ARLINGTON — In the eighth inning of the Texas Rangers’ 18-3 win over the Oakland Athletics on Saturday night at Globe Life Field, Rangers relief pitcher Josh Sborz faced Oakland infielder Jace Peterson.

Normal, yeah?

Not exactly. Sborz was the one at the plate. Peterson, with his team in the midst of a blowout, was on the mound pitching sliders that, per Baseball Savant, came in at an average of 57.6 miles per hour.

“He had an order not to swing the bat,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “That was with one out and Adolis [García] coming up ... I think he wanted to swing, though.”

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Sborz, who pitched two innings, gave up one run on one hit and struck out four, replaced first baseman Nathaniel Lowe in the lineup before the eighth inning. Brad Miller moved from designated hitter to first base, and Sborz — batting in the three hole with García behind him with one out and Travis Jankowski on first base — was directed to keep the bat on his shoulders, and in turn, give García a chance to hit a fourth home run in Saturday’s game.

“He wasn’t going to swing anyway,” Bochy said. “Lost my DH when I put Miller [at first], and I thought ‘Well, my odds aren’t too good that he’s going to come out’ and he didn’t.”

Sborz struck out on four pitches, and became the first Rangers pitcher to appear at the plate since Kohei Arihara on Sept. 8, 2021 versus the Arizona Diamondbacks. Garcia hit his second double of the night right afterward.

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