ARLINGTON, Texas – According to Baseball Sage Crash Davis, Rule 1 in baseball is “Don’t think – it can only hurt the ball club.”
Liam Hendriks is a long way from a starring role in Bull Durham, but he heeds those words.
And he invoked them after Saturday’s game, when he gave up a game-tying two-run single to Elvis Andrus of the Rangers, a hitter who was 0-for-12 against Hendriks.
Hendriks said he should have thrown a slider in an effort to get a ground ball with the bases loaded. He threw a fastball instead, and Andrus was able to whip the ball into the outfield for a two-run single that started Texas on its way back from a 4-2 deficit to a 6-5 win.