Thursday, September 24, 2009
Texas Rangers 9, Oakland A’s 8
The Texas Rangers played a too-familiar shootout Wednesday night, defeating the Oakland A's 9-8 in Oakland. The win improved Texas to 83-68 on the season.
Photo not provided by the Texas Rangers
Hank Blalock had a big day at the plate.
With the Texas win and an Angels loss, the Rangers' improbable comeback got one game easier. Texas is now 6 games behind the Angels for first place in the AL West, with eleven to play. The Rangers are still seven full games behind the Boston Red Sox in the wild card race, however.
Rangers rookie starter Tommy Hunter pitched one of his worst performances of the season, yet still won due to the tremendous run support that has been missing all year. Hunter surrendered seven runs on nine hits over five-plus innings, improving to 9-4 on the season with a 3.67 ERA. Frank Francisco pitched a scoreless ninth, striking out two, for his 24th save.
The offensive hero of the night was veteran Hank Blalock, who went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and four RBI, coming off a two-run home run and a pair of RBI doubles. Marlon Byrd also had a big day at the plate, going 2-for-5 with two RBI and three runs scored, while David Murphy continued to excel in the #3 spot, hitting 1-for-3 with a walk, a run, two RBI, and a stolen base.
Posted by Todd M.
