pinch hitter Derek Dietrich with a pitch leading off the eighth. He scored from third on Isiah Kiner-Falefa's double-play grounder.The Rockies scored in their half of the first on an RBI groundout by Arenado.Colorado starter Ryan Castellani, who pitched four hitless innings in his major league debut at Seattle last week, went 4 2/3 innings in his second career start. He allowed two hits, both to Solak, and fanned seven, striking out the side in the first and third innings.''It was a little too much middle but it was down,'' Castellani said of the change-up Solak got hold of for a homer. ''It was a good pitch down. He did exactly what he needed to do to start off that inning.'' TRAINER'S ROOMRangers: C Robinson Chirinos was placed on the 10-day injured list with a lingering sprained right ankle. The move was retroactive to Tuesday. Chirinos also had tweaked his left ankle and had missed the Rangers two previous games. ''I think it's the best. Robbie agrees,'' manager Chris Woodward said. ''He needs to get fully healthy. He wasn't contributing like he wanted to, but that had a lot to do with his health.'' . In other moves, the Rangers recalled C Jose Trevino and selected RHP Juan Nicasio from the alternate training site. 1B Greg Bird opted for free agency after being outrighted Tuesday.Rockies: INF-OF Chris Owings was held out of the lineup after leaving Wednesday's game against Arizona early due to left hamstring tightness. Manager Bud Black said Owings likely would miss several games.UP NEXTRangers: RHP Kyle Gibson (0-2, 4.11 ERA) will look to break into the win column for the first time this season.Rockies: RHP German Marquez (2-2, 2.08 ERA) faces the Rangers for the second time this season. He was the tough-luck loser on opening day at Globe Life Field, dropping a 1-0 decision on July 24.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Rockies attempt to bounce back against RangersThe Colorado Rockies are off to a strong start to the 2020 season, but for the first time since things kicked off three weeks ago, they are dealing with a slump.The Rockies will attempt to get back on track when they host the Texas Rangers for a three-game series, starting Friday night.Colorado won its first five series before Arizona came to town and teed off on the Rockies' pitching staff. The Diamondbacks scored 32 runs in three games and took two out of three at Coors Field. The bullpen took the brunt of it, especially in Wednesday's 13-7 loss."This one, we got knocked around a little bit. They chipped away, some balls fell, we didn't make plays," said manager Bud Black, whose team has lost three of four. "So, overall, we still have a lot of faith in our bullpen." Texas will send right-hander Lance Lynn to the mound, while the Rockies will counter with rookie Ryan Castellani.Lynn (2-0, 1.16 ERA) started Opening Day against Colorado, striking out nine in six shutout innings to get the victory in a 1-0 Rangers' win. In eight career starts against Colorado, he is 3-2 with a 2.42 ERA. The 33-year-old has pitched well at Coors Field, where he is 1-1 with a 2.84 ERA in four career starts.Lynn's win on Opening Day was followed by two no-decisions despite allowing just one run in 12 1/3 innings. He got his second win -- and the 100th of his career -- over the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday. The Rangers are coming off a 5-1 homestand after dropping eight of their first 11 games.Texas pulled out a dramatic 7-4 win against Seattle on Wednesday, scoring five times in the eighth to take two of three games from the Mariners."That's a huge victory for so many reasons," manager Chris Woodward said after the game. "Especially the way we won that game. We know it is not going to be easy offensively. We haven't hit as well as we would like, but we've managed to win some games by doing small ball, stealing bases, getting big hits. Those are the things we have to do to win the tough games." Colorado was on the business end of big rally against Arizona on Wednesday, giving up eight runs in the seventh inning. Now the Rockies hand the ball to the right-handed Castellani, who made his major league debut Saturday in Seattle.Castellani, 24, was plugged in when Chi Chi Gonzalez was injured and he didn't allow a hit in four-plus innings in a no-decision. He was on a pitch count of around 60, which will increase to around 75 against the Rangers."The thing that was impressive to me was just his mound presence, his poise," Black said after Saturday's game. "He looked under control delivery-wise, he didn't overthrow the ball. I thought he and Drew were in great rhythm the whole night. There was just so many positives tonight for Ryan that you really like to see that and the guy's first game, it was really cool stuff." --Field Level Media
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