Two nights ago, at the Ballpark in Arlington, Katherine and I attended our 10th Texas Rangers game of the season, which means we're half done with our 20-game package. The opponent was the Houston Astros, who have the worst record in Major League Baseball. The Rangers were coming off a 3-7 road trip but were clinging to a lead in the American League West. Some 41,205 fans were on hand on a hot, windy night.
The Rangers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, which loosened up the crowd. The Rangers added three runs in the second and one in the third to take a commanding 7-0 lead. It was never close after that. The Rangers won, 8-3. We were treated to a double by Michael Young, a triple by Josh Hamilton, and a mammoth home run by Mitch Moreland. Craig Gentry had three hits and stole three bases; starting pitcher Derek Holland pitched into the eighth; and Adrian Beltre had three hits and drove in two runs (giving him 53 for the year).
The Rangers (39-35) have a lot of fan-friendly features during the games. One of them shows a kid in the whiffle-ball field in the centerfield concourse. If and when the kid hits a home run, fireworks go off. If you click the image in this post, you'll see what it looked like. I caught it with my BlackBerry.
The Rangers are 6-4 in games Katherine and I have attended.
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 