I had forgotten this game was on at work, and I turned it on right before the back-to-back-to-back home runs. Unfortunately, that’s about all I got to hear, as I was fairly busy with work. But I did get to hear that! :)
Our first day game win of the year.
Commentary by Jim Meeks:
In what was most assuredly the most exciting Rangers’ game of the year to date, the Rangers took turns bombing ex-mate Bobby Witt and beat the Rays 7-6.
The Rangers belted 4 homers off Witt, including 3 in a row in the 5th inning, by Pudge, Palmeiro and Zeile. This ties a record the club set last year against the White Sox. It also tied a team record for most HR in an inning.
So while the offense clicked, Mark Clark again was – by normal standards – ineffective – but to Rangers’ standards, effective enough.
The key to the game however goes to the superb pitching of one Jeff Zimmerman, easily the Most Valuable Player so far this year for the Rangers – and perhaps the MVP so far in the league. He’s done nothing but record outs – important outs. Wednesday, his 2.1 innings began when Venafro allowed the tying run (6-6 at that point in the 6th) to score on an infield single/bad throw. Zimmerman came in, struck out Canseco and then proceeded to attack the Rays like an overgrown field in July – he simply mowed them down.
The Rangers hang on ever so tightly to first place as Oakland remains a heartbeat away.