Robertson passes former HOF teammate Rivera on all-time reliever K list

CHICAGO -- David Robertson spent the first five seasons of his Major League career with the Yankees, pitching in relief ahead of a future Hall of Famer in closer Mariano Rivera.

“Never would I have thought that I would be in any category close to him,” Robertson said.

Consider Robertson in great company. He passed Rivera for sole possession of 12th on the all-time reliever strikeout leaderboard on Wednesday, with 1,137, in the Rangers’ 3-1 win over the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field.

It was one of several unique layers to Texas’ win over Chicago in the series opener, which was suspended due to rain on Tuesday and resumed on Wednesday afternoon. Marcus Semien, the only player to begin a plate appearance on Tuesday before a rain delay was called, delivered a go-ahead RBI double in the seventh inning on Wednesday to spark the Rangers.

Semien’s clutch swing backed a solid start by lefty Andrew Heaney, who allowed one run on five hits in five innings. Here’s a further look at Semien, Heaney and Robertson’s performances:

Semien’s two-day plate appearance
Ominous clouds rolled across the sky over Chicago’s South Side on Tuesday night, leading up to the Rangers and White Sox scheduled 7:10 p.m. CT first pitch. By the time Semien got into the batter’s box to lead off against Chicago starter Garrett Crochet, it had already started pouring.

Semien had worked a 2-2 count against the White Sox ace when the umpiring crew signaled for a rain delay. Ninety minutes later, Chicago announced that the game had been suspended until Wednesday.

Because it was already raining when Crochet took the mound to warm up on Tuesday, the umpiring crew could have called for a delay before he threw his first pitch. But the storms that rolled in arrived both sooner and heavier than expected.

“In fairness to [the umpiring crew], they didn't have the information that it was going to be a big rain,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said before play resumed on Wednesday. “We all were told that was coming later, closer to 9 o’clock. So [they] didn't know if that was going to be a quick shower or whatever. But looking up there, I knew it wasn't gonna be a quick shower.”

It led to an unorthodox experience for both teams. As Semien dug into the box at 4:10 p.m. CT on Wednesday to continue his leadoff at-bat, he faced a 2-2 count. He was also greeted by a new pitcher. Chris Flexen entered in relief of Crochet, and Semien drew a walk after taking two pitches out of the zone.

Semien’s RBI double in the seventh off Flexen drove home Wyatt Langford, who led off the inning with a single.

Heaney stays on schedule
Heaney warmed up on Tuesday as he does for any start. The game being suspended before he threw a pitch could have put the Rangers in a bind regarding their pitching, but it was a no-brainer for the lefty to start on Wednesday.

“Honestly, it never really crossed my mind,” Heaney said of not starting. “I didn’t throw a pitch [on Tuesday], so it was basically just like a heavy catch day the day before. That’s how I thought of it. It wasn’t a big deal.”

Heaney allowed a hit in each of his five innings, but held the White Sox to one run in his five innings. He threw 71 pitches, and Bochy went to the bullpen in the sixth.

“He did a good job in traffic,” Bochy said. “It was five solid innings. Pitch count was pretty good, but he got up and got hot last night, so just looking after him is why we made the change.”

Robertson’s historic strikeout
Robertson entered Wednesday with 1,135 career strikeouts out of the bullpen, tied with Rivera for 12th on the all-time leaderboard among relievers. He wasted no time passing his former Yankees bullpen mate.

Robertson entered in the eighth and got Andrew Benintendi swinging on a curveball in the dirt. For good measure, Robertson then struck out Andrew Vaughn swinging, bringing him five shy of tying former Angels reliever Francisco Rodríguez for 11th all-time. Bochy and the Rangers celebrated Robertson after the game.

“He just passed [Trevor] Hoffman. He just passed Rivera,” Bochy said. “That puts him in a class as one of the best relievers in the game.”