Young Becomes Rangers' Hit King - Texas Wins 6-3

Micheal Young (above) tied the team record for hits with a double in the seventh inning and then broke Ivan Rodriguez' record in the eighth with a two-run single. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Coming into the seventh inning of Wednesday's game against the Florida Marlins (31-34) stuck on 1,746 hits and in the midst of an 0 for 10 slump, Michael Young broke out in a big way for the Texas Rangers (37-28). Young came through with a double and then a two-run single in back-to-back innings to set the all time Rangers' record for career hits.

"I've played my whole career in one uniform. Hopefully I can finish it in this uniform," Young said. "I think, most importantly, we got it in a win."

Fittingly, the hit came with Texas clinging to a 3-2 lead with two on and two outs in the eighth inning. Young smashed a single up the middle, just out of reach from a diving Hanley Ramirez, that scored two runs and gave the Rangers a comfortable 5-2 lead. The Marlins scored in the bottom of the inning, making those two runs even more crucial. Captain Clutch came through again, simultaneously setting the Rangers' record for hits (in 91 fewer games than Ivan Rodriguez) in the process.

"I knew it'd mean a lot," Young said, "but now that it's finished, I kind of look back on the career I've had in Texas and the players I've passed and it means a lot."

As for the game, Texas received a blow early as starter Tommy Hunter left after only 2 1-3 innings due to a strained right hip flexor. Four Rangers' relievers combined to pitch 6 2-3 innings of relief, allowing two earned runs on four hits. Neftali Feliz came in and pitched a perfect ninth inning, striking out the side for his 17th save of the season - tied for most in the American League.

The Rangers have now won four straight games, seven of their last eight overall, and are still two games ahead of the Los Angeles Angels for first place in the American League West division. Even though Texas hasn't exactly been facing world-beaters on this road swing, it's still impressive that the Rangers are now 4-1 to start their eight-game road trip and now a season-high nine games over .500.

Texas goes for the sweep Thursday night with a scheduled 6:10 p.m. start time. Because of Hunter's injury, Matt Harrison was forced to pitch in Wednesday's game therefore he will miss his scheduled Thursday start with Dustin Nippert (2-3, 4.60 ERA) making his first start of the season in Harrison's place. Ricky Nolasco (5-5, 5.05) with make the start for Florida.

News and Notes:

• Josh Hamilton continued his recent tear, going 4 for 5 at the plate with an absolute blast to deep center field, a solo home run in the ninth, that gave the Rangers some more insurance at 6-3. It's the eighth time in Hamilton's career that he's had four or more hits in a game and he extended his career-high hitting streak to 12 games.
  

(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)