Texas Rangers Roundup – April 27, 2014

Apr 6, 2013; Arlington, TX, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Matt Harrison (54) throws to the Los Angeles Angels during the first inning at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Mandatory Credit: Jim Cowsert-USA TODAY Sports

The Texas Rangers defeated the Seattle Mariners last night 6-3. Entering today’s game the Texas Rangers @ Seattle Mariners 3-game series is tied 1-1. Today’s rubber-match is the last of a 6 game road trip.  Here is today’s Rangers Roundup.

TEXAS RANGERS:

• Texas Rangers (15-9, .625) are once again tied with the Oakland Athletics for 1st in A.L. and for 3rd-best in MLB
• The Rangers’ 11-4 (.733) is A.L.-best over last 15 games

YO, ADRIAN!:

• Adrian Beltre went 2-for-4 with 1 walk last night in Seattle against Felix Herndandez
• Beltre increased his hit streak against the Seattle Mariners last night to 15 games
• Since April 21, 2013 Adrian Beltre is .410 (25-61), 4 HR, 4 double, 4 SB, 9 RBI vs. Seattle Mariners
• Starting at third base last night Beltre is 5th all-time with 2,214 games at 3B (HOF quantity right there)

GRAND THEFT BASES:

• Texas Rangers are FIRST in American League for stolen bases (23); Elvis Andrus (9), Leonys Martin (6), Alex Rios (5), Michael Choice (1), Shin-Soo Choo (1) and Josh Wilson (1)
• The Rangers have 3 more stolen bases than the New York Yankees (oh yeah!)
• With Rios’ steal of second base last night marked the 6th consecutive game for a stolen base, longest streak in the majors

TAKE ONE FOR THE TEAM:

• With a sacrifice bunt by Robinson Chirinos last night the Texas Rangers now has a sac in 5 consecutive games to begin the 6-game road trip with a 4-1 record
• Texas holds the A.L.-high with 14 sac bunts and 3rd-most in MLB
• This is the longest streak for Texas Rangers since 5 straight back in 1995 (9/15-19)
• Texas Rangers has gone 8-3 in games with a sacrifice (who says this doesn’t work?)
• Leonys Martin (5) and Elvis Andrus (3) rank FIRST and THIRD in American League in sac bunts for this season

RIOS GRANDE:

• Alex Rios is batting .323 (31-96) this season- 7th in A.L.
• Rios has 31 hits- 3rd in A.L.
• He has reached safely in 22 of 24 games this season
• Alex Rios leads the Texas Rangers in: Average (.323), Hits (31), Double (7), RBI (11), Extra-Base hits (9) and Total Bases (43)

WHAT-A-RELIEF:

• Aaron Poreda pitched 2.0 scoreless innings last night earning his 2nd career win
• Poreda is first reliever this season with multiple shutout innings after entering with the game tied or the Rangers in the lead
• 3 K’s on 3 batters faced in the 8th inning last night (Neal Cotts with 2 K’s (no, that isn’t a typo), Alexi Ogando with 1 K) marked 3rd inning all season for the Rangers to whiff all 3 BF in an inning
• Texas Rangers hold A.L.-high with 9 relief wins this season and are tied with Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants for most in MLB

GUESS WHO’S BACK:

• Matt Harrison makes his first Major League start since April 6, 2013
• Harrison has gone 10-2 with a 2.06 ERA in 18 game/ 14 starts in his career against Seattle Mariners
• He holds lowest ERA among active pitchers with at least 100.0 career innings vs. Seattle Mariners, 2nd-lowest all-time only to Pedro Martinez

ROSTER MOVES/INJURIES:

• Matt Harrison activated from DL before today’s game
• Luis Sardinas optioned back to Double A Frisco to make room for Harrison
• Shin-Soo Choo is still active, although not in the lineup

ON DECK FOR TOMORROW:

• Texas Rangers are back at Globe Life Park for a 3-game homestand series against the Oakland Athletics
• RHP Yu Darvish (1-0, 1.61) vs. RHP Sonny Gray (3-1, 2.25) get the series started
• First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m. (CDT)
• You can tune in to FSSW/ ESPN/ 570 AM/ 1540 AM to catch the action

That’ll do it for today’s edition of Rangers Roundup. Remember, if you have any suggestions, questions or criticisms, feel free to leave any comments below or hit me up on Twitter. I would LOVE to hear from you!

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