Rodriguez worked around a two-out walk to turn in a scoreless inning in Wednesday's 7-5 win over the Angels in 10 innings.
Rodriguez was only making his fourth appearance with the Rangers since his Aug. 8 promotion, but the fact that manager Jeff Banister was willing to use him in the seventh inning of a tie ball game illustrates how much traction the young right-hander is already gaining in key spots. In fairness, the Rangers don't have many appealing alternatives in the setup ranks with Keone Kela (shoulder) and Matt Bush (knee, concussion) on the disabled list and a couple other relievers (Jose Leclerc and Jason Grilli) showing limited reliability of late, but Rodriguez certainly has the skills to hold down a vital bullpen role for the long term. Rodriguez, who sports a mid-90s fastball as part of a three-pitch mix, has yielded one run over his four innings with the Rangers after submitting a 1.20 ERA and posting a 17:1 K:BB with Double-A Frisco prior to his callup.