Texas Rangers edge Oakland Athletics 7-6 in series opener – MLB Update
Texas Rangers continued their impressive winning streak as they edged the Oakland Athletics 7-6 at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas in the opening game of their four match series of the 2012 Major League Baseball regular season.
Josh Hamilton had another excellent outing with the bat as he grounded out to second in the first inning to level the score 1-1. With the Athletics leading 4-1 in the third inning, it seemed the Rangers’ winning streak would finally be snapped but Hamilton
singled to centre and Elvis Andrus reached on an infield single to second to keep them in the game.
Adrian Beltre displayed some top quality hitting skills and David Murphy singled to shallow right to help Texas come back from behind to clinch a stunning win. Relief pitcher Scott Feldman, who gave up eight earned runs in his previous appearance against
the A’s, won only for the second time on Thursday.
"I was telling myself bend but don't break," Feldman said. "I had already given up the four runs, so I had to try to limit the damage and keep them there and get our guys back in there swinging the bats."
"Some people call it small ball. I call it winning baseball," Rangers’ manager Ron Washington said. "That's just doing what the game asks you to do. We're starting to get back to that. We're starting to get free on the basepaths, running, and doing some
things. It's winning baseball. That's what we're doing."
With their win against the Athletics on Thursday evening, the Rangers improved their record to 48-29 and they are now five games ahead of the second placed Los Angeles Angels on the American League West Division standings.
Credit must be given to the Rangers’ offence that produced masterful performances throughout the season. Texas’ ability to score runs against the best pitching attacks in the Major League Baseball is what makes them a very dangerous team.
Last year, the Rangers lost 2-4 to St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series finals. However, with added bench strength, they are looking stronger than ever before. It will be exciting to see the Rangers making it to the playoffs for the second straight season.
Tags: