Rain washes away the game as Texas Rangers’ offence sparks against Oakland Athletics, at 7-0
Arlington, Texas – The heavy rainfall dashed Texas Rangers’ hopes to win another game by a big margin on Wednesday, 11th May, at their home ground, as the game was stopped during the fourth inning while Rangers were leading seven to nil.
Rangers won Tuesday’s encounter by 7-2 and were poised to once again rout Oakland Athletics by a similar margin. When dark clouds covered the sky and eventually rain started pouring, Rangers were already 7-0, midway through the fourth inning.
The postponement of the game not only gave Oakland Athletic a sigh of relief, but also disconcerted Texas Rangers. It is pertinent to mention that since May 24, 2002, this was the first game to be postponed after three innings had been played.
Matt Harrison’s unplayable fastballs had recently been absent in his game, but his pitching was exceptionally well on Wednesday, despite the fact that Harrison had conceded 10 runs in the first inning in his last three games.
He displayed an entirely different game against Oakland. Aware of the stark challenge he would face in the first inning, Harrison was tough and limited the Oakland Athletics’ hitters and when he was successful in showing the batters home, he was quickly approached by Mike Maddux.
“He told me I was better than that and needed to throw strikes”, Harrison said. “I don’t like the sweet talk. I’d rather have somebody jump my butt”.
However, how the game turned up with the progression of innings was quite unpredictable. Rangers had a cutting edge with a 7-0 lead in the fourth inning.
Recently, Rangers’ offence was undoubtedly in trouble, evident from their game against New York Yankees, but now it is in good form. Their last game’s result substantiates their recent surge of form in offence.
Moreover, against Oakland, Mitch Moreland won the first grand slam of his career and provided a favourable start to the Texas Rangers. This was the second game in which Texas walked with their bases loaded.
Gio Gonzalez was subject to the massive hits that produced the 7-0 score. For the first time, Gonzalez allowed 7 runs in one inning.
With the postponement of this game, Texas Rangers are now genuinely looking forward to Los Angeles Angels. Angels will play their first game against Rangers on Friday, May 13th, at the Rangers Ballpark.
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