Great pitched game from every Ranger involved, especially starter Mark Clark.. John Wetteland got his MLB leading 6th save.. Juan Gonzalez finally got his first home run – a three run blast, and Pudge didn’t seem to be bothered by the collision last night, also popping a home run. Also, if you were watching the Rangers on TV, the home run by Juan was one of those ones that you knew was a monster blast the second it hit the bat – it was really awesome!
A great game for the Rangers! Surprisingly the Twins are playing really good baseball these last two games. I expected to come in here and crush them, and they’re sticking up for themselves, which is nice to see.
Commentary by Jim Meeks:
The Rangers road Mark Clark’s first good outing and a Juan Gonzalez 3-run homer Friday to beat Minnesota 4-2.
Clark, who has horribly in every start prior to Fridays’, pitched pretty well Friday. Despite giving up 3 doubles the first 5 innings, he held the Twins scoreless. This was by far his best outing and it’s at least a sign of hope.
Call me a dreamer but I say Clark winds up with at least 15 victories this year.
It was nice to see Gonzalez homer for the first time this year. His home runs come in bunches usually, so the rest of this weekend might be fun. Ivan Rodriguez, who was at first diagnosed with a concussion on Thursday after a collision at the plate – then upgraded to a bone bruise to his cheek, was back in the lineup on Friday and drove himself in with an insurance run as he homered in the 9th inning.
Flawless John Wetteland, who was somewhat of a question mark coming into the season because of his ankle, picked up his 6th save already and is on a record pace for saves.