I know the Rangers history as well as anyone, so I don't want to get ahead of myself. However, when you root for a team that is one game over .500 AND in first place, a position it doesn't occupy nearly enough, you celebrate when you can.
With deep apologies to Bud from First Day Issue, I have to be excited about the Rangers sweep of Seattle over the weekend. The pitching in games 1 and 3 was phenomenal and game two was a little shocking.
Friday's game was a classic pitcher's dual. Check out these lines by Colby Lewis and Cliff Lee
Cliff Lee--7 IP, 3 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 8 Ks. And he wasn't the best pitcher of the day.
Colby Lewis--9 IP, 3 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 10 Ks.
The Rangers won 2-0 in 12 innings and got out of bases loaded jams twice late in the game. At one point, with the bases loaded and Ichiro on third, Eric Byrnes made a complete fool of himself on a suicide squeeze. The only video I could find was this slow motion partial clip on Youtube. Byrnes showed bunt, pulled back and then lunged at the ball almost a second after it passed. The amazing thing was Ranger's catcher Matt Treanor dropped the ball, picked it up and blocked the plate to tag Ichiro out. The umpire called it a ball and threw out Ron Washington for arguing that it should be a strike since it was a suicide squeeze. It was a weird play.
Saturday's game was a shocker because the Rangers knocked King Felix Hernandez out early, tagging him for 5 runs. Rangers win game 2 by a score of 6-3.
Sunday's game was another pitcher's dual. C.J. Wilson pitched another good game for Texas and Doug Fister (who?) was masterful through 8. Unfortunately (for Mariners fans) the Rangers scratched out a run off Aardsma to tie it in the 9th and won it in the 11th by a score of 3-1.
The Rangers outscored the M's 11-4 in the three game series and got the sweep. More importantly, they are in 1st place in the A.L. West....even if it is by a half game. I'll take what I can get, when I can get it. We'll see how the series in Oakland goes and how long the Rangers can occupy first place.
Isn't it great when they are in first? Let's hope they keep it up against Oakland. I sure can't wait til they get back home, I hate the late night west coast starts. You need a photo of that play at the plate on Ichiro for your new header!
ReplyDeleteWay cool series in Seattle. Let's hope the can sweep the A's as well. Off to a good start after last night.
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