In the first round of the Bronco Division playoffs, the Rangers
defeated the Angels in a close game, 4-2 on Thursday.
In the first round of the Bronco Division playoffs, the Rangers defeated the Angels in a close game, 4-2 on Thursday.
The Rangers drew first blood by scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning on a walk and singles by Andy Muller, Westyn Herscovitch and Mike Jarvis.
The next four innings turned into a defensive battle between the two teams, with neither team producing well offensively.
Rangers’ pitcher Andy Muller and Angels’ pitcher Clayton Howard did not allow more than one runner on in either of the four innings.
Both pitchers were aided by strong defense.
In the third inning, second baseman Jarvis made a running grab of a ground ball to record the last out.
Rangers’ right fielder Robert Driscal caught a long fly ball and then relayed to shortstop Daniel Saporito for a double play when a runner had not tagged up.
On the Angels’ side, first baseman Nelson Pyle knocked down a hot line drive and beat the runner to the bag, catcher Jim Hagan threw to third baseman Logan Hensley to catch a runner attempting to steal.
Pitcher Howard picked a runner off second base.
The Rangers found some offense in the bottom of the sixth inning by capitalizing on Angels’ mistakes.
Rangers’ Muller led off with a single and stole second and third.
Muller scored on a dropped third strike to Matt Jarvis, who was able to reach first base safely.
Jarvis later stole second and third and scored on a sacrifice by Westyn Herscovitch to make the score 4-0.
The Angels also capitalized on a Rangers’ misplay in the seventh inning to get on the scoreboard.
After Rangers’ reliever Driscal struck out the first batter, the Angels’ Tyler Pederson and Mitchell Pasek both drew walks.
Then, on a very odd play, the Angels’ batter ran toward first base after the Rangers’ catcher missed the ball on what the batter thought was the third strike.
The throw to first base hit the batter in the helmet and bounced into right field, allowing Pederson and Pasek to score.
This brought the Angels back to within two runs, but Driscal struck out the next two batters to preserve the win for the Rangers, 4-2.
The Rangers will continue in the winner’s bracket of the double elimination tournament and will take on the second seeded White Sox today at 11:30am.
The Angles will fall into the loser’s bracket and will take on the Indians at 4:30pm today.
