Ian Kinsler not regretting sixth inning mess up as Texas Rangers lose to Detroit Tigers 7 – 5
The Texas Rangers lost to the Detroit Tigers, 7 – 5 on Thursday, October 13, at the Comerica Park in Detroit in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series. The team had a chance to break off a win in the sixth inning against Detroit ace pitcher Justin
Verlander but the opportunity went to waste as the club’s second baseman, Ian Kinsler slammed his first pitch to third baseman for a double play.
The annoying thing was that the Tigers would go on to break the tie with four runs in the sixth inning of their own, as the Detroit hitters would push the boiling point on Texas pitcher, C. J. Wilson. Kinsler told the reporters after the game that he was
not regretting his mentality at the time as he was doing what he always does.
"I was trying to get a good pitch to hit. It doesn't matter when in the at-bat, you got to be ready to hit from the first pitch," Kinsler. "I'm not just going to go up there and take a pitch - go up there aggressive and ready to hit."
The unfortunate thing was that Kinsler hit the ball straight to Brandon Inge who cancelled out David Murphy on third and Kinsler on first base. The bases were loaded before the Texas second baseman came in to bat. Mike Napoli was on third base, Murphy was
on second base and Mitch Moreland was on first base.
"I hit it to third, guy stepped on third and threw to first for a double play," Kinsler said disappointingly. "Basically what happened. [Verlander] threw me a fastball in, and I hit it to the third baseman."
Some experts tend to say that the hitter should have left the first ball and some others believe Kinsler should have prepared himself for a heater, as he was thrown that same delivery on three different At-Bats. However the infielder had another view.
"When a guy's throwing 99 [mph], you don't really have time to expect things," Kinsler said.
Now with the series 3 – 2 in favour of the Rangers, Kinsler will hope his team can qualify for the World Series in Game 6 at the Rangers Ballpark.
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