Saturday, October 3, 2009
Texas Rangers 7, Seattle Mariners 4
The Texas Rangers locked themselves into second place in the AL West Friday night, defeating the Seattle Mariners 7-4 in Seattle. The Mariners needed a sweep of the final three games of the season to bypass Texas in the consolation standings, but Texas got the win and now stands at 87-73.
Photo not provided by the Texas Rangers
Several Rangers are using these final three days to inflate their season batting averages.
The game was tied at 4-4 heading into the top of the ninth, but two Texas rookies broke the deadlock and won it for the Rangers. Taylo Teagarden started it off with a game-winning RBI single that made it 5-4, and Elvis Andrus doubled later in the inning to drive in Teagarden and Esteban German. Frank Francisco pitched a perfect ninth, striking out two, for his 25th save.
Rangers starter Brandon McCarthy was sub-par, surrendering four runs on seven hits over four-plus innings of work. Fortunately, the little-used Texas bullpen came to his rescue, shutting down the Mariners for the second half of the game, allowing just two hits over that span. C.J. Wilson was credited with the win.
Besides Teagarden and Andrus' heroics, the Rangers got plenty of hits from their lineup. Julio Borbon, Marlon Byrd, and Chris Davis all collected three hits apiece, while Michael Young went 2-for-5 with an RBI. The team amassed 16 hits on the evening.
Posted by Todd M.
