Texas Rangers happy with 8-6 win over Tampa Bay Rays in Game 2 of American League Division Series
The Texas Rangers were glad to even their score in Game 2 of the American League Division Series against Tampa Bay Rays as the beat the visiting team, 8-6 on Saturday, October 1 at Rangers Ballpark, in Arlington.
The win means the two teams are square on 1-1 and there is a chance for any team to go ahead when the clubs face off at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg for Game 3.
Rays had a chance to head back home with a 2-0 series advantage but James Shield was unable to strike well against the Rangers as the hurler lost five runs in the fourth inning. Nevertheless, with the three games on the schedule, Rays will be hoping to utilise
their home field advantage effectively. The Rangers however are content with their performance as they will be aiming to hit back well against the opposition in the next two games.
Many players from the Texas team were on the score sheet on Saturday. David Murphy was on front of the controversy in the fourth inning as the game tilted towards the Texans.
"It was only a matter of time before our offense broke through," out-fielder David Murphy said. "Shields is a great pitcher and he's had a great year, so it was good to finally break through against him. Obviously we didn't want to go back to Tampa Bay 0-2
and it was tough being down, 3-0, early. But this team has always shown it is resilient, so I knew were going to break through."
Murphy was 1-2 on a pitcher’s count and he had his team-mates on every base. Needing a run badly to break the deadlock of a 3-3 score line, he swung hard at Shields’ delivery. He missed for a strike but catcher Kelly Shoppach missed as well, resulting in
a ruling for a wild pitch. The controversy got the Rays down as the Rangers managed to go up in the game.
Neftali Feliz, who earned his post-season save, was also delighted to see his team pull through with a winner.
The Rangers will now hope to go to Tropicana Field for two more wins. It will be interesting to see how they fare.
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