After feeling bad about ourselves from losing the first two of three in Anaheim, the Rangers bounced back against the Angels, and picked up the finale, 7-3.
The game started out with Matt Harrison & Dan Haren on the hill. Was a pretty good pitcher’s duel for awhile, the score was still 1-0 going into the fifth, but that’s where the pitcher’s duel broke down. 2-1 Rangers after 5. 3-2 Rangers after 6. 5-3 Rangers after 7. Then finally 7-3 Rangers after the 9th.
Dan Haren pitched himself out of the game, and if he hadn’t, there probably would have been a better Angels pitching. Haren wasn’t horrible, but some of his line was a bit high. Five innings pitched, seven hits, just two runs. Walked two as well. Still, he managed to keep runs off the board mostly. His immediate successor from the bullpen (Cassevah), was not as good. Just one inning, allowed three runs on three hits and a home run.
That was Nelson Cruz’s two run titanic home run in the 7th inning. It was a shot I don’t think I’ve ever seen go that far up the hill. It cleared the flagpoles, and was all the way up the top near the Monster Energy Logo. If this were Rangers ballpark, he might have hit the window of the new restaurant area at the top of Greene’s Hill. It was massive. Was later revealed to have been 484 feet. Cruz was quoted as saying he couldn’t hit it any harder than that. He’s probably right.
Other than the home run, the Rangers had four doubles and nine singles for their offense. Elvis Andrus continues to bat well, going 3-4, with his batting average now at .311. Of the starters, only Adrian Beltre took an ofer. Was a well spread out attack in terms of stats and the box score.
Matt Harrison also pitched pretty well. 6.2IP, 4H, 3R, 3BB, 3K. He did allow a solo home run in the sixth, but that wasn’t really too damaging.
Nice to get a win to salvage the series, but man. I really wanted to win 2 in Anaheim, not lose 2. Still, we’re in a good place overall, so I try not to let these stretches get to me too long.