Saturday, June 27, 2009
Texas Rangers 12, San Diego Padres 2
Rangers' bats return to life after extended road trip.
ARLINGTON — The Texas Rangers' long-dormant bats finally returned to life Friday night, as the Rangers defeated the San Diego Padres 12-2 at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. The win was the third straight for Texas and improved them to 40-32.
Photo not provided by the San Diego Padres
Rangers starter Kevin Millwood pitched well, allowing just two runs over six solid innings and improving his June record to 4-1. Millwood is now 8-5 on the year with a very un-Rangers-like 2.64 ERA, but his effort wasn't entirely necessary after the Rangers finally broke out of their recent offensive slump.
Up until the previous night's 9-8 win over Arizona, the Rangers had scored two or fewer runs in four straight games, and had not scored more than six runs in 21 games, the longest such streak since 1990.
Among the Texas players with big offensive days were Elvis Andrus, who went 4-for-4 with a triple and two RBI; Jerrod Saltalamacchia, who hit 2-for-3 with a walk, a double, two RBI and three runs scored; and Ian Kinsler, who went 2-for-3 with a walk, a double, a run and an RBI.
Hank Blalock hit a solo home run in the fourth inning and collected two runs scored and a pair of RBI, while outfielder David Murphy continued his recent tear with a towering three-run bomb in the second inning that ultimately put the game out of reach.
Posted by Todd M.
