The middle of the Rangers order had a good night tonight. Guerrero, Hamilton, & Cruz all had two hits. Cruz also walked. Sadly, outside of that, the Rangers only had three other hits. We’ve had less and won a game before, but despite having the same number of hits as the Cubs (9), these 10 inning losses seem to deflate the rest of the game for me. It’s always been a bug with me. 10 innings. If we lost in 11, 12, 18, or 33 innings, it wouldn’t feel the same. It’s just #10. For some reason, I hate the 10th inning more than any other. One of these days I should track it, but I’d wager more of our extra inning losses happen in the 10th than any other.
Anyway, Guerrero & Cruz continued their power stroke, each getting a solo home run. Guerrero is on an absolute tear, and I’d say unless he falls flat on his face, it’s pretty brain dead that we pick up his option for next year. Heck, I’d tear up the contract and give him another year. I’ve always liked him. Going back to his days in Montreal. Nice to see him come here and produce, unlike so many other imported players before him who have not done this kind of thing despite their track record (Ken Caminiti, Andres Galarraga, Richard Hidalgo, Andruw Jones, Ben Broussard, Brad Wilkerson, etc…)
Derek Holland pitched pretty well, probably deserved a win. Six innings pitched, four hits, no walks, 5 ks, and only two earned runs (one unearned). Only 103 pitches, which is a tad high for six, but not ridiculous. Most of the bullpen pitched well. Chris Ray, Darren Oliver, Frank Francisco, & Dustin Nippert all thre scoreless innings. Frankie & Dustin were perfect. However, Darren O’Day fell off the rails big time. He pitched to three batters in the 10 inning, and got nobody out. Three hits accounting for two earned runs. That’s what lost us the game there.
The Rangers did mount somewhat of a comeback, plating a run themselves in the bottom of the 10th on an RBI single by Ian Kinsler, but the full comeback wasn’t to be.
The 10th inning strikes again!