Rangers win streak hits 11, I was there for #10

Last night, the Rangers ran their winning streak to 11. Since they were swept in 3 games at Minnesota May 28th to May 30th, they've been unstoppable. They have won 7 straight series, sweeping the last 3. Since June 1st, they are 18-4. I'll be the first to admit they've been playing some inferior teams, but that is still a great month. Hopefully, they can keep it up against the Astros and the Angels in the coming days.

I was at the 2nd game of the Pirates series, the 10th game of the winning streak.

We arrived early since it was Autograph Wednesday. Three Rangers and one coach were signing autos on the concourse. My oldest got the very first card he ever pulled signed by Nelson Cruz. My youngest got Darren Oliver and Matt Harrison to sign his Nelson Cruz ball. Jerry Narron was also signing, but we didn't get into his line in time.

The game started out with a bang as this guy hit a 2 run homer in the bottom of the first:

The action continued in the 2nd as Kinsler, Guerrero, Murphy and Cruz each had bases loaded singles. Matt Treanor finished off a 5 run second with a sac fly.

The Rangers wrapped up their scoring with a 6 run 4th inning. Andrus had 1 RBI, Young had 2 more, Kinsler had 1 and Cruz had the final 2.

The final score was 13-3 and it made for a fine wrap up to my son's birthday. He and his friend celebrated entering double digits by getting their names on the center field scoreboard and getting some very cool gift bags from the Rangers. The icing on this birthday trip to the Ballpark occured in the 4th inning ( I think it was the 4th anyway). Michael Young rips a ball down the left field line. We were sitting near the foul pole, right on the rail of section 11. The ball hits off the wall about a foot or two foul. This guy...

...Jose Tabata picks up the ball and starts to walk away. My friend, father of the other birthday boy, calls Jose's name and Jose throws the ball up to him. Right to him! He passed it down to his son who later proclaimed this "his best birthday ever". That was very cool.

All in all, it was a great night and I can't think of a better way for a couple of 10 year olds to spend their birthdays. This nearly 40 year old had a pretty good time too.