Adrian Beltre’s homers seal the deal as Texas Rangers beat Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 – MLB Playoffs
Many fans expected the Texas Rangers to face a tough and resilient Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday, October 4 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg in Game 4 of the American League Division Series. Much to their expectation, that was exactly the case. However one
man pulled up his socks for the Texans on the hitting plate and that individual was none other than third baseman Adrian Beltre.
The infielder powered the Rangers to a series win after pummeling the Rays’ pitchers with three home-runs in the game. The former Boston Red Sox hitter provided his team with the necessary boast needed to finish on top with a 4-3 score line.
Jeremy Hellickson came in to the game for the Rays and he was now able to maintain his groove against the Texans as he conceded homers to right hand hitters. Joe Maddon had to call him off the mound after the first four innings. The rookie pitcher had an
earned run average of 2.90 in the regular season and he was known to restrict most ball clubs to under-three runs.
Hellickson picked up his first career loss in the post-season as a starter. On the other hand, Matt Harrison did well for the Rangers as the regular starter kept his cool on the mound and ended his five innings of pitching with five hits and two runs.
One noticeable aspect of his pitching was the number of strike-outs he picked up. The hurler had an earned run average of 4.76 but his nine strike-outs made a huge difference on the outcome of the game.
Rangers made a statement through Beltre on Tuesday and they left the winning run waiting for Game 1 rookie pitcher, Matt Moore. The Rays’ hurler was called in to the encounter for a relief role but he was punished for staying on for too long as Beltre smashed
a homer in the ninth against the young star.
The Texas bull-pen on the other hand did their job well. Derek Holland, Mike Adams and Alexi Ogando did very well in the line-up while Neftali Feliz closed the game with one run conceded from a hit.
Rangers kicked off the scoring trail in the first when Ian Kinsler presented Hellickson with a rude awakening homer to the left. Adrian Beltre then came in to shoot his first of the night in the second towards the left.
Rays retaliated with Matt Joyce who stretched the Texas outfield with a double to the right. Sean Rodriguez scored for the club after colliding with catcher Mike Napoli on home plate. The effort however made no difference to the Texas’ hitters.
Beltre sent off Hellickson back to the dugout when he smashed his second homer of the night through right-field as the score was now 3-1. Rodriguez scored again for the Rays as he ran home on a single from Casey Kotchman. The club was looking strong but
their comeback came too late. Beltre extended the lead in the seventh when he homered to the left in the seventh.
Desperately looking for a comeback, Rodriguez scored his third run of the night from a Kotchman single, again. The final score line was 4-3 and the Rangers moved to the American League Championship.
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