One rough inning doesn't derail Blue Jays' Romero
Toronto Blue Jays left-hander Ricky Romero has good luck against the Texas Rangers.
After his first four starts against Texas, he was 2-1 with a 0.92 ERA.
The Rangers had their best game against Romero on Wednesday, scoring five runs against him, four in the fifth inning when he walked the first three batters after being presented an 8-1 lead.
That made it close for a while, but Romero came back to pitch three solid innings to finish off with an eight-inning outing and his fourth win without a loss this year.
His ERA for the season is 3.64, and his career ERA against the Rangers increased to 1.93.
"It was a good outing other than that one inning," Romero said. "It's just one of those things where I couldn't find it, but I was able to settle down. The offense picked me up today and put up enough runs to where there was a pretty comfortable lead, and I just had to go out and make pitches."
Hot-hitting Edwin Encarnacion's three-run homer in the sixth inning turned a game that was getting uncomfortably close into a rout again.
"You try not to panic in those situations," Romero said of his shaky inning. "When things are going a little sideways, you have to slow it down and realize you are winning the game and you have a defense behind you that is going to make plays.
"I came out after that and was aggressive and got strike one. I know it's a cliche, but that's the key. Anytime you get ahead of these hitters and are able to throw strikes and pound the zone, you get them swinging at some pitches out of the zone."
And right now, Romero is definitely in his zone.
