Hey, we got a win! Now, one could make the point that it’s against a team that also had a 5 game losing streak, but a win is a win, so I’ll take it. Joaquin Benoit started this game, and I have to say having him in our rotation in 2005 doesn’t thrill me. Been burnt over the several years of his attempts at figuring it out. He was lights out in relief, so I was hoping he’d translate again to the rotation. He’s had two starts in 2005, and the first one was “OK”. This one he only went 5 innings, but gave up no runs on 4 hits plus 4 walks. Not a great WHIP, but the bottom line was no runs, so that’s good. Hopefully he can continue that, as we certainly need the rotation help.
We used four relievers in the game. Ron Mahay didn’t fare too well, giving up the two runs the Orioles got in his 0.2 IP. The remaining three (Loe, Shouse, Cordero) gave up none in their combined 3.1IP.
We actually were outhit 8-6 in the game, but Alfonso Soriano wasn’t fooled. He had three of the team’s 6 hits, including a solo home run, and two of the RBI’s. He scored two himself, so he definitely was the most important player this game.
Was kind of odd that with a game without a ton of scoring and hits that it took three hours and twenty one minutes to play. Nice move by Channel 27 putting it in a 2:45 slot in their programming block. I fail to understand why they continue to do that – how long have they carried Rangers games? Why on earth do they slot games in places they know it won’t fit? Doesn’t make any sense to me.
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