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The Rangers had a seriously hard problem getting the final out of the game. Going into the ninth, we were up 10-3. Got two quick outs, and then couldn’t get anyone out. After there were two outs in the ninth, Derek Holland, Darren O’Day, & CJ Wilson all pitched. CJ finally got the last out, but it was’t easy – the go ahead man was on base, we just couldn’t seal the deal. Fortunately, we finially did, but it was touch and go for sure there.
Kinsler was the big charge, leading with two home runs. Andruw Jones had a home run, and Josh had his third home run since coming off the DL on Tuesday.
Kevin Millwood broke his streak of going at least seven innings in each game he started this year. Today’s game he was just six. Had nine hits and two earned runs. Few too many hits, but it didn’t result in a lot of runs, so that’s good.
The Rangers definitely continue to look good. If we’re gonna make a real charge at winning the AL West, we have to beat the Angels, and while it got hairy in the ninth, we looked good this game.
First place, two and a half games up. While there’s miles to go, it is a good feeling just the same.
(This commentary is short, due to playing catch up on nine games of commentary at once).

Matt Harrison was freakin fantastic again! Probably not as fantastic as before when it was a complete game shutout. But he did pitch a complete game. This time, he gave up two runs, and it looked like he was going to lose. Nothing more annoying than a complete game loss. If you go all nine, you’re likely going to win.

However, Matt left the game after the ninth, down 2-0. And a Rangers offense that was totally ineffective against the Mariners came up in the bottom of the ninth. Hank Blalock led off with a solo home run to right – a rather titanic shot to make the game 2-1. OK, feeling good, but we still have more work to do. A few batters later, Chris Davis came up, and jacked a two run home run to walk off with the win! That’s two nights in a row with a walk-off. That had to feel good for the Rangers, given how ineffective they were aginst Felix Hernandez all game.

(This commentary is short, due to playing catch up on nine games of commentary at once).

Let’s face it. There’s a bunch you can talk about with this game. But all anyone will want to talk about is the fact that we got a walkoff win at home against a division opponent.
Going into the 10th, we had given up a run, and I figured that was it – we usually lose extra inning games in the 10th. However, we plated two of our own in the bottom of the 10th to win the game!
Josh Hamilton did have his second home run in two games – a nice thing to see given how few he’s had up to this point. And Elvis Andrus tripled – always fun to watch triples!
(This commentary is short, due to playing catch up on nine games of commentary at once).

Josh Hamilton returned to the lineup on Tuesday night, and went deep. He’s had a power outage most of the season, but hopefully the reason he was on the DL for awhile helped that, and he can start raking. Josh wasn’t the only Ranger to homer. Chris Davis also did that, and Kinsler, Byrd, & Saltamacchia all doubled.
Our offense was pretty spread out. Every Ranger had at least one hit, with both Kinsler & Young getting three. The big damage was the bottom of the seventh where we plated six. Josh’s two run home run was in there. Was nice to see that.
Scott Feldman continued in the rotation, and looked good. 6.1 innings pitched, just one run on four hits.
(This commentary is short, due to playing catch up on nine games of commentary at once).

Vicente Padilla went a second straight game giving up just one hit. That kind of snuck out of nowhere. He started off the year weak, but has really come on strong the last couple of starts. Seven innings, just one hit and one run. Looked pretty good out there. Maybe, just maybe, with multiple starters pitching well? Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves.
Offensively, it was all about the power. We had nine hits. Five of them were for extra bases. Two doubles (Vizquel & Davis) and three home runs (2 by Blalock, & one by Chris Davis).
The game was tied through four at 1-1, but then Rangers popped it open with a four spot in the fifth, tacking on single runs in the seventh & eighth. The Sox didn’t really have a chance this game, we kept on top of ’em pretty good.
(This commentary is short, due to playing catch up on nine games of commentary at once).

Kevin Millwood wasn’t as dominating as he had been at times this season, but he certainly pitched well enough to win. He went seven innings (again), giving up just three runs. A good outing.
However, former Ranger prospect John Danks was better. Six innings, just one run. Fanned 10, something that always helps.
The Rangers didn’t have any power this game. Only one hit was for extra bases, a double by Nelson Cruz. Everything else (six of ’em) were singles.
The White Sox also had just seven hits in the game, but placed theirs better.
(This commentary is short, due to playing catch up on nine games of commentary at once).

MATT HARRISON WAS FREAKIN’ FANTASTIC!
Now THAT is the Matt Harrison I think people were expecting. Matt threw a complete game shutout. Nine innings pitched, 111 pitches, just four hits, and NO RUNS. Holy crap was that great! Man, if we can only get this kind of pitching regularly.. It’d be scary how good we could be with our offense.
MATT HARRISON WAS FREAKIN’ FANTASTIC!
Oh yeah, four doubles and seven singles, but who cares?
MATT HARRISON WAS FREAKIN’ FANTASTIC!
(This commentary is short, due to playing catch up on nine games of commentary at once).

Brandon McCarthy was the old Brandon McCarthy (4IP, 7ER).
Chris Davis hit a home run in the fifth.
The Rangers scored three in the ninth, in a “who cares now” kind of fashion.
Meh – this game sucked.
(This commentary is short, due to playing catch up on nine games of commentary at once).

In a game where all the offense was over by the end of the fourth inning, you find good bullpen numbers on both sides. Both teams’ pens gave up no runs. All the runs were by the starters, who also pitched fairly decently.
Scott Feldman, making a spot start went six, gave up four hits and two runs. Dan Giese went 5.2 innings, giving up eight hits and three runs. Decent pitching, if not dominant.
Elvis Andrus had a home run in the first inning, then all the other four runs in the game came in the fourth inning. Cruz doubled, but for the second game in a row, the offense was mostly singles.
(This commentary is short, due to playing catch up on nine games of commentary at once).

This game for the most part was one I thought was going to be one where you’d chalk it up to Padilla being a hard luck loser. He was being bested by Erik Bedard. Padilla went eight innings, gave up just a single hit, and one unearned run. That was it. Bedard went 7. Gave up just one run (his was earned), and the game went into extra innings tied 1-1. I’m no fan of extra innings (unless I’m in attendance, than give me 30!).
However, the Rangers unloaded in the top of the 10th, scoring six times to totally take the game away. It was capped by a grand slam by Jarrod Saltamacchia. The Rangers offense was surprisingly small. We did have two doubles, and two home runs, but we also had 12 singles.
Nice to see a big inning like that.
(This commentary is short, due to playing catch up on nine games of commentary at once).