Starter Chan Ho Park (1-0, 4.38 ERA) finally gave Rangers (4-5) manager Buck Showalter what he was looking for all of last season — a quality start at home.
Park tossed 6 2/3 innings of three run, five hit baseball against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (5-4) Wednesday night before 21,625 at Ameriquest Field in Arlington en route to a 7-5 Texas victory. He matched his longest outing from last season.
According to Park, the good vibes were rolling right from the start, when he took the field to warm up before the first inning.
“Coming out to the mound and having the fans cheering me on,” he said in a post-game interview with KRLD’s Victor Rojas, “it made me feel so appreciated.”
Los Angeles struck first when diminutive second baseman Chone Figgins deposited a 2-1 Park pitch into the seats in right field. The Angels had a 1-0 lead heading into the bottom of the third.
Rangers center fielder David Dellucci walked on five pitches from Los Angeles’ Paul Byrd (0-2, 6.92) to start the Texas half of the third. Dellucci stole second before catcher Rod Barajas brought him home with a base hit to center.
The Rangers broke the 1-1 tie in the fifth, beginning when left fielder Kevin Mench snapped a personal 0-for-11 batting drought with a soft single into center. With two outs, Texas put two more aboard to load the bases against Byrd.
Shortstop Michael Young drove the first pitch he saw past the glove center fielder Steve Finley for a three-run triple. Young finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs, and became the only American Leaguer to hit safely in nine consecutive games to begin 2005.
First baseman Mark Teixeira followed with a double, and the Rangers led, 5-1.
Rookie designated hitter Adrian Gonzalez led off the sixth with his second home run of the season, widening the Texas lead to 6-1.
Los Angeles battled for two runs in the seventh before Showalter removed Park, who departed to a chorus of cheers from the Arlington fans. He finished with six strikeouts — all coming in the first three innings — and just one walk.
Defending American League MVP Vladimir Guerrero, who was relegated to designated hitter duties after bruising his right knee during Tuesday’s game, singled in the eighth to extend his hitting streak against the Rangers to 24 games.
After Los Angeles put men on the corners with two outs in the ninth, Francisco Cordero was brought into the game, hoping to atone for two blown saves against the Angels in the last week. First baseman Darin Erstad was responsible for the base hits leading to both of the blown saves, and he was at the plate to welcome Cordero into the game on Wednesday.
Erstad singled to drive in a pair on a 2-2 pitch, bringing the Angels to within two with Finley stepping into the box.
Despite allowing a ninth-inning RBI hit to Erstad for the third time this year, however, Cordero induced a ground-ball out to end the game, notching his third save of 2005.
Park was credited with the victory, the first win by a Rangers starter this year. It was also the Rangers’ first win at home on the young season.
“It was a great game,” Park said. “I feel good because I had a better outing and a better idea about the Angels’ hitters than last season.”
Texas played six of its first nine games against Los Angeles this year, coming away with a 2-4 record. Five of the six contests were decided by two runs or less.
The two teams will not meet again until June 20 in Anaheim.
The Rangers will try to make it a two-game winning streak when they host the Toronto Blue Jays tonight at Ameriquest Field in Arlington. Texas right-hander Pedro Astacio (0-0, 2.57) will take on former Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay (1-0, 4.85) at 7:05 p.m.
