This is another game I didn’t see the majority of, but I was busy doing some family stuff this evening. I stupidly managed to see the score in the 8th inning, so I just popped into the game at that point. Made me wish I had been watching the whole thing.
Sidney Ponson was pitching like the version we got his first few outings this season. Not the one we’ve had the last few. One has to imagine he was pumped up for this game, going back to the club that cut him in 2007. His line was awesome – Nine innings complete game, six hits, one walk, one earned run. This is what we need from more than just one guy if we’re going to stick with this the rest of the season, and not just have a short middle season “nice run”. As much as I like these efforts by Ponson, one has to think given his overall stats the last two years or so that it can’t last long term. Be nice if it could, but unless he did this like two years in a row with no major foulups, one had to think you’d always wonder if the Ponson we “expect” will show up.
Offensively, we had our own seven spot to match the one the Twins had last night. Funny thing is that up until that point (the sixth), there was no scoring. It was 0-0 going into the sixth. Then the Rangers just up and exploded. The inning was started (home run) and ended (strikeout) by Michael Young. In between, a lot of stuff happened. :)
Single (Hamilton)
Reach on Error (Byrd)
Fielder’s Choice Out (Murphy)
Single (Laird)
Fielder’s Choice Out (Boggs)
Single (Shelton)
Single (Vazquez)
Home Run (Kinsler)
It seemed far more impressive watching it, than just reading this list of events. I didn’t see it live, but good ol’ pal TiVo helped me out here. Kinsler’s home run was a serious no doubter. You know that uppercut home run swing he has? This was seriously on display here.
Josh Hamilton went 3-5 for this game, scoring twice, but with no RBI’s (shock!). I saw a stat on screen that Hamilton was either in the lead or tied for first in all the triple crown categories. I knew he’s been doing well, but I didn’t realize it was quite THAT well. One hopes he can stay healthy and stay on the field. That would be a most impressive feat. But that’s pie in the sky now as we head towards the end of May. :)
Overall, the team did well offensively, piling on 17 hits. The only person who took an ofer was Milton Bradley, who was ejected in the second, so he only had one at bat. David Murphy had two more doubles – he leads the AL in that stat. If he keeps this up, he could be in line for rookie of the year. Thank you Boston!
The thing I enjoyed most about this game was Ron Washington getting ejected. I don’t know why, but the fact that he had not been ejected as Rangers manager before this point was an interesting point to me. A few weeks ago when a lot of the local media (and some blogging brethren) were calling for Ron’s head, I sent in a question to Evan Grant (which he didn’t use), asking if Ron was the first Rangers manager (other than like Eddie Stanky, and interim guys) who never got ejected during their tenure. But he’s finally been ejected. I was quite happy about that – I don’t know why. :)
