You know, that pun in the title was so awful, I considered not doing it, but it just screams to be used, so I had to. :)
Game 1 of the day/night doubleheader started at noon, and I was in full daddy mode at that point. My wife works Saturdays, so I forgot the game was on until it was in the third inning. When I turned it on, the Rangers were already up 9-0! Mildly disappointed when I saw I had missed an eight spot in the first inning. I was a bit more annoyed when I found out that Adrian Beltre came out of the game with that big ugly word – hamstring. That will be evaluated tomorrow, but one NEVER wants to hear that word associated with injury.
I mean, the Rangers were up 3-0 after the third batter of the game. Up 4-0 after the sixth batter – still with nobody out, I might point out. All told, the output in the first inning was eight runs on seven hits (five singles, a triple, and a home run). It must have been fun to watch – I might have to rewatch the top of the first via a replay on mlb.tv tonight after I finish writing this! The Rangers led off the second with a double by Beltre, which was the play he came out on. Michael Young singled, Nelson Cruz singled, and Rick Porcello was gone. Man, he was bloody AWFUL, but I’ll take that from the opposing pitcher. I mean his line was 1IP, 10H, 9R, 8ER, 1BB, 1K – EEK! After that, the Rangers stopped scoring for awhile.
After being up 9-0 three batters into the second inning, we didn’t score again until the third batter of the ninth inning. That was when Mike Napoli continued his Godzilla like stomping of opponents this week with another home run. That tied him with three other Rangers for second place in the consecutive games with a home run record. Napoli has 5. The record holder is Kevin Mench with 7.
Matt Harrison goes to 3-0 with this win. He had a pretty good game from the Rangers side. 7.2 innings pitched on 120 pitches, six hits, three earned runs, no walks, and six K’s. One of the runs came on a solo home run. But from the bits I listened to, he never really seemed in epic trouble. Starting to feel quite confident in Harrison. He was one of those guys who I always felt if he turned it on in his head, he’d be scary good. It appears (knock on wood) that he has figured that out. All of a sudden, our starting pitching looks pretty spectacular!
Thank you again, John Schuerholz!