Once upon a
time, it was a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Detroit and the Rangers were in
town. The boys from Texas were looking
to win their third straight game, and take 3 of 4 from the Tigers at Comerica
Park. The Tigers held a 2-1 lead in the
5th inning and Ryan Strausborger was at the plate. As I sat comfortably on my couch, I was
confused when I saw someone on the Rangers bench had been ejected.
It was Adrian
Beltre?
Really?
Adrian
Beltre is a consummate professional, and in the middle of a pennant race, in a
1 run game, he got ejected for chirping at the umpire? It didn’t make sense at all, and as I watched
it unfold on Fox Sports Southwest, I think there were a lot of confused
people. After the game was over, we
found out exactly why it didn’t make sense.
Because it
wasn’t Beltre who was chirping at Umpire Adam Hamari about his called balls and
strikes. It was Prince Fielder, who had a scheduled day off. When asked about the ejection in post-game
interviews, Adrian Beltre jokingly said that he got ejected because he was “the
ugly one”.
Rangers’
manager Jeff Banister was also ejected in the fifth inning by crew chief Ron
Kulpa for not getting Beltre to leave the dugout. When he was asked about it in post-game
interviews, he laughed and said he “got put in time out”.
In the next
inning, Elvis Andrus, who didn’t start the game, moved into Beltre’s spot in
the lineup and with right fielder Shin Soo Choo on first, bunted his way on
board. He laid down a perfect bunt to the first basemen and then hustled to the
bag and avoiding a tag attempt to put runners at 1st and 2nd
with nobody out. Up next was first
baseman Mitch Moreland who eventually doubled into the right field corner
pushing across both Choo and Andrus for two runs and a 3-2 lead. Mike Napoli
added a solo homer to put the Rangers up 4-2, and that’s how the game ended.
Both Beltre
and Banister joked about the ejections, but I am quite sure it’s a lot easier
to joke about when your team won. Had
they lost, I am willing to bet that the post-game interviews would have been a
lot different.
There have
been a lot of changes made with the Rangers this season. The additions of Cole
Hamels and Sam Dyson and the return of Derek Holland seem to have this team in
a huge upswing. It reminds me of the 2010 season when the Rangers were playing
well and they added Cliff Lee.
I can’t put
my finger on it right now, but there is something special happening in
Arlington, and right now, I am all in on the Rangers. Forget the Wild Card! Let’s
run down the Astros and win the division!
The Rangers
are off today, but they start a three game series with the always dangerous
Toronto Blue Jays tomorrow night at Globe Life Park.
#NeverEverQuit
Game Notes:
-
-Adrian
Beltre set the record for most games played by a Dominican born player
-
- Since
rejoining the Rangers, Mike Napoli is batting .318 with 2HR and 3RBI
-
- Cole
Hamels picked up his first victory as a Texas Ranger.
