FRISCO -- Ross Detwiler's first rehab outing with Double-A Frisco didn't start terribly well.
On Saturday night at Dr Pepper Ballpark, the now former Texas Rangers starting pitcher went down 2-0 to the first hitter he faced, Tulsa third baseman Daniel Mayora, the Drillers' No. 6 hitter who then drilled Detwiler's third pitch right up the middle for a single.
Mayora stole second but Detwiler settled down, retiring the final three hitters in the seventh inning, stranding Mayora at second.
"Yeah, well I fell behind that guy 2-0. He hit a fastball that was down but it was a 2-0 count and then after that I feel like I settled down a little bit," Detwiler said outside the RoughRiders clubhouse postgame. "Second inning, I thought I was throwing a lot more strikes, so I was able to mix in the changeup a little bit more."
Detwiler, 29, was acquired in an offseason trade with the Washington Nationals. He made seven starts for the Rangers early in 2015, going 0-5 with a 6.95 ERA before landing on the 15-day disabled list on May 19 with left shoulder inflammation.
In the top of the eighth, Detwiler returned to the mound and almost immediately, it was clear he had shaken off any rust from the previous frame. He struck out Tulsa shortstop Luis Mateo, the Drillers' leadoff man, to start the inning, getting the better of Mateo in a seven-pitch battle.
He then struck out Tulsa left fielder Adam Law, son of former big leaguer Vance Law, on four pitches. The Drillers' final hitter of the eighth and of the night for Detwiler, second baseman Brandon Dixon, lined out to Rangers' top prospect Joey Gallo, who was in left field, to end the eighth to cap a four-pitch at bat.
In total, Detwiler threw 34 pitches, 21 for strikes. Following the single to Mayora, he retired the final six hitters he faced in his first outing since May 14, when he started and went five innings in a loss to the reigning American League champion Kansas City Royals.
"Yeah, overall I felt pretty good. I felt like it (the ball) was coming out pretty good," Detwiler said. "The only thing I was kind of down on was first hitter falling 2-0 but it is what it is. Thought the off-speed came around pretty nice."
One reason why Detwiler was able to finish strong was that after getting behind against Mayora and Tulsa centerfielder Peter Lavin, who followed Mayora to the dish in the seventh, he threw first-pitch strikes to the final five hitters he faced.
"Yeah, for me I think that's the name of the game, just get ahead of the hitter and put the pressure on them. I think strikeouts come from that and bad contact comes from that, so as long as you're ahead of the hitter and can put him away after that, that's what you're trying to do," Detwiler said.
Detwiler doesn't know exactly how many rehab outings he will have in Frisco or if Saturday marked his only appearance for the 'Riders. However, he did say that he expects to be re-evaluated on Sunday, which should give him a better idea not only of when he could be returning to Arlington, but also what his role could be once he arrives.
But one thing is for sure, he will not return to the Rangers' starting rotation as most project him to be a long-relief man for Jeff Banister's club.
However, Detwiler isn't too concerned about what his role could be. Instead, he's going to embrace whatever Banister asks of him and build on a performance against Texas League hitters that he was pretty pleased with.
"Wherever I can help out the team, there's nothing I can really do about it. I'm going to do whatever they tell me to do," he said.
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