The Rangers Are 13-10

/

Ladies and gentlemen, your first place Texas Rangers.

  • Colby Lewis started today's series opener against the Angels, and it was a very Colby Lewis start. He gave up a solo home run to Geovany Soto in the 3rd, gave up another run in the 4th on a Soto RBI single, but limited the damage to that. He finished 7 innings on only 80 pitches, and while he didn't walk anyone, he also didn't notch a single strikeout. Like I said, it was a very Colby Lewis start.
     
  • Ryan Rua started the Texas scoring in the bottom of the 5th inning with a solo home run that left the bat at 110 mph. I've been saying for awhile that when I watched Rua take batting practice in San Antonio that his contact sounded different than anyone else the Rangers had there. Now I know why.
     
  • The big blows came in the bottom of the 6th inning. Rougned Odor drew a leadoff walk, and Nomar Mazara singled. With men on first and second, Adrian Beltre grounded into a double play. With Prince Fielder due up in a two-out, man on third situation, it seemed that the inning was likely over, as I posited on Twitter than the Angels should simply go after Fielder. So what did Prince do? Singled to right field, plating Odor and tying the game at 2-2.
     
  • The scoring wasn't done, though. Ian Desmond doubled to left field, and Prince Fielder somehow managed to gas his way from first to home, and Desmond got to third. Mitch Moreland singled to right field, scoring Desmond, and giving us our final margin of 4-2.
     
  • It was interesting that Fielder and Moreland were two of the key hitters in the inning. Against the lefty, I had both pegged to struggle tonight, but they came through in big spots. I've been critical of both, but it's important to give credit where it's due. Great job, guys.
     
  • Heading into the top of the 8th inning, and with Colby only at 80 pitches, I was surprised to see Jeff Banister go with Sam Dyson. I didn't have a problem with it, it just surprised me. However, on second glance, the Angels had the heart of their lineup coming up, and Dyson has been the team's best reliever.
     
  • Dyson came in, and other than a Mike Trout double, worked a clean 8th inning. Shawn Tolleson came in and induced a ground-out and two strikeouts in the 9th inning to preserve the victory.
     
  • They'll do it all over again tomorrow at 7:05 PM with Derek Holland on the mound.