Mariners @ Rangers Series Thread

[Molina00]

I didn't realize until tonight that I had missed 3 games. It seemed like the Indians series had just ended. lol Well, I guess that's what school will do to you. Better get caught up on my recapping now.

Game 1 Recap
The Rangers kicked off the series with a bang. Sosa and Wilkerson each hit their 15th homeruns of the season, and Kevin Millwood went 5.1 innings to notch his 7th win of the season.

The Mariners broke through first with 2 runs in the 1st inning but the Rangers countered 2 innings later scoring 3 times in the 3rd to take a 3-2 lead. Seattle tied the game at 3 scoring a run in the 4th, but that would be the closest they would get to leading the game again. The Rangers broke out for 5 runs in the 5th, thanks to a 3-run blast by Sosa and a 2-out, 2 run blast off the bat of Wilkerson. That gave the Rangers an 8-3 lead. The Mariners almost battled back scoring 1 in the 6th and 3 in the 9th but the rally fell short as the Rangers went on to win 8-7.

Sosa finished the game with 5 RBI, putting him up to 69 on the season. His 15 HR's and 69 RBI are already 1 HR and 24 RBI more than he had in his last season (2005), and he has so far played 18 less games.

[Molina00]

Game 2 Recap
John Rheinecker got the ball for Texas making just his 2nd start of the season. In his first start on June 5th John was roughed up for 4 runs on 7 hits over 3 innings. His 2nd start would be a completely different story. Rheinecker pitched 7 excellent innings allowing just 1 run (unearned) on 6 hits and walking just 1 Seattle batter.

Seattle's only run came in the 1st inning off Rheinecker but was unearned. The Rangers tied the game up in the 4th when Sammy Sosa scored thanks to a Marlon Byrd triple. Texas got what would end up as the game winning run via RBI single from Michael Young in the 5th inning. That gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead and they went on to win by that score. Eric Gagne pitched a scoreless 9th to nail down his 15th save of the season and lower his ERA to 2.23.

[Molina00]

Game 3 Recap
For the 3rd straight game in the series, the Rangers came from behind to beat Seattle by 1 run.

The offensive hero this time was rookie Travis Metcalf. He went 4 for 4 with a double, a triple, a run scored, and an RBI from the 9 hole for Texas. Kam Loe made the start and kept his hot pitching streak alive allowing 3 runs over 6.2 innings, but ended up with a no decision. C.J. Wilson struck out 3 batters over 1.1 hitless innings and picked up the win, and Gagne once again pitched a scoreless 9th for the save.

The Rangers are now on a 3 game winning streak and will be looking for a 4 game series sweep tonight when struggling Brandon McCarthy will look to get back on track against Miguel Batista.

The Rangers are currently above .500 since the All-Star break (7-6) and are 12-9 in the month of July. With a 3 game set against Kansas City coming up, it looks fairly likely that the Rangers will have a winning month in July.

[Molina00]

Unbelievable! The Rangers finally swept a series, and not just any series either. A 4-game series against a division rival. Probably the wierdest part of the series is that they won all 4 games by just 1 run each.

The matchup was McCarthy vs. Batista and niether pitcher did very well, although McCarthy might have done a bit better. He allowed 3 runs over 5 innings while Batista allowed 5 runs over 6 innings. Niether pitcher got a decision though as the game came down to the bullpen.

With the game tied at 1 in the bottom of the 3rd, Kenny Lofton hit a 2-run homerun against Batista to give Texas a 3-1 lead. The Mariners rallied in the 5th with 2 runs off McCarthy to tie the game at 3, but the Rangers immediately countered with 2 of their own 5th inning runs to take a 5-3 lead. Frank Francisco and Jaoquin Benoit both pitched in the 8th and the Mariners hit them for 3 runs to take a 6-5 lead. Ramon Vazquez hit a 2-out, 2-run bomb in the bottom of the 8th off Seattle closer J.J. Putz to give the Rangers a 7-6 lead and eventual win.