Rangers Run-Rule Astros, 21-2

  With shoulder ailments still sidelining Jacob Robinson, Brad Clark got the back-to-back start for the Rangers on the hill. Brad followed up his five-hit performance last week by allowing only two hits in Saturday’s contest against the Astros to move his record to 2-0 on the season.

Similar to last week’s performance, the Rangers opened up the scoring with a big first inning. In the bottom of the 1^st, Jacob Robinson reached on an error and came around to score on Jonmarc Lippincott’s single to left. Clint Wolf then followed with a two-run home run to right-center for a 3-0 lead. Following a couple of fielder’s choices, James Robinson, Jelani Arnold, and Jared Bradley all singled to make it 5-0. The Rangers tacked on another run in the second as Lippincott scored on a groundout by Clark. The floodgates opened up in the third as the Rangers scored 11 runs to take a 17-0 lead. Lippincott, Jake Kingsolver, and Arnold had RBI singles. Shane Fallen had an RBI triple. And Jared Bradley hit a two-run double and a two-run triple in the frame.

The Astros got on the board in the top of the fifth as Karl Flaugher singled and later scored on a wild pitch. Garret Copas drove in a run as well to cut into the lead 17-2. The Rangers got the runs back in the bottom of the inning as the team worked three straight two-out walks, and then took advantage of a throwing error to score two runs and gain a 19-2 advantage. The final runs came in the bottom of the sixth as Lippincott singled in Fallen and Jacob Robinson scored on a fielding miscue. Rookie Brandon Howard relieved Clark in the 7^th and got three straight outs to end the game.

Offensive highlights: Jonmarc 4-for-5, 3R, 3RBI; Clint 3-for-5 2R, 2RBI, HR; Brandon 1-for-4 4R, 2B; James 2-for-3 3R; Jelani 2-for-4 2R, 3RBI; Jared 3-for-4, 5RBI, 2B, 3B; Shane 1-for-3 2R, 3B.

Historical notes: Jonmarc recorded his 400^th hit in the MVABL with an RBI single in the third inning. He now has 486 career hits as a Ranger.