Well, this game was really about one thing. Well, two.
The most important one was the fact that the Rangers took over sole possession of first place again. This win was a big deal, as we went into Anaheim not solely in first place, and left with sole possession of first. That’s a big deal.
However, the sexier thing was the fact that Andruw Jones had a three home run night. He had one in the first, one in the third, and one in the fifth. Only four RBI’s though – two of them were solo home runs. Those weren’t the only home runs, though. Two other Rangers had them – Taylor Teagarden & Marlon Byrd. So this was a big power game. Nice that it was us with the power instead of the other way around. We also had a couple of doubles, so seven of the 12 hits were extra base ones. That’s a nice display, for sure.
Josh Hamilton & Elvis Andrus took ofers, but everyone else had at least one hit. Three guys had two, so it was nice offensive display to leave in the mind of the Angels as we left town with the lead.
Vicente Padilla had a good outing. Six innings, and just one earned run. A few too many hits (eight), but it didn’t damage his line. Six innings of one run ball is always a good thing. Jason Grilli, Eddie Guardado, & Darren O’Day came within one walk (Grilli) of throwing three perfect innings of relief. Something really nice.
Speaking of Darren O’Day, I was hearing some love for that pickup on XM Radio’s MLB talk channel this afternoon, so that’s nice to hear.
Boy, was this nice to come out of Anaheim the way we did.