I sat down last night to watch this game on TV as did most Ranger fans I would assume still rolling from the high of the night before. The SWEEP chant, taking all three from the Red Sox, RA’s performance, etc, etc, etc. I don’t think anyone thought the Rays were going to be a pushover – but cripes – they were!
Kenny Rogers pitched a four hit shutout, going all nine, and looking pretty good doing it. He fielded his position well, making several great plays. He acted well, like an Ace of a staff. It was quite nice to see, especially after RA’s performance last night. If you put Dickey & Rogers together, their combined ERA is just slightly over 0.5. with 17.2 innings pitched. Absolutely stunning.
Offensively, we sent 11 men to the plate in the first inning, hitting three home runs, for a total of 8 runs. We picked up another later on a sac fly, but the game was really over in the first inning. The three home runs were hit by Mike Young, Alfonso Soriano, & David Dellucci. Dellucci has hit 5 in the last few days, which ties him for the club lead, surprisingly enough. It was just a total bludgeoning in the first inning, and I loved it. :)
My wife was elsewhere in the house when this was happening, so when she passed by after we’d scored the 8, but were still in the first, I paused the TiVo and said “look at this score” – she looked visually stunned at that. “EIGHT? IN THE FIRST INNING?” I thought yup – we’ve got this game won already. I shouldn’t think that way, because it tends to come back and bite you in the ass, but dammit – I knew we had this one won in the first 30 minutes.
Brett Carre: Sorry everyone. Been busy. The good times keep rolling. 19-7!! The hitting was great and Kenny was outstanding. Hell yea!!!
Line Score AL FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E - - - - - - - - - - - - TAMPA BAY 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 TEXAS 8 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 x 9 10 0 (FINAL) BATTERIES: TAM - PAUL ABBOTT, DICKY GONZALEZ (4TH), TREVER MILLER (7TH), LANCE CARTER (8TH) AND TOBY HALL TEX - KENNY ROGERS AND GERALD LAIRD WP - KENNY ROGERS (4-1) LP - PAUL ABBOTT (2-3) SAVE - NONE HOME RUNS: TAM - NONE TEX - ALFONSO SORIANO (3) OFF PAUL ABBOTT IN THE 1ST, 1 ON DAVE DELLUCCI (5) OFF PAUL ABBOTT IN THE 1ST, 2 ON MICHAEL YOUNG (4) OFF PAUL ABBOTT IN THE 1ST, 2 ON TIME: 2:22 ATT: 18,116 PROBABLES: TAM - VICTOR ZAMBRANO (3-2, 3.86) TEX - CHAN HO PARK (1-3, 5.64) Box Score TAMPA BAY (0) VS TEXAS (9) - FINAL TAMPA BAY ab r h rbi bb so lob avg C Crawford cf 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 .327 J Cruz rf 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 .218 R Baldelli dh 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 .267 A Huff 3b 4 0 0 0 0 1 3 .193 E Perez 1b 3 0 0 0 1 1 0 .188 J Lugo ss 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 .279 D Rolls lf 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 .128 T Hall c 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .291 R Sanchez 2b 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 .245 Totals 31 0 4 0 1 4 9 BATTING: 2B - J Cruz (3, K Rogers). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - J Lugo 1, A Huff 1, R Baldelli 1. Team LOB - 6. TEXAS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg M Young ss 5 2 2 3 0 0 2 .354 H Blalock 3b 4 1 2 0 1 2 1 .330 A Soriano 2b 5 1 1 2 0 0 4 .324 B Fullmer dh 1 1 0 0 3 0 0 .244 M Teixeira 1b 4 0 0 0 0 1 3 .200 E Young lf 4 1 1 0 0 0 1 .362 D Dellucci cf 4 1 1 3 0 1 1 .338 K Mench rf 4 1 2 0 0 2 0 .323 G Laird c 3 1 1 0 1 0 1 .333 Totals 34 9 10 8 5 6 13 BATTING: 2B - M Young (8, P Abbott). HR - A Soriano (3, 1st inning off P Abbott 1 on, 1 Out), D Dellucci (5, 1st inning off P Abbott 2 on, 2 Out), M Young (4, 1st inning off P Abbott 2 on, 2 Out). RBI - A Soriano 2 (19), D Dellucci 3 (10), M Young 3 (20). 2-out RBI - D Dellucci 3, M Young 3. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - A Soriano 1, M Teixeira 1. Team LOB - 6. ---------------------------------------------------- TAMPA BAY - 000 000 000 -- 0 TEXAS - 800 100 00x -- 9 ---------------------------------------------------- TAMPA BAY ip h r er bb so hr era P Abbott (L, 2-3) 3 1/3 8 9 9 2 2 3 5.65 D Gonzalez 2 2/3 1 0 0 1 4 0 2.25 T Miller 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 5.87 L Carter 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 2.84 TEXAS ip h r er bb so hr era K Rogers (W, 4-1) 9 4 0 0 1 4 0 3.32 WP - D Gonzalez. HBP - R Baldelli (by K Rogers). Pitches-strikes: P Abbott 78-51; D Gonzalez 35-23; T Miller 19-9; L Carter 16-9; K Rogers 123-80. Ground balls-fly balls: P Abbott 2-6; D Gonzalez 2-2; T Miller 2-1; L Carter 0-3; K Rogers 12-11. Batters faced: P Abbott 20; D Gonzalez 10; T Miller 4; L Carter 5; K Rogers 33. UMPIRES: HP--Ed Montague. 1B--Jerry Layne. 2B--Chris Guccione. 3B--Paul Schrieber. T--2:22. Att--18,116. Weather: 74 degrees, clear. Wind: 12 mph, in from right.