Angels Halt Rangers Winning Streak with 9-8 Victory – Brief Recap

The Rangers started last night’s defeat off with a run in the first (Josh Hamilton scored on a double by Adrian Beltre), but thanks to Howie Kendrick and his single to right, Torii Hunter and Bobby Abreu both scored giving the Angels a 2-1 lead after the first inning.

David Murphy should be recognized for his efforts last night as he hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning – the only homer from a Ranger Wednesday.

If we could have just skipped over the sixth inning, the Rangers would have very likely won the game, but the momentum that the Angels had to get this game in their favor and keep it that way was just too much last night for the Rangers, who had their 12-game winning streak ended.

Heading into the sixth, Derek Holland had given up just three runs, which actually came in the first three innings, and the Rangers had an 8-3 lead so it looked as though the lefty may get the win even though he struggled a bit and was nowhere near in his groove as he had been in his last two starts, which were both complete game shutouts. In the sixth inning, Holland allowed four hits on the five batters that he faced. He was taken out and replaced with relief pitcher Tommy Hunter, who just let the hits keep coming – three hits and two runs. Hunter ended up with the loss for the game. Yoshinori Tateyama came in after Hunter and pitched two innings allowing no hits.

I just hope this loss does discourage the team. They simply need to pick back up and start over because despite their loss, they are still ahead in the division, still hot at the plate and still have what it takes to get the wins. The Rangers goal now is to win this last game of this three-game set at Angel Stadium of Anaheim this afternoon, which will allow them to win the series and have a five-game lead over the Angels in the AL West.