Rangers intentionally dropped pop-up so Minor could get 200 Ks

The first 200-strikeout season of Mike Minor's career has caused a stir between the Texas Rangers and Boston Red Sox.

Minor struck out Red Sox hitter Chris Owings in the top of the ninth inning at Globe Life Park on Thursday after teammate Ronald Guzman appeared to intentionally drop a pop-up in foul territory.

Minor could be heard repeatedly yelling "drop it" as Guzman ran towards the ball.

Rangers manager Chris Woodward acknowledged after his team's 7-5 win that Guzman could have caught the pop-up but let it fall because Boston hitters were intentionally swinging at first pitches earlier in the game to prevent Minor from reaching the milestone.

"I didn't love the idea that we dropped the pop-up at the end," Woodward said, according to FOX Sports Southwest. "But on the other side of that, they swung at three pitches in a row in the eighth inning down by two.

"So if they have any beef with that - obviously, I'm pretty sure (Red Sox manager Alex) Cora did - they chose to not try to win the game as well; they were trying to keep him from striking a guy out."

Woodward let the 31-year-old Minor push his pitch count to 126 in order to get the strikeout, immediately replacing the lefty with Jose Leclerc afterward.

"I'm just happy our guys are playing the game the right way," Cora said when asked for his opinion on the play, according to MLB.com's Ian Browne. "We're playing hard until the end. It's been two weeks (since) we've been eliminated but we've been going at it the right way. That's all I ask. I don't manage the Rangers."