Chicago White Sox at Texas Rangers

When asked how to get back on track after Monday night’s blowout loss to the White Sox, manager Skip Schumaker made it seem pretty simple. “Win a game,” he said. “That's how you get back on track. Tomorrow Kumar Rocker going. It's going to be important for him to get off a good start to keep us in the game. It always starts with starting pitching.” Sure, it’s maybe not quite that simple. But Rocker did exactly that. The Rangers’ right-hander tossed six scoreless innings in their 10-0 win over the White Sox on Tuesday night, looking effective and efficient from the outset. He allowed just one hit, a leadoff single from Munetaka Murakami in the fourth inning. He walked two, but no Chicago hitter even made it into scoring position. It’s tied for the longest scoreless start of his young career. He last did so on June 28 in Toronto. It was his first win since May 19 in Colorado, when he pitched behind an opener. With the Rangers up, 10-0, Rocker’s day ended at just 75 pitches and six innings. But it may have been the best 75 he’s thrown this season. Schumaker credited Rocker’s start with a slight uptick in fastball velocity to go along with better command of his slider and a new splitter that he’s been working on for the last few weeks. He threw six splitters against the White Sox on Tuesday, all to left-handed hitters. “It's just consistent,” Rocker said. “It's a little bit slower than my changeup, so that's good. I just picked it up and started rolling with it. I like it a lot right now. …The movement on the changeup was good, but it wasn't enough of a velo difference for it to be very effective. Naturally, with that split, I get better movement, and if the movement isn't there, it's still 86, 87 \[mph\