Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Cleveland Indians 13, Texas Rangers 9

By Pegasus News wire

ARLINGTON — The Texas Rangers lost a highly entertaining display of offensive prowess Monday night, falling 13-9 to the Cleveland Indians at Rangers Ballpark. The loss dropped the Rangers back to 29-30 on the season.

Photo not provided by Denny's, Texas Rangers

The Rangers have hit five delicious grand slams thus far this season

Rangers starter Doug Mathis, pressed into emergency duty after scheduled starter Vicente Padilla left the team on bereavement leave, was not terribly effective against the potent Cleveland lineup. Mathis lasted just three and two-thirds innings, and put the Rangers in a tough hole by giving up eight runs off twelve hits in his brief time on the mound.

The Rangers were able to battle back, however, and brought themselves to an 8-8 tie heading into the top of the seventh inning. At that point, Texas relievers Eddie Guardado and Joaquín Benoit gave up an additional five runs over the next two innings, and Texas dropped to below .500 once again.

Six Rangers had multi-hit games, as the team collected 15 hits on the night. Marlon Byrd went 2-for-4 with a grand slam, the fifth grand slam the Rangers have hit this year. Josh Hamilton also had a good day at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a two-run shot in the bottom of the third inning that extended his league leads in home runs and RBI.

Michael Young went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a pair of runs scored, while Ian Kinsler also collected three hits, increasing his batting average to .305 on the year.

Posted by Todd M.

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