Offenses were not lacking in Monday night’s game in Arlington, TX for either team. The Angels and the Rangers had 6 combined homeruns, four for the Angels (two of which hit by centerfielder Torii Hunter for his second multi-homer game of the season and one of his farthest ever, at 442 feet). Three of the four were hit in the second inning when the Angels jumped on Texas pitcher Mendoza for 8 runs. He pitched only 1 and 2/3rds innings and was replaced by Nippert, who held the Angels offense to only one more run, a solo shot by Torii in the 8th.

Although it seemed that an 8 run lead would be more than enough for Ervin Santana to hold, he experienced some 5th inning trouble when the Rangers got their two homeruns to score five of their final six runs. Santana attributed it to a change in his gameplan. He said that the lead made him feel more comfortable with throwing fastballs, which the Rangers were ready for. Luckily, that was all he would give up as he coasted through the 6th and 7th innings. Scot Shields came in for the 8th and produced a solid one-two-three outing, giving way for Frankie’s save record opportunity.

Rodriguez had to face the four most threatening batters in the Rangers lineup, all of which are headed to the 2008 All Star Game. He managed to escape unscathed with the all-time record, despite the fact that he made every Angel fan age three years watching him get two men on base to face Murphy with two outs. Kotchman made the final play of the game, catching a sharply hit ball that rocketed down the firstbase line and giving Rodriguez his 35th save this year. He is on pace to get 63 saves, possibly taking the final save record for a single season at 53. 

Ranger’s cather Ramirez also made a highlight reel play in the seventh when Angels’ catcher Jeff Mathis tried to take home by bowling him over at the plate. Ramirez managed to hang onto the baseball and tagged Mathis out, then firing it to third from his knees to throw out the advancing Kotchman from second for the double play. 

Tuesday, the Angels will take on the Rangers in the second game of this four game series. They hope to improve their road record to 28-15, the best in all of Major League Baseball.