When the Texas Rangers announced that they would be experimenting with a tandem system for the backend of their rotation to mitigate innings after an unprecedented 2020 season, they had to figure a game like today was the best case scenario for such an exercise.
With a precarious bullpen already battered in the first two games of the season, the Rangers needed Jordan Lyles and his handcuff partner Wes Benjamin to step up this afternoon against the Kansas City Royals if they wanted to avoid getting swept to begin the 2021 campaign.
It worked.