The Texas Rangers had a bad home stand, we all know that, but it ended well. The Rangers took 3 out of 4 from the division leading A’s after losing back to back series (including six games in a row at one point) to last place teams. Well, the winning over division leaders did not stop with the A’s.
Last night the Rangers returned to the place where they lost the 2011 World Series, and it began very poorly. Derek Holland surrendered two runs before it even felt like the game had started, and wound up giving up three in the first inning. The way the Rangers were playing before the Oakland series, I would have said game over right there.
Fortunately, Lyons surrendered four runs of his own in the top of the second and was pulled from the game. The Rangers are now hitting with runners in scoring position, and the big hit on the second inning came from none other than Elvis Andrus. It was good to see Elvis come through.
The Cards tied it up on a wild pitch next inning, an that was it for a while. Holland settled down and pitched very well the rest of the way, and Cotts and Nathan shut the door for good. Now, I must admit, I fell asleep before this one was over, but the end was very good. The Rangers plates two in the ninth thanks to Elvis’ speed, followed by a wild pitch and a Nelly seeing eye single that plates both Kinsler and Andrus.
So the Rangers, after all the doom and gloom, have now won four of their last five, and all against division leaders. As we have all been saying, baseball has its ebb and flows, and the Rangers now Ppear to be in bounce back mode. Kinsler and Moreland seem to have helped awaken this offense, and I hope the other starters take Derek’s late inning approach and just throw strikes to hitters. Quality strikes, that is.
Tonight, Martin Perez gives it another try at the major league level to see if he can secure his first win this season. This was supposed to be Nick Tepesch’s start, but now Perez is going to get his shot. Tepesch will go on Sunday night instead. Martin has great stuff, he just needs to make his pitches up with the big club and not try to so too much. He needs to trust the guys behind him to make plays and score runs.
After this series, the Rangers head to the Bronx. I have a feeling I will have a thing or two to say about that series when the time comes. Enjoy baseball tonight, everyone.
