Mike Napoli shines as Texas Rangers edge past Kansas City Royals, 7-6 – MLB Update
Texas Rangers’ catcher, Mike Napoli was outstanding with his bat as he went 3-for-4 and posted two runs including two RBIs in the Rangers’ 7-6 victory over the Kansas City Royals at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas on May 29.
Napoli commented on his performance and said, “I was surprised Dave waved me around. Good play. You've got to try to make something happen and something good did happen. I was running hard and didn't break stride. I kept going and I was safe.”
The batters failed to score any run in front of the pitchers, who threw the ball in good line, during the first inning. The Rangers opened their scoring account by posting one run in the second inning and took an initial 1-0 lead. Napoli doubled to deep
left-centre and Michael Young scored a single run.
The Rangers got a 2-0 lead during the third inning when Ian Kinsler hit a one-run homer (408 feet) towards left-field. The Royals’ batters were score-less until the third inning but they started their fourth inning superbly as they contributed five runs
and went ahead of the Rangers 5-2. Miguel Cabrera, Billy Butler, Wilson Betemit and Mitch Maier each made one run while Brayan Pena homered (415 feet) to right-field.
Pena said, “I thought I had home plate blocked, but I guess not. When I was ready to tag him, I thought he was closer to me. I feel terrible about it. It was a mistake. It was perfect, a great relay.”
The score-card moved to 5-3 in the fifth inning when Napoli struck a solo homer (427 feet) towards centre-field. The pitchers again delivered impressive throws in the sixth and seventh inning to restrict the scoring runs of the batters. The Rangers tied
the game 5-all in the eighth inning by posting two runs. Young homered (359 feet) to left-field and the second run was taken by Andres Blanco during the eighth inning.
In the ninth inning, the Royals scored one run while the Rangers contributed two runs to clinch the game 7-6. Chris Getz added one run on the Royals’ score-board when Alcides Escobar hit a sacrifice fly to left-field. At the bottom of the ninth inning, Nelson
Cruz struck a home run (375 feet) and Napoli scored his second run to end the game.
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