Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Texas Rangers 8, LA Angels 5
The Texas Rangers reclaimed a share of first place in the AL West Tuesday night, defeating the LA Angels 8-5 in Anaheim. The win improved the Rangers to 46-36, tied with the Angels for the division lead.
Photo not provided by the LA Angels, Texas Rangers
Rangers starter Dustin Nippert pushed into the rotation due to injury, only lasted three-plus innings -- but the Texas bullpen was up to the task. After Nippert allowed three runs by the bottom of the fourth, five Texas relievers pitched the remaining five-plus innings to preserve the win.
Derek Holland pitched two quality innings in relief for the win, while Jason Jennings, Darren O'Day, C.J. Wilson and Frank Francisco all combined to give up just one meaningless run over the final three-plus crucial innings.
Most of Texas' offensive damage was done in a six-run fifth inning. Andruw Jones started it off with a three-run blast to deep center, while a series of Angels miscues allowed three more runs to score in the inning.
In just his second day off the disabled list, Josh Hamilton went 3-for-4 with a walk, a stolen base and a run scored, while Hank Blalock went 3-for-5 with a double and a run. Jerrod Saltalamacchia went 2-for-4 with a crucial two-run single in the fifth, and later would score a run off an Ian Kinsler RBI double.
Posted by Todd M.
