Baseball news - Rangers, C. J. Wilson’s fiery display breaks the Athletics down
The Texas Rangers have been riding high in the sky with the kind of performance they have been displaying in the American League. Prior to the match up, the ball club maintained a generous lead of 8 wins in the West Division over the Oakland Athletics. In doing so, their title ambition is all but realized at the time. The first game against the Kansas City Royals in a 3 match-series was played yesterday in a terrific fashion. The fixture was held in Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City and 15,881 fans were present in the stands for the encounter.
The Kansas City Royals have been fielding a very hard time in the league as their 4th position in the Central Division standing is not improving thus far. They were 10 points behind the 3rd seed Detroit Tigers and the situation didn’t change for them as they lay there on the same difference. Losing two previous series was not easy to digest for the management and the fans, altogether. The side lost against the Tigers first than they went on to lose against the 5th seeded Cleveland Indians in the same division.
Yesterday’s encounter spelled a different choice route to be taken and the team brought in Kyle Davis for pitching duty. The 26-year-old right arm ball-thrower has not fared well so far in the season. The starting pitcher has an Earning Run Average (ERA) of 5.29 and a win to lose ratio of 6 to 9. His last 10 starts showcased just 2 victories and 2 defeats. Most of his matches end with no results but the effect he has on the game can be monumental, given his ability to slow the attack down. Unfortunately, last night ended with a loss as the player threw 112 times, striking out 6 hitters in his 8.1 innings of play. Furthermore, he went on to concede 10 hits, 3 runs and a walk.
The Rangers, however have gotten by well, recently. Though they did lose their series against the Oakland Athletics, the ball club did well to respond and rebound against the Royals. Much of the day was played in an air of uncertainty as the runs put on the board were less by defensive standards. Fortunately, the team had Christopher John Wilson to quell the rival’s batting faction. Much to the delight of Texas manager, Ron Washington, the victory came in with no concessions made. Wilson was able to drive the win home with a superb exhibition of pitching.
The 29-year-old, left arm thrower has gone on with 7 straight wins since the All Star break. This victory stretched the overall mark to 14 for the season. The player has a remarkable ERA of 2.88 and the game against the Royals saw him concede just 2 hits and 4 walks in his 7.2 innings of play. All the while Wilson pitched 110 times and took out 6 hitters in the process.
The Rangers were the first one to score in the game as Nelson Cruz was progressed further through the bases with the help of David Murphy and finally, Bengie Molina, who singled to the right to get the first run on the board for the team in the top 2nd. The Royals were not able to respond as Willie Bloomquist managed to get just one hit in the bottom 2nd for the team. Texas got back into the fray with a run from Andres Blanco who ran home off Elvis Andrus single to the right in the top 5th. With 2 runs up, the visitors were now piling on the pressure for the hosts.
The Kansas City ball club made its last attempt on C. J. In the bottom 8th as Jai Miller became the only other player to hit the pitcher for a single. To no one’s surprise, the Rangers amassed another run for the night as Michael Young’s sacrifice fly to the centre got Blanco through the last base for the 3rd run of the night.
The game ended on Texas 3 – Kansas City 0. With the series opener through, spectators will see if the hosts can save the set tonight when they go against the Rangers again.
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