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Rangers Use 11 To Climb The High Five (Over .500)

D-tails
• Boxscore (Rangers 6, Mariners 5),  Standings
• Angel watch: Los Angeles dumps Boston, 8-4; The Depot live game blog

ARLINGTON – Nothing like meaningful May baseball when the Rangers left 13 runners on, appeared almost helpless with runners in scoring position and saw two close calls go against them leading to three Seattle runs – yet still won.

With the 6-5 win over the Mariners in 11 ping-pong innings, the Rangers are five games over .500 and maintain their game and a half lead over the Angels. Last season, they didn’t reach that rarified place until early August, when LAA was already printing playoff tickets.

“We always have the attitude that with our offense, we’re never out of a game,” said hero Hank Blalock, who doubled home two in the 11^th after Seattle had grabbed a one-run lead. “We just make sure that we stick to it through the late innings.” Before Blalock’s hit, the Rangers were 1-for-11 RISP.

And after a brief night’s sleep, the Rangers will be back Thursday afternoon looking for their first sweep of a three-game series since the halcyon days of early April, when they kept wearing red and wearing out Cleveland. It’ll be Mr. Zero, Matt Harrison (3-2), against Felix Hernandez (4-2).

The winning rally began with Michael Young singling to right off Mariners closer Brandon Morrow on the third straight fastball that he saw. In the top of the inning, Young was charged with a throwing error after fielding a shot from leadoff hitter Adrian Beltre. And Young had left the bases loaded to end the third inning and runners on second and third to end the eighth.

Not top of mind or even on his mind when he came to bat with the Rangers trailing in the 11^th, he said.

“I don’t think about what happened. That’s over,” Young said. “He’s got a great fastball. I wasn’t trying to overcomplicate things, just get a pitch that I could put a nice easy swing on to get on base.”

Young’s throw on the Beltre at-bat was high. Chris Davis leaped and grabbed it, and first base umpire John Hirschbeck (the crew chief) ruled Beltre safe after Davis’ attempted tag. Said Davis: “I tagged him on the helmet. [Hirschbeck] said [Beltre] was already on the bag when I tagged him. But the throw was up the line, so obviously I was a couple steps up the line, which makes me think I got him before he got on the bag.”

In the fourth inning, Hirschbeck determined Davis came off the bag while stretching out up the foul line to grab a relay from Ian Kinsler that would have completed an inning ending double play. Instead, Kenji Johjima followed by hitting a two-run home run to give Seattle a 3-1 lead.

Davis’ account of that play: “I was falling off the bag. The runner was getting there kind of the same time. What I think [Hirschbeck] might have seen was me catch the ball and hit the ground and then come off. I clearly came off after I hit the ground. Both plays are tough. I don’t want those guys’ job.”

Johjima’s homer was one of three hit off starter Brandon McCarthy, whose seven innings represented his longest outing as a Ranger. He allowed five hits and walked one, only allowing one hit over his final three innings.

“Two of ‘em were bad pitches,” McCarthy said of the homers. “One of them was a pitch that was where I wanted it. It just so happened that’s where he wanted it, too.”

With Frank Francisco sidelined, C.J. Wilson was brought into a tie game in the 10^th and worked two innings for the first time this season. Two innings that featured the Wilson decathlon:

* He looked like Marty Turco, nearly making a sprawling grab on Ronny Cedeno’s bunt leading off the 10^th: “I tried to Elvis Andrus that ball,” he said, believed to be the first use of the rookie’s name as a verb. (And Elvis indeed “Andrused” a sharp grounder up in the middle by Franklin Guitierrez to end the ninth, running behind second base to glove the ball, spinning 360 to his left and fire from Pioneer Parkway to get the out.)

* His subsequent pickoff throw on Cedeno sailed way over Davis and nearly went into the stands: “I was just so excited. I was like, ‘Dude, I’ve got an easy out right here.’ I just tried to throw the ball easy over there instead of getting my foot down.”

* The jam in the 10th ended when Ken Griffey Jr. bounced one back to Wilson, and he began a 1-6-3 double play: “Just like Field 7 in spring training, I feel like I have a good chance to get lefties to hit the ball on the ground, especially if I can get in on them.”

* Not to mention a couple of pitches in the dirt that Jarrod Saltalamacchia fought off and kept in front of him even before allowing the run in the 11th on a double by Wladimir Balentien.

“He did some serious blocking,” manager Ron Washington said of Saltalamacchia. “That just goes to show you that guy’s improving big time.”

Washington also praised the grit of starter McCarthy (”Battled his butt off.”) and proxy closer Wilson (”Didn’t have his best stuff, but he hung in there and he fought.”).

And the overall result left him pretty well spent.

“Wow,” Washington said with a smile. “What a game.”