Wolf Sets ROB record in DH Sweep

The Rangers had plenty of guys step up to take a doubleheader sweep from the Miami Valley Cardinals on Sunday, June 20 at Xenia high school. The games featured some hot temperatures and some hot bats -- none more so than Clint Wolf, who scorcched a long-standing Rangers record along the way.

In game one, Jonathan Silverman dominated over 7 innings, striking out a career-high 14 batters, allowing 4 hits and one earned run in moving his record to 5-1 on the season.

   The Cardinals got on the board first in the top of the second as Tyler Ott led off with a single. Jonathan Teague reached on a throwing error. Nate King later plated Ott with a groundout to first. The Rangers answered in the bottom of the inning. Jake Kingsolver was hit by a pitch with two outs. Jelani Arnold then roped a first pitch fastball off the fence for an RBI double to tie the game at 1-1.

   The Cards took the lead back in the top of the third as Joseph Richards scorched a solo home run to left field. The Rangers did some more two-out damage in the bottom of the inning. Jonmarc walked and scored on a Clint Wolf triple. Robert Riley pop fly was dropped to plate Wolf. Rookie Ty Adams then belted a two-run home run to straight away center to give the Rangers a 5-2 lead.

   The Rangers added a pair of insurance runs in the fifth as Clint Wolf hit his fourth home run of the season. And Robert Riley would score on a fielding error. The Cardinals would score an unearned run in the top of the seventh to make the score 7-3.

   Game two started out promising as the Rangers continued their two-out hitting. Clint Wolf doubled and scored on a two-run home run by Riley. Ty Adams would then single. Three walks and two passed balls later, the Rangers took an early 4-0 lead. Wolf got his first pitching start of the season and could not adjust to Xenia's high mound, as he allowed three hits and three walks before giving way to Jelani Arnold with two outs and three runs in. Jelani would stop the bleeding, going 5 1/3 innings of relief, striking out 8 in picking up his first win since 2005.

   With a 4-3 lead, the Rangers added four more runs in the top of the second. Ben Schooler and Lippincott singled. Clint would plate Schooler with an RBI fielder's choice. After Robert reached on an error, Clint would come around to score. Then Ty Adams stepped up and launched his second home run of the day to give the Rangers a 8-3 lead. The Rangers made it 11-3 in the fifth as Jason Sarver hit a two-out bases-clearing double. The Cardinals got two runs back in the bottom of the fifth on a two-run home run from Kevin Butts. Both teams exchanged runs in the seventh. Riley hit his second home run of the game for the Rangers, and William Howard doubled in a run for the Cards. Final score was 12-6.

   With the Royals knocking off the Thunder on Sunday, the Rangers sit alone in first place in the Miami Division, setting up two key divisional games with the Thunder next weekend.

Defensive highlights: Ben Schooler and Jason "I don't need no stinkin' cup" Sarver provided much needed help behind the plate. And Jelani Arnold stepped up big-time helping out a depleted pitching staff with 5+ strong innings of work.

Offensive highlights: Clint Wolf 4-for-7, 4 runs, 3RBI, HR, double, triple; Ty Adams 4-for-7, 4 runs, 4RBI, 2 HRs; Robert Riley 3-for-7, 5 runs, 2RBI, 2 HRs; Jason Sarver 2-for-6, 3RBI, double.

Historical Notes: Clint reached base in his first 5 plate appearances on Sunday pushing his streak to 14 straight plate appearances of getting on base, breaking the Rangers all-time mark of 13 set by Jonmarc Lippincott. Clint increased his hitting streak to 17 games (3rd best in team history). His previous high is 18. 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.