Rangers Defeat Astros With Moreland’s Walk-Off

The Texas Rangers rallied to tie the game in the 8th inning, and eventually scored in the 11th inning - winning 5-4 against the Astros on Tuesday night in Arlington.

Cj Wilson was wild in the zone most of the night, and gave up a career high of eleven hits. Early on, fans appeared to know that he would not be able to pitch deep into the game. In his previous start, Wilson threw 129 pitches. When that's compared to the 68 he threw last night, while giving up four runs in the process, it left Rangers fans scratching their heads in disbelief.

But it wasn't just Wilson who was having trouble last night. Defensively, the Rangers were having problems. In the 5th, Elvis Andrus dropped the ball on a tag attempt with Jason Bourgeois stealing second, and was charged with an error. One batter later, Ian Kinsler was also charged with an error when the ball took a strange hop off the grass, not allowing Kinsler to make the transfer from glove to throwing hand to try and get the out.  In the seventh, a hard chopped ball got by Mitch Moreland and allowed Clint Barmes to score another run.

Although the Rangers where struggling at defense, a few players stepped up to score some runs while on offense. Josh Hamilton, Michael Young, and Nelson Cruz all went yard to help keep the Rangers in the game. In the second, Young went opposite field for his fourth home run of the season, while Cruz smashed the ball over the left field wall in the fourth. Hamilton tied the game with his bomb to right field off Sergio Escalona's fast ball. The game stayed tied all the way to the 11th inning.

Rangers closer, Neftali Feliz, pitched two innings with the game tied, and retired six of seven batters. It was then Mitch Moreland's time to shine. Moreland stepped up to the plate, and hit a 422ft bomb to right field. It was the first walk-off shot of his career, and the Rangers second walk-off of the season.