By Noah Shelton @SheltonOKC
There wasn’t much swing and miss happening through the Rangers’ batting order in Tuesday night’s 7-5 win over the division rival Houston Astros. Houston’s pitching only came away with two strikeouts, the lowest total for both Rangers’ batters and Astros’ pitchers this year.
It was a grind-it-out type of game for Rangers’ starting pitcher Derek Holland who finished with his second win of the season through three starts. Holland’s control was sporadic throughout the early phases of his five inning, 105 pitch outing. Often, frustration visibly engulfed Holland while continually going deep in the count and upping his pitch numbers.
“I was not executing the pitches the way that I would of liked. Obviously, I fell behind a lot, which cost me to come out of the game earlier than I wanted to.”
Holland said post game.
In the third inning, after a visit to the mound by pitching coach Doug Brocail, and some words of encouragement from short stop Elvis Andrus, Holland got stronger and accuracy became less of a problem.
With Holland’s pitch count soaring over 100, the fifth inning would be his last of the night after allowing 2 runs on 5 hits with 5 strikeouts. It was a Holland type of game, but the Rangers’ lineup produced the offensive support needed to earn him the win.
There were many positive takeaways from the rivalry game against Houston. Left fielder, Ian Desmond finally overcame his start-of-the-season slump by recording 2 hits and earning his first RBI of the season. Desmond also showed some improvement on the defensive side with a couple great catches in the outfield.
“It was great to put together a good game for the team and this city.”
Desmond said post game.
Maybe the moment of the game, came in the bottom of the sixth after Andrus watched his expected home run bounce off the top of the left field wall. The ball came off the bat nicely, and while leisurely jogging to first base Elvis had to suddenly turn on the jets to arrive at second after the ball dropped in the outfield. Andrus would later score, but the fun happened after the young short stop returned to the dugout. Veteran third baseman, Adrian Beltre, met Andrus with a fatherly staredown of disappointment and a few words to make sure Andrus never makes the mistake of assuming a ball is going to the stands again.
“When you hit a ball that is decent, but you’re not sure that its gone, why would you act like you know for sure the ball is gone, like an idiot?”
Beltre said post game.
Beltre’s tough love is entertainment at its finest. It’s enjoyable watching his antics throughout a game. His love for baseball always shows.
The series against Houston is off to a great start. Hopefully, it only gets better with Cole Hamels on the mound tonight. Despite what some may say, rivalry is in the air when Houston is in Arlington. After Monday night’s battle, Rangers’ fans should be excited about the many games the two teams still have yet to play this season.
Rangers Scorecard in Win vs Astros
Sports Interest 