Sunday, September 27, 2009
Texas Rangers 15, Tampa Bay Rays 3
ARLINGTON — The Texas Rangers poured it on Saturday night, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays 15-3 at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. The win keeps Texas' slim playoff hopes alive, and improves their record to 85-69.
Photo not provided by the Texas Rangers
It's a mystery where all this offense was two weeks ago when the Rangers needed it.
With losses by both Boston and the Angels, Texas actually did help their post-season chances for once. Texas is now just five games behind the LA Angels for first place in the AL West, and six games behind the Red Sox for the wild card, with eight games remaining. The Rangers have a four-game series against the Angels starting on Monday.
Rangers starter Kevin Millwood pitched solidly, surrendering just three runs, two of them earned, over seven innings. Millwood has now won his last two starts and is 12-10 with a 3.75 ERA.
Millwood didn't need much though, as the Rangers pounded Tampa Bay for 11 runs in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs, the Rangers had 10 straight batters reach base, and tied a franchise record with nine hits in the inning. The team as a whole collected 19 hits, tying their season high.
Marlon Byrd led the fireworks with two home runs, a solo shot in the bottom of the fourth to break the shutout, and a grand slam to get things started in the fifth. Josh Hamilton was also en fuego, with a pair of RBI doubles and four RBI. Chris Davis also had a huge day batting in the #9 spot, going 4-for-5 with two runs scored and a double.
Posted by Todd M.
