Rangers run roughshod over Indians 12-1
The Texas Rangers put a 12-1 thumping on the Cleveland Indians Tuesday night, routing the Tribe at the Texans’ home park in Arlington to win the third game of their homestand against Cleveland.
They bounced back from an embarrassing 9-3 loss on Monday at the hands of the Indians, one of the worst teams in the league. The two teams’ records are almost exact opposites of each other, with the Rangers boasting a 49-34 record while the Indians struggle along at 33-49 heading towards the All-Star break.
C.J Wilson pitched six good innings for the Rangers, allowing just a single run and two hits, while walking two batters. Wilson picked up his seventh win on the year, but was pulled after the sixth after he crossed the 100 pitch threshold. Three pitchers came in as relief and did well for the Rangers, not conceding a single run.
The Indians weren’t so lucky. Starter Justin Masterson fell to 3-8 on the year after getting lit up by the bat of the Rangers, allowing seven earned runs over the course of just over five innings pitched. He walked three batters and surrendered nine hits. It could have been worse, too - the Rangers left nine runners on base over the course of the game. Hector Ambriz did even worse, letting in four runs and getting just five outs in relief.
Scary incident
The game was delayed for a time after a frightening incident in which a man attempting to catch a foul ball fell from the upper deck. He crashed down at least 30 feet, and fans and players alike looked on in concern as medical crews rushed to save him. They were successful, and it was reported the man was in stable condition and was able to move his limbs at the hospital.
A few players saw the incident, including Indian Trevor Crowe.
““I looked up and saw him starting to come down. He hit the luxury box area and came straight down,” he said. “It’s one of the scariest things I’ve ever seen. All I could think about was to start praying for the guy. There was nothing to brace his fall or anything. I was just scared that he might have killed himself.”
It made it difficult to concentrate on the issue at hand, as several players feared for his life, including Indian shortstop Jason Donald.
“My head was turned, but I heard the crowd react and heard the body hit,” Donald said. “I was hoping he didn’t die. It was really scary. It puts everything in perspective. This is a game and somebody potentially could have lost his life.”
Rangers’ bats come alive
Aside from the unfortunate incident, there were several things that the Rangers could be encouraged from. They hit early and hit often, and had a variety of players in on the action.
After falling down by a run off an early home run by Jason Nix, Texas bounced back with a vengeance, with Josh Hamilton evening the score in the second with a home run. A two-run double knocked in Vladimir Guerrero and Hamilton in the third to seize a 3-1 lead, and the game became more and more out of reach for the Indians as Guerrero continued his excellent season with a shot to deep centre in the sixth, to cap off a five-run inning, and the Rangers would add three more in the seventh while the Indian bats went silent.
For a team that had been slumping with their bats, scoring 2.6 runs per game in July, Tuesday’s explosion was a welcome sight.
"It was great to come back and have a strong game tonight," said Andres Blanco. "This win gives us confidence for our next game.”
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