Nelson Cruz (above) celebrates after scoring the game ending run for the second straight game. (AP Photo/Ralph Lauer)For the second game in a row, the Texas Rangers (79-63) have won in walk-off fashion against the best team in baseball. This time, the Rangers rallied to beat the New York Yankees (87-55) with two runs in the bottom of the ninth against a sure Hall-of-Famer in closer Mariano Rivera.
Rivera walked Vladimir Guerrero to start the inning, then Nelson Cruz bashed a 3-2 pitch into right field giving the Rangers runners on the corners with no outs. Ian Kinsler followed, jumping on the second pitch he saw and lining it down the left field line to score Esteban German (who pinch ran for Guerrero) and tie the game at 6-all.
The Yankees then intentionally walked recent call-up Chris Davis to load the bases to create the force with Jeff Francoeur coming to the plate. On the first pitch of the at-bat, one of Rivera's cutters cut too far in to the righty Francoeur, hitting him in the shoulder to bring in Cruz for the game-winning run. It's the first time the Rangers have ever won a game on a hit-by-pitch.
"I was looking for that cutter, but it kept running and running and it hit me," Francoeur said. "I'll take it every day."
The largest crowd this season since opening day at the Ballpark in Arlington (49,210) made it through a 59-minute rain delay and witnessed the Rangers persevere and make history after blowing a two-run lead in the eighth. Texas battled back all-game long and showed the perseverance that will be needed come playoff time.
"We enjoy these kinds of games," Rangers' captain Michael Young said. "They're long and emotionally taxing, but they're the kind you want to be involved in."
Rangers' starter Tommy Hunter lasted five innings for Texas, allowing two runs on six hits while striking out a career-high eight batters. Hunter pitched best against the heart of the Yankees lineup, striking out Alex Rodriguez twice and Robinson Cano and Mark Teixera once each. While Hunter likely would not have come out for the sixth inning, the nearly hour-long rain delay made sure his night was done after five.
Up until the eighth inning, the Texas bullpen did a great job pitching out of jams for the second straight game. New York again stranded double-digit base runners (14) and were only 3 for 13 for the game with runners in scoring position. The Yankees loaded the bases in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, but didn't score a run until Rangers' manager Ron Washington made the puzzling decision to insert reliever Matt Harrison after he had pitched 2 2-3 innings Friday night.
Harrison threw only two of his seven pitches for strikes, failing to retire a batter and walking the bases loaded with Alex Rodriguez coming to the plate. Rodriguez promptly jumped on a 1-0 pitch, driving it down the left field line for a bases-clearing double that gave New York a 6-5 lead. Texas still got the W, which is all that matters, but it's still a confounding decision when there were four other options in the bullpen that either hadn't pitched (Derek Holland) or pitched only 1-3 of an inning the night before (Alexi Ogando, Dustin Nippert, Clay Rapada).
While a series victory is now assured, a win tomorrow would allow the Rangers to break even in the season series against the Yankees. New York currently has beaten Texas four out of seven times this season.
The conclusion of the three game set comes tomorrow afternoon at 2:05 p.m. Cliff Lee (10-8, 3.37 ERA) will make his first start after missing the last two turns in the rotation due to lower back pain. Dustin Moseley (4-2, 4.83) will make his eighth start of the season for New York.
(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)
No comments:
Post a Comment