Well, I have to admit I wasn’t
expecting that—then again, I don’t think too many others were either. At the
beginning of the week, I was looking forward to the AL West showdown between
the Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers. What I saw was a team that’s been
playing over their head for the most of the year start to fade, while another
took a big step towards a division title.
Houston came into the series
with a 1 ½ game lead. They had been in first place for most of the season,
except for a couple of weeks in mid-July. The Rangers, meanwhile, got off to a
slow start and were as many as nine games behind in the middle of July.
However, playing some good ball while the two teams ahead of them started to
struggle (the other being the Los Angeles Angels) have moved the Rangers into
first place with a chance to win the AL West for the first time since 2011.
Game one of the series, on
Monday night, was a close one. The score was tied at three going into the
bottom of the eight, when Rangers’ designated hitter Prince Fielder, hit a
two-run home run to give Texas the lead. Closer Shawn Tolleson retired the
Houston batters one-two-three in the ninth for his 32nd save of the
season.
In the second game, the Rangers
struck for four in the bottom of the first, but found themselves tied at five
going to the bottom of the ninth. Fielder led off the inning with a single and
was lifted for pinch runner, Drew Stubbs. After Adrian Beltre singled, moving
Stubbs to third, first baseman Mitch Moreland lifted a fly ball to centre
field. The out was recorded but Stubbs scored on the sacrifice fly to give
Texas a 6-5 win and move into first place for the first time all season.
Game three was a laugher: a 14-3
Texas rout, high-lighted by a six-run first. Fielder led the charge with three
hits, including two home runs and five RBIs. Left fielder Mike Napoli and
catcher Bobby Wilson also hit home runs for the Rangers.
The fourth and final game of the
series was close until the bottom of the seventh. Leading 3-2, Texas added two
runs in the seventh and another three in the eight to make the final score 8-2.
Rangers’ starting pitcher Colby Lewis pitched seven innings, allowing two runs
and striking out three Astro batters to pick up his sixteenth win of the
season.
The sweep takes the Rangers from
a game and a half down to 2 ½ games in the lead in the Central. The two teams
will meet again for a three-game series in Houston’s Minute Maid Park, starting
a week from tonight. While Texas seems to be charging towards the post season,
Houston is in a free-fall. While they still hold on to the second wild card,
they are only a game and a half ahead of the Minnesota Twins. The Angles are
closing in, too, now trailing Houston by 2 ½.
The Twins and the Angels meet
for four games this weekend, with LA taking the first the first game of the
series on Thursday night by a score of 11-8. Houston takes on the last place
Oakland Athletics for three, while Texas will host Seattle for three.
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