Without his sinker sinking, Scott Feldman struggled again, pitching just four innings and allowing four runs.
But a bullpen combination of Doug Mathis, Darren Oliver, Darren O’Day and Neftali Feliz bore down to pitch five scoreless relief and give the Rangers time to battle back for a 6-4 victory and get their first 4-game sweep in three years. Of the four bullpen guys, Mathis, who went two innings, was the only one to surrender a hit or walk.
After getting down 2-0 early, a 4-run third inning against Royals starter Like Hochever and reliever Brad Thompson put the Rangers ahead 4-2. The big hit in the inning, a 2-RBI double, came off the pink bat (in honor of Mother’s Day) of David Murphy. Murphy had three hits, picking up the slack for a hitless Vladimir Guerrero. In his first at-bat, Murphy was initially awarded first base on a catcher’s interference call. But because the ball was fair, the call was later changed to a base hit because a single would benefit the batter. Rules state to assume the best outcome, according to the broadcast.
Murphy is playing in place of Nelson Cruz, who is expected to go on a medical rehab assignment tomorrow and return to lineup as early as Wednesday against Oakland.
The Rangers took the lead for good in the fifth inning. With two outs, Murphy and Justin Smoak singled to set up an RBI double by Max Ramirez to bring home the fifth run.
In the eighth, Elvis Andrus extended his hitting streak to 10 games and advanced to second base on a wild throw. Young singled him home for the insurance run despite getting caught in a rundown.
Other Notes
- Borbon had two hits on the day and scored a run.
- With Doug Fister and Francisco Liriano faltering a bit, C.J. Wilson is the current AL ERA leader. Congrats!
- Dallas Braden of the A’s pitched the first perfect game for the Athletics since 1968. The A’s come to Rangers Ballpark next.
No comments:
Post a Comment