Baseball Update: Orioles climb on top of Rangers in a Brian Matusz shut out
Texas Rangers couldn’t have expected a worse match than the one they went through yesterday. They faced the Baltimore Orioles and when fans and critics, alike, thought the Western Division Leaders would come out on top in the encounter; many spectators were struck with a subtle shock.
The Orioles, who are ranked last in the Eastern Division, made short work of the Rangers in style as pitcher, Brian Matusz, featured in the game, last night. The player had a horrible record in the past against Texas. Prior to the match, the ball thrower carried a 10.95 Earning Run Average against the team in his three career starts. Two of those starts yielded an amalgamated 11 runs in over just 5 1/3 innings of pitching.
In addition to that, the player had won just 4 of his encounters in 16 starts, this season. However, those figures didn’t matter last night because Matusz allowed no runs. He was hit 5 times but the Rangers never scored off the left armed, 23 year old pitcher in the match. He managed to strike out 6 players, while walking just 1. The phenomenal young player threw the ball 115 times in 8 innings.
The Rangers, on the other hand, had one of their worst nights as they crashed out without even scoring once. Critics expected the side to rebound after the Tampa Bay Rays ousted them in their previous series with a clean sweep. Unfortunately, the Texas side never got into full swing, as the players looked low on morale and confidence. The team’s loss means now that the Los Angeles Angels are 6 wins away from top and if that doesn’t concern the fans and management, then one can really wonder what would.
The Texas ball club fielded Colby Wilson for the contest. The experienced pitcher had featured 18 times in the season. Of those, half were wins and the other half were losses. In respect to Matusz, the player had a better track record and carried a surplus of 4 years in experience. However, the veteran wouldn’t fare well as the Orioles made 4 runs off him, connecting 9 times. The ball thrower walked just one player and struck out 4. Most would call that bad luck as both teams remained scoreless till the top 7th.
The match was mostly frustrating for the Rangers who were trying hard to get a win. Andres Blanco was the only person to get near the third base, before he got tagged out by Ty Wigginton. The Texas hitter was trying to stretch a double to a triple but couldn’t get through successfully. The event wasn’t a normal one as both players got into a heated confrontation.
Apparently, Wigginton was blocking the base with his leg, as Blanco came sliding in- head first. The Rangers’ hitter got angry over the incident because he slashed his hand in the process. When both stars started yelling at each other, players and coaches from both dugouts emerged to restrain the two. With order restored, the game went back in to full swing.
Baltimore went on to the score sheet in the bottom 7th, when Felix Pie scored off Corey Patterson’s single to the centre. Following that, Matt Wieters and Patterson also got on the scoring sheet, when Brian Roberts shinned for the Orioles, by doubling to the deep right. The 3 runs to the team spelled the end of Colby Lewis’ pitching and reliever Darren Oliver came on to contain the scoring initiative. However, that did not happen because Roberts scored the 4th and the last run for team off Nick Markakis’ single to the left. The innings ended on Baltimore 4 – Texas 0.
With the damage done, the Orioles switched gears and contained the Rangers in the following innings. That got them the necessary win to bring the team up in the series. So now, looking back at the match, one must wonder what the Texas side will bring to the side tomorrow when the clubs face off again.
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