Elvis Andrus and Ian Kinsler (above) made spectacular plays both in the field and at the plate, helping Tommy Hunter become the first pitcher in franchise-history to start a season 7-0. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)It was just one of those nights for the Texas Rangers (55-39) where everything seemed to go right. Hitting, defense, and pitching were all at top form as Texas is now one game away from sweeping the Detroit Tigers.
"[Hunter] pitching well, the guys behind him played good defense and we put up some runs on the board," manager Ron Washington said. "That's about as clean a game of baseball as you can play."
Tommy Hunter (W, 7-0) certainly took care of the pitching side of things. Hunter allowed three hits over seven scoreless innings, lowering his ERA for the season to 2.09. The biggest thing was saving a tired bullpen after the 14-inning marathon last night, as only Darren Oliver and, recently called up from Triple A, Doug Mathis were forced into duty. Hunter has not allowed more than three runs in a start all-season and now has 7-0 in nine starts, a club-record.
"That's a great accomplishment because you obviously want to win every game, but a lot of it has to do with the guys behind me," Hunter said. "You saw the plays they made, and they've done that every time I've been on the mound.
"They are the reason I'm 7-0, plus Josh keeps hitting homers every time I start."
Even with Vladimir Guerrero getting the night off, the Rangers' offense was still humming. Andrus, Kinsler and the aforementioned Josh Hamilton provided most of the offensive punch. Hamilton homered for the second time in Hunter's last three starts and increased his batting average to nearly .360 (.357) for the season. Kinsler (two-run homer) and Hamilton (solo homer) went back-to-back in the ninth inning as the Rangers put the icing on the cake of the big win. The trio, as a whole, dominated the game, combining to go 7 for 13 at the plate with six RBI and five runs.
Kinsler and Andrus also took care of things defensively, making the difficult plays look easy all-game long. A bare-handed flip and catch that led to a double-play in the first inning was foreshadowing of what the shortstop, second-base combo would put the Tigers through all night.
Individually, Kinsler took a sure-single away from Detroit catcher Alex Avila in the fifth, deep on the infield grass he was able to make a backhand catch and sure-throw to first. Not to be outdone, Andrus robbed Tigers' second-baseman Ryan Rayburn of a single and RBI in the seventh with a diving stop and throw from his knees that held the shutout intact.
"This is a good team," Tigers' manager Jim Leyland said. "That's why they're leading the division."
This is one of the best games the Rangers have played as a team this season. The fact that they are now 5-1 on this brutal road-trip shows the kind of character and tenacity of the guys in that locker room. Maybe these Rangers really are for real?
Texas tries to close out Detroit Wednesday night with a scheduled 6:05 p.m. start time. Colby Lewis (9-5,) looks to get his 10th win of the season and Max Scherzer (6-7, 4.74) will get the start for the Tigers.
News and Notes:
- While CT scans showed no signs of damage on Dustin Nippert after taking that line-drive shot to the side of the head Monday, as a precautionary measure, Texas put Nippert on the 15-day disabled list.
- Texas is the only team in baseball with 50 wins since April 22.
(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)
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