This was a game with several interesting firsts.
- It was Alexi Ogando’s actual major league debut.
- It was Alexi Ogando’s first major league win.
- It was Matt Treanor’s first game back in Florida since leaving the team.
- It was Matt Treanor’s first game winning pinch hit triple. ;)
- It was the first time CJ Wilson walked six in one game.
Obviously, the first couple of those are better than the last one, but man was this a good game. If I were a Fish fan (are there any?), I’d be annoyed that I lost, but it was a good game.
CJ Wilson was, as I said, a bit wild, walking six. He also struck out six too. Fortunately, he only allowed two hits to go with those walked, and mostly danced the line without letting it get out of control. In fact, the two runs that Florida did score came on a two run home run to Hanley Ramirez in the sixth, his last inning of work. The six walks definitely contributed to an excessively high pitch count (111 in six innings), but the bottom line was the runs, and he kept that down well. Only allowed two.
Our bullpen was fantastic, allowing now runs and just a single hit over the three innings they worked. It was the major league debut of as I said Alexi Ogando, the “visa trapped” pitcher the Rangers have had for a number of years now. He walked one too, but I’d attribute the walk and the hit to nerves somewhat. But again, the bottom line is the runs, and he didn’t allow any.
He also was the pitcher of record when he was pinch hit for by Matt Treanor in the top of the ninth. Matt rapped the first pitch he saw towards the left field alley for a two run triple, which at the time took us from down 2-1 to up 3-2. It got CJ Wilson off the hook, who was headed for a hard luck loss.
I liked this text written by TR Sullivan (hope you don’t mind TR) from his mlb recap of the game:
A tough 34-year-old career backup catcher facing his former team and a nervous rookie making his Major League debut made it a memorable night for all in the Rangers’ dramatic 3-2 victory over the Marlins at Sun Life Stadium.
Offensively we didn’t really have much going on. Nor did the Marlins. The Rangers had just six hits in all, and the Fish had just three. One was the aforementioned home run by Ramirez. He also had a single, and the lone other hit was by catcher Ronnie Paulino. So overall the Rangers were stingy with hits. Of our six, two were by the currently flaming hot Josh Hamilton, and the other four were scattered. Everything for the Rangers was single, save the Treanor triple.
It was, dare I say it, a well played National League game. And we won.