Baseball Update: Hunter and Hamilton cruise Rangers victory against division rivals, Athletics
Texas Rangers are doing really well in the league. Most of the Major League Baseball (MLB) critics would agree that the team has come out to surprise many in the stands this season. Yesterday night witnessed a similar encounter, where the superstars of the West Division produced a stunning performance from which they extended their hold on the league title chances. Being on top doesn’t come without its disadvantages. However, the hosts of the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington are proving to be serious playoffs and World Series contenders. Much is owed to the top Most Valuable Player candidate, Josh Hamilton. The strong hitter has proven day after day that he’s got what it takes to give every pitcher, in the league, a very hard time. Unfortunately, for the Oakland Athletics, that was the case.
The Athletics came in to the game with a series win over the Cleveland Indians. The team has recently done wonders with its form, saving their honour with a series split when facing up against the Tampa Bay Rays. Their earlier encounter with the Minnesota Twins, in the month was a tremendously morale beating experience. The team lost that series in a clean sweep. However, now there was a chance to reduce the gap between themselves and the Division Leaders. Unfortunately, the team wasn’t able to quell the Hamilton threat and strike against Tommy Hunter to pick up the win.
Management brought on Brett Anderson who has fared well in his recent starts, so far. The young pitcher has a year’s experience and his tally of 3 wins and 4 losses was strongly a suggestion of a stellar night. His recent record however, depicted a bad run in with form. He lost his previous two starts and this fixture didn’t go well for him, either. The strike zone banger pitched 50 times in just 2 innings of play. He conceded 6 hits, 4 runs and 2 walks during the encounter.
However, the Rangers are riding high on their horse, in recent days. They came in to the fixture with a substantial series win over the Minnesota Twins, who are leading the Central Division Table. Much to the delight of the fans, Hamilton and Vladimir Guerrero are peaking in form, smashing hits in almost every encounter. Manager Ron Washington knew that this was the time to reign on the division title as the contenders, Athletics, made their way to the series fixture.
Tommy Hunter, who has been phenomenal so far, came out to win the night again as the strong pitcher extended his season tally of 11 wins and 2 losses. The young maestro has now registered an Earning Run Average of 3.66. The high class youngster, who’s featured in the MLB for two years already, got some good assistance from Hamilton for the win, as the player pitched 101 times in his 7.2 innings of play, striking out 4 hitters. He allowed 7 hits and 3 runs in the night, bringing the win home, comfortably.
Hamilton was the first one to score in the night, as Guerrero reached on infield single to the second. That run brought the first for the team and the match. David Murphy, later on smashed a double towards the deep centre. That shot got Guerrero and Jorge Cantu through the last base for two more runs. The inning ended with Texas 3 – Oakland 0.
More was to come as the Rangers kept on pounding Anderson for the runs. Andres Blanco was the next one to score, as he reached the last base through Elvis Andrus infield single to the pitcher, in the bottom 2nd. That marked the end of Brett’s pitching and the bullpen sprung into action for the A’s. The Texas side continued to score and the last 3 runs came in the bottom 4th. Blanco and Julio Borbon scored off Michael Young’s double to the centre. This brought on 6 runs for the team. Hamilton then got into the fray when his single to the right got Young the last run for the team in the night.
The Athletics managed to respond but late in the game. Kevin Kouzmanoff got a run for himself and Jack Cust when the hitter smashed a homer to the centre in the top 6th. In the top 8th, Daric Barton added the last run of the match and the Athletics to the tally when he bashed a homer to the right. The night ended with the visitors losing to the Rangers 3 – 7.
Tags: