Texas Two-Step, Astros Stay Atop Division While Rangers Move Above .500
For the first time in the 2015 season, the Texas Rangers have winning record.
The push to get above .500 on the season came in dramatic fashion on Sunday, with some help from a guy who was supposed to be getting the day off.
Veteran outfielder Josh Hamilton, who recently was traded back to the Rangers after a two-year stint with the Los Angeles Angels, did not start the Sunday game against the Red Sox, taking an ordinary day off.
Midway through the game, however, the Rangers’ perennial Gold Glove third basemen Adrian Beltre left the game with a sprained left thumb that will put him on the disabled list for two weeks.
Utility infielder Adam Rosales came into to replace the injured Beltre in the fielder until the ninth inning, when the Rangers were trying to come back from a one-run deficit and beat the Boston Red Sox for a third straight game. With two outs in the final inning, Rosales was replaced in the lineup with Hamilton coming in to pinch hit.
Rangers’ infielder Hanser Alberto was on third as the tying run and infielder Prince Fielder, who the Red Sox intentionally walked to get to Hamilton stood on first as the game-winner.
With the count at one and one, Hamilton got a splitter that hung up in the strike zone and drove it into the left field gap for a walkoff double.
The theatrics didn’t stop there, however, as Hamilton came out to be interviewed on the field following the win. In normal sports celebratory fashion, Hamilton’s teammates decided to congratulate him by dousing him with coolers full of Gatorade. The only problem was, they didn’t get just him, also covering the Fox Sports Southwest reporter, Emily Jones, in the red sports drink.
While the Rangers were excited about the walkoff and move above .500, the players were adamant about the fact that there is still work to be done with the main goal being to catch the other MLB team in Texas, the AL-West leading Houston Astros.
The Astros have vaulted themselves out of the bottom of the American League with a barrage of young players, and currently sit with the best record in the league at 31-20.
With a 4-6 record in their last 10 games, Houston has lost a little bit of its lead on the Angels and Rangers who are in the No. 2 and 3 spots in the division, but are still four games up on Los Angeles to start the third month of the season.