Rangers Do Enough to Defeat Dragons, 11-6

For the second time this weekend, the Rangers picked up a divisional win. On Sunday May 16, the Rangers defeated the Miami Valley Dragons 11-6. Shawn Schmitt picked up his first win of the season pitching 3-hit ball over 5 innings of work. Shawn is now 4-0 lifetime against the Dragons. The win moved Shawn into a tie for fourth place all-time in pitching victories with Jacob Robinson at 25.

The Rangers scored in the bottom of the first as Ben Schooler led off with a walk and took second and third on a passed ball. Jonmarc Lippincott then grounded out to plate Schooler with the first run of the game. One out later, and after Clint Wolf singled and stole second, James Robinson laced a single to center to score Wolf and give the Rangers a 2-0 lead. Robinson’s RBI single marked his 100^th career run batted in. The Rangers made it 5-0 with 3 runs in the third. Lippincott singled and scored on a triple by Wolf. Clint would score on Joe Staten’s groundball to second. Joe reached on an error and was on third base when Jelani Arnold reached on a fielder’s choice, scoring Staten.

   The Dragons bounced back in the fourth as Brian Spears roped a two-out double to score Chris Flaherty and Jonathan Rose and make it a 5-2 ballgame. But the Rangers got additional run support in the bottom of the fourth as the team scored four runs on two singles, four hits-batsmen, and a fielding error. Tim Sullivan picked up a painful RBI with a fastball off the foot with the bases full. Schooler got a similar dose with a plunk of his own to score a run. Aaron Armstrong scored on a wild pitch, and Lippincott then blooped a single to right to score fourth run of the inning.

Staked to a 9-2 lead, the Rangers’ coach turned the game over to the bullpen and give Joe Becker a chance at a 4-inning save. Becker allowed a double to Flaherty and an RBI single to Rose in the sixth. But the Rangers answered with two in the bottom of the inning. Sullivan was hit by a pitch again, but would come around to score two outs later on a double by Wolf. Joe Staten smoked a single down the right field line to score Wolf and make it an 11-3 score. Jonathan Rose had another RBI single in the 8^th for the Dragons. And Flaherty just missed a grand slam in the ninth, but settled for a two-run double, his third double of the afternoon. Becker would allow 4 runs in 4 innings of work, but he did strike out 4 as well to pick up his first save in a Rangers uniform.

Despite only getting hits from 4 Rangers batters, the Rangers were able to capitalize on 4 errors, 5 hit-by-pitches, and 6 walks to improve their record to 3-3 overall and 2-0 in the Miami Division.

Offensive highlights: Clint Wolf 3-for-3, double, triple, 3 runs, 2RBI, BB, SB; Jonmarc Lippincott 2-for-4, 2 RBI; Joe Staten 1-for-4, 2RBI; James Robinson 1-for-1, 3 walks, RBI.

Historical Notes: Jonmarc is 7 RBI shy of 300 RBIs in the league. James reached 100 career RBIs with a single in the first inning. James also picked up his 100^th career walk in the 6^th inning. Jelani is 6 runs shy of 100 runs scored in the league. Jake Kingsolver needs two more official at-bats for 500 career ABs. Joe Staten is 1 run away from scoring his 100^th career run. Shawn Schmitt is now 1 win away from tying Rob Hoover’s club mark of 33 career wins.