Royals @ Rangers: September 3rd-5th

[Molina00]

Game 1 Recap
Not a lot goog to say about the Rangers in this one. Kam Loe made the start for Texas against Zack Greinke for KC. Coming off an outting where Loe gave up just 1 earned run and struck out 7 in 6 innings of work against the White Sox, he was much less impressive against the Royals. The KC hitters got 5 hits and 4 walks in just 3 innings off Loe, but only scored 2 runs. Greinke, on the other hand, pitched 5 scoreless innings against the Rangers to pick up the win.

The only offensive higlight is Ian Kinsler who went 2 for 4 with a triple and scored a run. Kinsler was driven in by Mike Young in the 8th inning for the Rangers only run of the game.

[Molina00]

Game 2 Recap
After being held to just 1 run in the series opener, the Rangers jumped all over Royals starter Billy Buckner early putting 5 runs across in the first inning and 6 total in 4 innings off of him. Three of the first inning runs were accounted for by Saltalamacchia and Wilkerson homeruns. Salty hit his 10th of the year and Wilkerson his 20th.

The Rangers lead 6-1 going into the 4th inning when the Royals broke out. Having only allowed 1 run through the first 3 innings, Kevin Millwood then gave up 5 runs combined over the 4th and 5th innings and finished the day allowing 6 runs on 8 hits and striking out 7 in 5 innings of work. The game was tied at 6 after Millwood left the game before the 6th inning. Texas a couple more insurance runs in the 7th making it a 8-6 lead and added 1 more in the 8th, which turned out to be the winning run. The Royals rallied scoring runs in the 8th and 9th but fell short falling to Texas 9-8.

[Molina00]

Game 3 Recap
Great pitching and timely hitting were the keys for Texas in their 3-2 series finale.

Vicente Padilla took the mound for the Rangers, and pitched his best game of the year allowing just 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5 KC batters in 6 scoreless innings of work. He picked up the win to improve to 5-9 on the year and lower his ERA to 6.01.

Hank Blalock was the key to the offensive attack going 2 for 3 and driving in 2 of the Rangers 3 runs. Brad Wilkerson also scored 2 runs, and Mike Young went 2 for 3 and drove in the other run.

The Rangers lead 3-0 going into the 7th when John Buck hit his 18th homerun of the year against Wes Littleton. The 2-run shot made it a 3-2 ballgame, but the rest of the Ranger pen shutdown the Royal's offense.

The Rangers are now only 9 game under .500 and are now 4-1 in the month of September.