I didn’t get to see or hear any of this game. I was out at my Church’s secondary worship facility, where.. There’s a pool. So I was poolside with church friends, enjoying that fellowship. I snuck a few peeks at the MLB At Bat app during the evening, but nothing that would constitute “watching” it. A lot of games these days are that way for me. Alas, no Fox Sports Southwest still. Sigh.
The first peek in, the Rangers were down 2-0 at this point. It was the top of the fourth. The first run scored pretty quickly, on a walk, and a single. Dustin Pedroia hit into a double play, and that knocked in Jacoby Ellsbury, who had walked to lead off the first. Never good there. After the run scored, Derek Holland hit Adrian Gonzalez, so he was fairly wild in the first. The number of pitches thrown (14) wasn’t bad at all, but a walk, hit by pitch and a single, and they just got one run? Well, you can thank the double play for that. The Sox second run was a solo home run in the top of the fourth.
Overall, not too bad by Derek Holland at this point. After the fourth, he was down just 2-0, and had thrown only 46 pitches. 14 in the first and fourth each, and just 9 each in the second and third. Was pitching well in terms of pitch count. In fact, his overall pitch count was 100 when he came out in the 8th inning, so he was pitching quite economically in this game. His complete line was 7.2IP, 5H, 3R, 1BB, 7K. The third run was another solo home run in the top of the sixth.
Mike Adams followed and ended the 8th, and Joe Nathan closed it out for his 20th save of the season. Overall, a great pitching line for the staff. 9IP, 5H, 3R, 1BB, 8K.
Josh Hamilton continues his slide, taking another ofer. His average is down to .287 after this game. He’s not looking that good at all, and it will ultimately probably drive his price down if he doesn’t turn it around – and quick. Josh was the only ofer of the team. Young & Torrealba had two hits, everyone else one. Nelson Cruz had the power for the game, a solo shot in the bottom of the 8th, which gave us an insurance run at the time. Michael Young & David Murphy doubled, everything else was a single.
Wish I would have been able to see it. But I did have fun hanging out by the pool. :)