I didn’t see any of this game, as I was at church on Wednesday evening. I got home and accidentally had found out the final score, so I didn’t watch any.
Save for the moment that Michael Young became the all time hit leader, passing Pudge Rodriguez for that honor. It’s hard to believe that Michael Young has been a Ranger (major leauger, no minors) for 11 seasons now (he made a token appearance in 2000 playing in just two games, and having just two AB). It’s pretty cool, and if you look at his long term numbers, he’s got an outside shot to get to 3,000 hits if he stays relatively healthy, and plays for awhile. Although I suspect he’ll end up as mostly the full time DH at some point during his next contract. It’s not like he’s bad now – far from it, but if he plays this one out and then goes 2-3 years into the next one, he’ll be on the upper side of 35 approaching 40.
Since one of my things I do here is pay attention to uniform numbers, I’ll take this moment to remind people that when Michael Young first came up with the Rangers, he wore #2. See the picture below. He wore it in 2000 and again in 2001. The thing is most people don’t remember why he switched to #10 from #2. It was because the Rangers brought in Carl Everett in 2002, and it forced Young to switch. He never switched back. At the time I thought he should, as I felt #2 was a better number for him than #10. :) Bonus points if you remember who wore #10 before Michael Young (without looking it up). The answer is at the end of this recap.
Anyways, about this game..
This was the second game in a row the Marlins were held down to a rather minimal amount of hits. Last game they had just three. This time they had just four, but they also managed to score three. Probably helped by the four walks the Rangers gave up. It’s not like it was a ton of them, but the Fish were efficient (har har har) with their hits, making ’em work well. No home runs, though.
Tommy Hunter started the game, but had to come out early due to an injury. It was enough to knock him out, but not enough to cause long term problems, as he made his next start (I’m writing this text a week after the game occurred). Hunter oddly gave up no hits, but did manage to allow an earned runs. Think the three walks helped with that? :) Matt Harrison followed him in an emergency appearance, and lasted about the same length (Hunter was 2.1IP, and Harrison was 2.2IP). Matt allowed a run, but had a reverse line somewhat of Hunter. Harrison allowed no walks, but three hits and just one run. Frank Francisco, who got a hold this game allowed the other run in the 8th on a walk and a hit.
Anibal Sanchez was the hard luck loser for the Fish, going 6 innings, and allowing just one earned run (two unearned).
The Rangers had 12 hits in all, and were led that way by Josh Hamilton who seems as hot as (if not hotter) than the 2008 incarnation. Man, I’m really glad I didn’t drop him on my fantasy leagues as I was tempted to do earlier in the season. He went 4-5 this game with a run scored and an RBI. He’s batting just a shade under .500 for the month of June – which is stinkin’ nuts. One of his hits was a solo home run – a tremendous blast to center field which landed in the middle of the tarp out there. Probably would have cleared the incline in center in the Astros park too – and the center field wall in Detroit. We also had another home run from Julio Borbon, his first. A guy who doesn’t have a ton of power got one, as did the guy WITH a ton of power.
We’re just rolling along, that’s several wins in a row now, and we’re out in front. Feeling good, eh?
The last player to wear #10 before Michael Young was Luis Alicea. Mark Teixeira had a #10 on the uniform he had during his press conference after the Rangers signed him, but it was never worn on the field. If you want to see some pictures of this, check out the #10 page in my uniform number history pages, and see for yourself.