It's a shame, really, to have to spoil the recap of this game by putting the final score in the headline, or even the first paragraph, because the beauty of this game was in the tension. Of course, this is the way of West Coast gaems and their 9:08pm first pitches...
Adrian Beltre turned 37 today, and while his teammates celebrated by singing Happy Birthday to Adrian in the clubhouse, replete with cake, it appears that Beltre was upset that none of the Angels gave him anything for his birthday, as he spent the evening taking everything from them that he could. Unfortunately, the Angels blew out the last candle, winning 4-3 on an Albert Pujols walk-off single.
Let's dig in anyway...
The hot corner showcase began in the bottom of the first inning. After a Mike Trout single, Albert Pujols hit a full-count smash to Beltre's left. Beltre broke perfectly on the ball and half-falling/half-diving to his glove side, he snagged the bullet and threw to first to end the inning. It would not be his last ooh-and-ahh-inducing glovework of the night.
The Rangers got on the board first, back to their old tricks of scoring without a hit in the bottom of the first. Delino DeShields walked, and Shin-Soo Choo reached on an E5 when Yunel Escobar, shifted to the right side of the infield against Choo, flipped the ball over the head of Andrelton Simmons. Both runners advanced 90 feet on a balk, and Prince Fielder lofted a long fly ball to left field to sacrifice DeShields home. 1-0 Texas.
Derek Holland was unable to execute the shutdown inning in the second; Escobar atoned for his defensive mis-handling by hitting a solo shot over the left field wall. 1-1.
But Robinson Chirinos led off the next inning, and he mimicked Escobar's power outburst by launching a home run of his own. 2-1 Texas
Let's talk about Derek Holland for a minute. Aside from the one home run, he looked brilliant through four innings. He worked effectively on the inside half of the plate, he changed his speeds well, and his velocity was even back up into the 94-95 range. Through four, he had allowed just the one run on two hits, four strikeouts, and most importantly: ZERO walks. The final ingredient (or lack thereof) was making for a great recipe for success, and if he had been able to stick with it, tonight's spoiler would have likely been a happier one.
Unfortunately, he walked two of the first three batters he faced in the 5th inning. Yunel Escobar drove home the first (Calhoun) with a single, and Former Ranger (let's hope this theme ceases to recur) Craig Gentry drove home the second with a double down the left field line. By the time the inning was over, Holland had thrown 31 pitches (92 on the evening), and his night was over. 3-2 Anaheim.
Tom Wilhelmsen took over in the sixth, and began by inducing an Albert Pujols fly out to center. In doing so, Wilhelmsen improved his 2016 from infinity to 135.00. C.J. Cron followed by driving a ball straight into the ground in front of home plate that did not bounce very high at all, allowing Robinson Chirinos to throw him out at first for the second out. But then Kole Calhoun blooped a single into left field, and Andrelton Simmons doubled to left. Here, we would see an important play that wouldn't show up in the box score...
Playing the carom is always one of the more challenging things for outfielders, especially in new parks, and doulby so when it's a position you've only just started playing this year, as is the case with ian Desmond. A misplay, a bad read, or maybe even a slow transfer, and Roenicke could have sent Calhoun home on Simmons' double. But Desmond played the carom perfectly and bare-handed the ball at knee-height. As soon as he did, Roenicke threw up both hands to halt Calhoun, leaving runners at second and third.
It was time for another Beltre robbery. This one was on a blistering line drive by Geovany Soto. End of inning (And Wilhelmsen's ERA had dropped by another 90 runs).
Desmond wasn't satisfied to have a good defensive inning - he led off the next frame by aiming a single through the shift to the opposite side. Mitch Moreland then blooped a ball into shallow right field. Desmond read the fielders' positioning perfectly and never hesitated. By the time the ball landed, he was almost all the way to third base. A Rougned Odor foul pop out later, Elvis Andrus had his second great at-bat of the night (the first was a 9-pitch walk in the second) and hit a sac fly to deep enough right to score Desmond. Tangled again, 3-3.
Beltre had two more assists, including another diving stab of a hot shot in the seventh.
And now begins the stomach-churning late-innings drama.
Mike Trout hit an 0-2 pitch from Keone Kela into left field to break ground on the 8th inning. Jeff Banister brought on ground-ball factory Sam Dyson, and boom: two straight ground balls. End of inning, right? No, no, these weren't normal ground balls. These were left over from April Fool's.
You see, Albert Pujols drove a ball straight into the ground in front of home plate that did bounce very high. A "Baltimore Chop" is the accepted nomenclature for these things - the ball bounced so high that by the time it got down to an Odor-able height, Pujols was able to beat out an infield single. Weird, right? Well, ithe weirdness continued: C.J. Cron hit a weak ground ball that scurried into the space between Dyson and Beltre. Two ground balls, two infield singles. Bases loaded, no outs.
But Sam Dyson was in full #NeverEverQuit mode, and found the 98-mph velocity that had been lacking thus far in 2016. Kole Calhoun, down 0-2, tipped two soft fouls and one extremely hard foul, but struck out on pitch number 6. Then it was Beltre time again. Andrelton Simmons hit a grounder, but this one found the birthday glove and turned into a 5-4-3 double play. *WHEW*, right?
Not quite. The Rangers bats went down 1-2-3 in the top of the 9th, and Dyson allowed a one-out single, and then a walk to open the ninth. Andrew Faulkner was summoned, and pinch-hitter Carlos Perez grounded out to third weakly, which advanced the runners to second and third. Banister had a decision to make. Would he face the best hitter in baseball? Or walk him and face the former best hitter in baseball?
Banister understandably chose to fight the past. The past won. Shawn Tolleson threw just two pitches to Pujols, the second of which ended up in the left center field gap between Desmond and DeShields. 4-3 Anaheim.
Go get 'em tomorrow.
MINOR LEAGUE UPDATE:
All of the Rangers' full-season minor-league teams opened their seasons today, and each of them won their opening day games. The Round Rock Express got a grand slam from Jared Hoying, and Hoying, Jurickson Profar, and James Jones each had multiple hits. Joey Gallo was hitless, but walked twice and scored a run.
Frisco won 2-0 behind a strong outing from Frank Lopez (Matt Bush picked up the save). Luis Ortiz picked up a 10-5 win in the opener for High Desert, and Hickory got 4 RBI from Andy Ibañez as part of a 5-1 win.
