Texas Rangers defeat Baltimore Orioles 4-2 – MLB Update
The Texas Rangers won their second game against the Baltimore Orioles 4-2 at Rangers Ballpark on Tuesday, July 5.
Matt Harrison sparked with his six strong innings as Josh Hamilton proved his utility with the bat to give another victory to the Rangers.
After winning the first game by 13-4, the Rangers carried on their usual consistency to edge past their rivals on Tuesday’s game.
Even though the Orioles had visibly suffered in the offence in their previous encounter, J. J. Hardy provided an ostensibly favourable start in the very first inning with his homer. The 3-hit one-run first inning of Matt Harrison did not discourage him to
be aggressive in the whole game.
Mitch Atkins tried to keep in check the Rangers’ offence and succeeding in his strategy. The Orioles’ starter proved a much tougher rival on Tuesday than he usually is, considering the Rangers’ powerful offence.
While Atkins pitched well, virtually leaving the Rangers in tantrums, Matt Wieters drove in another single in the 2-hit one-run fourth inning. Wieters homered to left to score the second run for the Orioles.
Once the Orioles had the 2-0 lead, Nelson Cruz put an end to the run drought for the Texas in the sixth inning. Cruz singled to left in Atkins unusually expensive inning to score the first run for his team, bringing the Orioles lead down to 2-1.
Josh Hamilton spirited the team in the seventh inning once Jim Johnson was dispatched to pitch as a relief pitcher for the Orioles. Hamilton singled to left to score the tiebreaking two-run homer followed by Adrian Beltre’s single that took Texas’ lead to
4-2.
The eventful seventh inning proved auspicious for the Rangers and equally inauspicious for the Orioles who apparently had a firm grip on the game.
Johnson was outright disappointed and dejected. "I didn't make any good pitches. Walking two guys is something I definitely didn't want to do," Johnson said. "Hamilton beat me there. It's deflating."
Mark Lowe gave up a hit in the eighth inning to Matt Wieters, but did not allow any run to keep the 4-2 Texas lead intact. The relief pitcher was then replaced by Neftali Feliz who did not prove a bad choice either.
Feliz pitched a scoreless ninth to score the second win for the Texas Rangers in as many days to keep the team up with 46 wins, leading the Western standings followed by the Los Angeles Angels.
The Rangers managed to put in a good effort as they restricted the Orioles’ offence and put valuable runs on the board. Baltimore had a decent day, as they fought hard but were unable to come-back in the game.
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