Becker Pitches Rangers to Win over Tribe

Two outstanding pitching performances highlighted a 1 hour, 30 minute affair at Howell Field on Tuesday, June 29. Joe Becker of the Rangers and Matt Spradlin of the Indians battled batter-for-batter for 7 innings as only 8 batters managed hits on the night. But ultimately the Rangers came out on top with a 2-1 victory.

Birthday boy Joe Becker came out throwing first pitch strikes to each of the first 9 batters, striking out five in the first three innings. The Rangers scoring all came in the bottom of the third as Matt Caraway drew a walk and took second on Aaron Armstrong’s ground out to third. Ty Adams then blooped a single to right field to put runners on the corners with one out. A subsequent pickoff attempt at first by Spradlin went awry, allowing Caraway to scamper home with the first run of the ballgame. Then with two outs, Joe Staten rocketed a line drive to center to score Adams and give the Rangers a 2-0 lead. Becker was cruising right along until Spradlin deposited a fastball over the centerfield fence in the sixth to cut the Rangers lead in half at 2-1. But Becker settled down to retire the remaining Indians batters, giving the Rangers a 2-1 victory.

Becker gave up 3 hits, allowed no walks, and struck out 7 in picking up his second win of the season. Spradlin scattered 5 hits over six innings, walking two and striking out five.

The 2-1 win marked only the third time since 2003 (a span of 180 games) in which the Rangers won a game scoring two or fewer runs. The last time was a 1-0 win over the Panthers in July 2007, and before that was a 2-1 win over the Angels in August 2005.    

Offensive highlights: Joe Staten 1-for-3, RBI; Clint Wolf 1-for-3, SB; Jonmarc Lippincott 1-for-3; Jason Sarver 1-for-2; Ty Adams 1-for-2, run.

Historical Notes: Clint increased his hitting streak to 20 games (2nd best in team history). Jonmarc is 4 RBI shy of 300 RBIs in the league. Jelani is 1 run shy of 100 runs scored in the league. Shawn Schmitt is now 1 win away from tying Rob Hoover’s club mark of 33 career wins.