Big Win in Baltimore?
I have to admit that after the Rangers lost yesterday to the Blue Jays, I was pretty disappointed. The Rangers had dropped their fourth consecutive series, led the league in strikeouts, and were 13th in ERA. The team had fallen to 6-9, and playing .400 just is not going to cut it. Consequently, the most interesting story from the Blue Jays series was the big league debut of Derek Holland.
Honestly, through seven innings tonight it looked like more of the same. Although it was great to see Padilla's fastball return to the mid-90s and Saltalamacchia make some big defensive plays and bang out some hits. Still this looked like another Ranger loss, and the beginning of another lost series/season. It's amazing how one swing from Michael Young's bat, coupled with a myriad of fine baseball played by a number of different players, can change that feeling.
Yes, Young's home run was clutch and will be on all the highlight reels. But there were many heroes tonight. This was a team win.
- Ian Kinsler battling (and winning) in the AB before Michael's go-ahead home run.
- Marlon Byrd legging out an infield hit allowing the Rangers' third run to score, and making a web gem catch for the second out in the ninth.
- Elvis Andrus making a diving stop on a single in the eighth that kept the Orioles from scoring an insurance run.
- Jarrod Saltalamacchia making two big defensive plays early in the game to stop Baltimore rallies
- Vicente Padilla dominating (boy was it nice to see that mid-90s fastball again) except for the fourth inning when he was squeezed by home plate umpire Paul Nauert.
- The Rangers' bullpen going 2.1 scoreless innings tonight to give the Rangers a chance
Of course, the win tonight will mean nothing unless it is followed up by at least one more this weekend. But 7-9 looks much better than the 6-10 mark it looked like the Rangers were heading towards at 8:30 tonight.
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