Joe Nathan made it very interesting last night as the Rangers defeated the Oakland Athletics last night 6-5. The game was almost four hours long and much more stressful than Rangers fans wanted it to be at one in the morning. “That’s why closers get paid big money.” Nathan said after the game. “That’s what it’s all about. That’s why the late-inning guys have the pressure on them. You don’t want to put yourself in that position, but they always find a way to make it interesting.” Nathan did make it interesting to say the least. After the Rangers took a 6-4 lead in the top o the tenth with solo home runs from Adrian Beltre and Mitch Moreland, his second of the night by the way, Nathan came in and proceeded to load the bases with just one out. He then struck out Barton and got Sogard to ground out to end the game.
I don’t think the Rangers have a closing problem yet, but Joe has been making it interesting of late. Tanner Scheppers had yet another great outing, and he may be the future closer if he can improve on his strikeout numbers. The Rangers bend but don’t break bullpen had been doing a great job all season, but they have not been helping Rangers fans with their sleep.
The two clubs face off one more time in this series today at 2:35 in the rubber game of this series. Hopefully the Rangers players are getting more sleep than they gave their fans.
