Rangers Thread

[regaleagle]

A walk off hit by pitch to Odor scores the winning run after a 2 run bases-loaded single with one out by Carlos Beltran in the bottom of the 10th to tie the game against the Athletics. Oakland scored 2 in the top of the 10th to break a 2-2 tie, but could not close it out against these feisty Texas Rangers of 2016. They continue to win games late as they have all season long. This win kept their 6-game lead in the AL West intact against a surging Seattle Mariners squad who have gone 9-1 in the last 10. The Rangers are 7-3 in that span and the fading Astros are 4-6. But 44 games are left.....and that's alot. Anything can happen among these three teams......the Angels have dropped 11 in a row now. Looks like Beltran was a very good pickup for the Rangers.....he went 4-5 at the plate tonite and was responsible for the big hit that tied this game up in the 10th. Beltre was then walked to move the runners to 2nd and 3rd and Beltre on first to load the bases......a very highly unusual set of circumstances rarely if ever seen in the major leagues. Then on the first pitch to Odor, he was hit on the shoulder to earn the walk-off RBI game-winner......stranger than fiction and Rangers win again.....................late.

[waterboy]

Yep. I had given up on them after Oakland took the 4-2 lead in the top of the 10th. I was doing something else while the TV was on and the volume was too low to hear. I looked in just as the walk-off had happened and was definitely surprised. Why should I be surprised? That is the 39th time this year they came back to win, I think, the most in baseball.

It's still frustrating to watch them at times because they make almost all of the starting pitchers of other teams look like they are aces. They seem to always wait until the other team has to go to the bullpen to get anything going. They still keep winning despite this and multiple injuries. The additions of Beltran and Lucroy are relishing in their new roles on the Rangers, and I think both are thrilled to be in Texas playing for a winner. If we get a healthy Colby Lewis, and a confident and healthy Derek Holland back, the starting pitching will be that much deeper.

One thing for sure about this team is they just keep finding ways to win. They definitely aren't "pretty" wins, or even dominant wins, but they are wins nonetheless.

[poisoned10]

Runs Scored - 564
Runs Allowed - 561

21 games above .500

This team just knows how to win.

[MUSTANG69]

Someone please explain why Oakland purposely loaded the bases with just 1 out in yesterday's game. Big break for the Rangers.

[waterboy]

Nobody knows why for sure. The only reasonable explanation is that they were more afraid of Beltre getting a hit than Odor. Beltre has hammered the A's many times this year.

[d0tc0m]

Someone please explain why Oakland purposely loaded the bases with just 1 out in yesterday's game. Big break for the Rangers.

I assume it's because they favored the lefty-on-lefty matchup over the lefty-on-Beltre showdown. Beltre has hammered left-handed pitching. Rzepczynski is tough on lefties, and Odor - although he can drive a ball at any given moment - presented both a better double-play and/or a strikeout opportunity in that situation/matchup.

[MUSTANG69]

I assume it's because they favored the lefty-on-lefty matchup over the lefty-on-Beltre showdown. Beltre has hammered left-handed pitching. Rzepczynski is tough on lefties, and Odor - although he can drive a ball at any given moment - presented both a better double-play and/or a strikeout opportunity in that situation/matchup.

That is probably as good an explanation as there is but I think it was a big mistake.

[d0tc0m]

That is probably as good an explanation as there is but I think it was a big mistake.

Well, yeah, clearly. But if Rzepczynski gets the K or gets Odor to double up on a grounder somewhere on the infield, then Bob Melvin is a genius, and we're on here talking about what a gutsy but brilliant decision it was. That's how those kinds of decisions go. You won't have much luck if you go about your business second-guessing moments like that.