Saturday night’s game can best be described by conjuring up images of that stress reliever sign prominently displayed in the offices of overworked and underpaid admins. The signs with the big circle that say: “Bang head here”. Directions. 1. Place on a FIRM surface. 2. Follow directions in circle. (That’s bang head here for those of you scoring at home.) 3. Repeat step two as necessary, or until unconscious. 4. If unconscious, cease stress reduction activity.
The Rangers got out to a 2-0 lead off starter Manny Parra in the first inning. Parra was coming off a 10-strikeout performance against the Cardinals, and he pitched well again, giving up just one additional run through six. It was the Brewers batters who struggled to sustain any sort of rally. The Brewers loaded the bases in the first inning, only to see Ryan Braun bounce into a double play. Bang head here. Milwaukee continued this trend all night. Batters got on; leadoff doubles were hit; runners were thrown out at third; no runs were scored. The Brewers were just 2 for 14 with runners in scoring position. Bang head here.
After David Riske pitched a scoreless seventh, Chris Capuano gave up a run in the eighth to make it 4-0, Rangers. Milwaukee finally broke through in the bottom on the eighth when Braun doubled in Rickie Weeks (who had collected his 500th hit earlier in the game). Trevor Hoffman pitched a scoreless ninth. (I’m writing this just because it’s been a while since I could type that.)
All the frustration was nearly erased in the ninth. With the bases loaded, Rickie Weeks singled. For reasons that went unexplained, Alcides Escobar stopped at third. Third base coach Brad Fisher sent him but he didn’t go. I had the Texas feed so this was not explained. Instead of the game being 4-3 with the tying run on third with one out, the game was 4-2 with the bases loaded and one out. The crowd was on its feet as NL homerun leader Corey Hart came to the plate. Instead of crushing a homerun, he bounced into a run-scoring fielder’s choice. Bang head here. There was still a chance, though, as Hart’s hustle prevented the game-ending double play. Prince up; two outs; tying run at third. Prince battled and with 3 balls, Chris Ray threw a borderline breaking pitch that could have gone either way. With the count now full, Prince hit a fly ball to left that ended the game. Losing consciouness...
Rangers 4, Brewers 3
Game played 6-12-10
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