Rangers Take DH from Royals

The Rangers moved into a tie for first place in the Miami Division with a pair of divisional wins over the Kettering Royals on Sunday, May 30 at AIA. After starting the season 1-3, the Rangers have put together a nice 5-game winning streak. Jonathan Silverman and Joe Becker picked up the complete game victories on the mound as both pitchers did not allow a free pass all night.

Silverman started game 1 for the Rangers opposite Royals rookie Drew Dobbins. The Rangers got to Dobbins in the bottom of the first as Steve Marshall led off with a triple. Ben Schooler hit a sac fly to make it 1-0. Clint singled and stole second. Jake Kingsolver reached on a throwing error allowing Clint to score. Robert Riley then unloaded for a two-run home run to left field, his first of the season, to make it a 4-0 game. The Rangers added another run in the third as Kingsolver, in his 500^th career at-bat, drove in Wolf with an RBI single.

The Royals looked to get something going in the fourth as Brian Duffy and Tim Biedenharn started things off with singles. After a punchout to Jason Griffith, Jesus Velasquez hit an infield single to load the bases. A passed ball then allowed Duffy to score to make it 5-1. Silverman then struck out Dobbins and got Ben Ailes to ground out to end the threat.

The Rangers added some insurance runs in the 6^th inning as Clint Wolf led off with a home run over the scoreboard in left field, his third of the season. Clint’s RBI gave him 250 career runs batted in. Two batters later, Riley connected on his second long ball of the afternoon. James Robinson’s two-out RBI double ended the scoring for the Rangers, and for the game, as the final was 8-1. Jonathan gave up 4 hits in 7 innings of work, allowing an unearned run and striking out 8.

Since the first game only lasted 1 hour and 45 minutes, game 2 starter Joe Becker arrived just in the nick of time for his first start as a Ranger. The Rangers provided some early offense for Becker as they put up a 5-spot in the top of the second off Royals starter Brendan Regan. Jonmarc Lippincott and Jonathan Silverman each singled. Joe Staten walked to load the bases. Robinson hit into a fielder’s choice, forcing Lippincott out at the plate. Aaron Armstrong then singled to right field to drive in Silverman and Staten with the first two runs of the game. After another fielder’s choice caused a runner to be thrown out at the plate, a walk to Schooler loaded the bases again for Wolf, who doubled in Armstrong and Steve Marshall. Schooler would later score on a wild pitch to make it 5-0.

The Royals would chip away in the next three innings. Ben Ailes roped an RBI double in the second inning. Tim Biedenharn drove in a run in the third. And Jason Holmberg doubled in a run in the fourth. This was all the scoring for the rest of the game as Becker settled down, retiring 7 of the final 8 batters he faced. And Jason Griffith came out of retirement to pitch the final three innings for the Royals, striking out 5.

Defensive highlights: Steve Marshall’s play at shortstop helped extinguish several Royals’ rallies. Jonathan carried a 3-0 record in the month of May, and finished with a 0.86 ERA in the month, which was fourth-best in team history.

Offensive highlights: Clint Wolf 3-for-4, 3 runs, 3RBI, HR, double, 2 SB, 2 BB (reached base in 9 consecutive plate appearances); Jonmarc Lippincott 3-for-5, BB; Robert Riley 2-for-6, 2 runs, 3RBI, 2 HRs; Steve Marshall 2-for-5, 2 runs, double, triple, BB; James Robinson 2-for-5, RBI, double, BB.

Historical Notes: Clint increased his hitting streak to 15 games. His previous high is 18. The team record is a 24-game streak held by Lippincott. Jonmarc is 5 RBI shy of 300 RBIs in the league. Jelani is 4 runs shy of 100 runs scored in the league. Clint is 1 stolen base away from 100 career swipes. Shawn Schmitt is now 1 win away from tying Rob Hoover’s club mark of 33 career wins.