Rangers take first series ever by taking 2 of 3 from 1st place Halos

8/11-8/13 - Arlington Stadium
Rangers 3, Angels 0
Bobby Witt vs Dick Bosman
The recipe for the Rangers is real simple:  Get some decent pitching and let the bats do all the heavy lifting.  When the Rangers can get a 4 hit shutout performance from a guy like Dick Bosman they become very hard to beat.  Sadly, performances like this, have become few and far between, but when the do come the Rangers look like world beaters.  Juan "Gone" Gonzalez  hit two solo shots and third baseman Ken McMullen added a solo shot of his own in the 7th to give Bosman all the run support he would need.

Angels 8, Rangers 5
Andy Messersmith vs Charlie Hough
Simply put, Hough's knuckler didn't knuckle much.  When that happens the offense has a field day, which it did.  The Halos jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the top of the first, but had to continue to score more runs thanks to their starter, Andy Messersmith, being ineffective (5 runs in 6 2/3 IP) as well.  Mr. October, Reggie Jackson's, grand slam in the first was truly the knock out punch it was intended to be.  Texas got two more solo shots, which has become the focal point of their offense all season.  Frank Howard and Toby Harrah chipped in with those.  Texas did suffer a big loss to their bullpen when Danny "the origin of the bullpen" Darwin went down with an arm injury in the 7th.  Texas is hoping to see Darwin back in about 2 weeks.

Rangers 7, Angels 6
Nolan Ryan vs Jon Matlack
The "Express" left this contest after 7 innings with a solid 5-3 lead.  Ryan fanned 8, so you know his fastball was humming.  Kirk McCaskill did a wonderful job with a perfect 8th inning to hand the ball off to closer Bryan Harvey.  Ranger fans to their credit stayed in their seats and did not leave early.  Pete O'Brien led off the bottom of the 9th vs Harvey and worked out a walk.  back to back singles by pinch hitter Bump Wills and Buddy Bell loaded the bases.  Rafael Palmeiro lofted a fly to Devon White in right field to score "OB" to make it 6-4.  The "Capital Punisher", Frank Howard struck out swinging for the second out.  That set the stage for Juan "Gone" Gonzalez, who already had 2 homers in the series.  Gonzo, who was 1 for 3 to this point got the pitch that he liked and sent Harvey's 2-0 offering deep into the 9th for a walk off 3 run shot.  Jeff Russell, who pitched a perfect 9th in relief got the win.