It was a rough Major League debut on Thursday for Jack Leiter, but his team still managed to squeak out a victory.
The Rangers’ 23-year-old right-hander — the son of former Mets and Yankees left-hander Al Leiter — allowed seven runs, all earned, on eight hits in 3 ²/₃ innings in Texas’ 9-7 win over the Tigers in Detroit.
He walked three and struck out three.
“Obviously, it’s a surreal experience,” Leiter said. “It’s something you dream about since you were a little kid. Being around the game always, it’s a special day. I know I’m better and I need to be better and I will be better. And that’s kind of the frustration is some pitches that I left on the table and some mistakes that I made. ”
Leiter, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 draft, was brought up from Triple-A Round Rock, where he was 1-1 with 25 strikeouts and three walks in 14 innings over three appearances.
“He was all right,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said. “He had a little trouble hitting his spots in the second inning, but he came right back in the third and got two quick outs in the fourth before he ran into trouble.”
Despite Leiter’s struggle, the Rangers pulled out the win in large part due to Leody Taveras, who scored the go-ahead run on a fielder’s choice in the eighth inning and added an RBI single.
Taveras doubled with one out in the eighth and went to third on Marcus Semien’s fielder’s choice, eluding a tag by Detroit third baseman and former Yankee Gio Urshela.
Seager then grounded to first and Taveras scored to break a 7-all tie.
“He made a great play,” Tigers manager A .J. Hinch said of Tavares’ play. “We made plenty of mistakes today, but that wasn’t one of them. It was a baseball athletic play that didn’t go our way.”
Jose Leclerc (1-1) got the win in relief for Texas, and Shelby Miller (3-2), the fifth of six Detroit pitchers, took the loss for the second day in a row.
Though it wasn’t a great debut for Leiter, he did have support from one member of the Yankees.
Anthony Volpe — a former teammate of Leiter’s at Delbarton School in New Jersey — said Wednesday he was looking forward to spending his Yankees’ off-day watching “every pitch” of his friend’s major league debut.
“I couldn’t be happier for him and his whole family, for everyone. I’m super-excited,” said Volpe, who won a New Jersey state championship with Leiter in their senior year at Delbarton. “I’m sure his phone was going crazy and all of our friends and family friends are super pumped.”
— with AP