Texas started the four-game series with L.A. strong with Cliff Lee (above) nearly going the distance again while winning his first game as a Ranger. (AP Photo/LM Otero)When the Texas Rangers (56-40) traded for Mariners' starter Cliff Lee a little over two weeks ago, this must be exactly what they envisioned the former Cy Young winner could do for this team. Lee pitched 8 1-3 innings of two-run baseball, as the Cliff Lee-Jared Weaver pitching matchup certainly lived up the the hype in what was a pitchers duel throughout.
"Anytime you go out and give the team a chance to win, it feels good," Lee said. "Got the first one out of the way."
Lee (W, 9-4) got his first win a Rangers' uniform as he allowed five hits and struck out four with no walks. For the season, Lee has walked only seven batters compared to 101 strikeouts.
(Note: With a 14.43 strikeout-to-walk ratio, Lee's Major League-leading ratio is more than double his nearest counterpart (that has pitched at least 60 innings), which is Roy Halladay at 6.89. In fact, Lee is on pace to demolish the all-time record set by Brent Saberhagen in 1994 at 11.00 - just an interesting tidbit I thought you, dear reader, might enjoy)
Lee said after the game that he felt like he could have gone the full nine innings, but acquiesced to manager Ron Washington's decision (which was booed by many in the stadium) to go to closer Neftali Feliz with two outs left to get. Feliz (S, 26) was up to the task, as he needed only eight pitches to get the final two outs of the game.
"I told him he took us far enough. I thought tonight he worked pretty hard and it would have been a disaster for him ... one pitch and everything would have gone down the drain, so I brought the closer in," Washington said.
For the Angels, Weaver (L, 9-6) didn't disappoint either, scattering seven hits and striking-out five Rangers as he allowed three earned runs in six innings.
However, the Rangers were able to get to him early.
Micheal Young blasted off in the first inning with his 13th home run of the season, a solo-shot over the right field wall. Texas didn't score again until the sixth, with Josh Hamilton's double into the gap scoring Vladimir Guerrero and Bengie Molina's sac fly scoring Hamilton, putting Texas ahead for good at 3-1.
With the victory, Texas now has it's largest division lead since 1999 (six games), the last time the Rangers made the playoffs. It's a great way for the Rangers to start off the series, as they try to continue to prove that this isn't going to be like the late-season slides of seasons past.
The next game of the series will take place Friday night with a scheduled 7:10 p.m. start time. C.J. Wilson (8-5, 3.23 ERA) gets the start for Texas, while Joe Saunders (6-7, 4.83) gets the nod from L.A.
News and Notes:
- Lee has gone at least eight innings in each of his last seven starts and nine innings in five of those starts. In two of the three games with Texas he's has gone all nine innings, while averaging less than 100 pitches a game in his time with the Rangers.
- Ian Kinsler extended his league-leading hitting streak to 14 games with a 1 for 4 night.
- Texas is now 4-2 against the Angels this season.
(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)
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