9th Inning. Rangers took to the field in attempts to seal their victory against conference rivals the Oakland Athletics. The Rangers had experienced a bit of a dry spell loosing six straight games when they faced the Toronto Blue Jays during the prior week. Hoping to make a comeback against the A's, Pitcher Joe Nathan stood on the mound ready to throw the final pitch of the game. Seth Smith, outfielder for the A's, stepped up to bat ready to swing at whatever pitch came his way. With two outs already accumulated, there was a runner on first. The game would be decided in the final inning by the final play.
Nathan drew back his arm and threw the closing pitch. Batter Smith got a piece of the pitch and sent it flying out to center field. Craig Gentry, center fielder for the Rangers, made a class A effort to catch the ball as it flew towards him, but came up inches short. The ball bounced off of the ground and glanced off Gentry's glove. Quickly, Gentry retrieved the ball and threw a perfect throw to Elvis Andrus at second base who was able to relay the perfect save to catcher A.J. Pierzynski at home. Pierzynski then did the unthinkable.
With just seconds to work with, Pierzynski was able to tag Donaldson, the runner who had been on first, out at home. It was the play of perfection that won the game. It gave the Rangers a winning record, 3 of 4, against the A's. As Gentry told a reporter, "It's just instincts. You work on cutoffs and relays so much, it's second nature to come up and fire it to the cutoff man." It all comes down to speed and precision.
This series against the A's was a great way to show and reclaim the success the Rangers had lost in the week prior. As Rangers manager Ron Washington said, "We could've gotten buried if we didn't play well, but we played well." With these wins now under their belt, the Rangers have climbed back up in the standings, only one game behind AL West leaders, Oakland A's (ironically).
The Rangers will be going on the road, playing the St. Louis Cardinals tonight at 7:15 pm. The game will be televised on channel 21, so be sure to watch and continue cheering for the Rangers. You never know. You might see yet another amazing save and victory from the strong team.
