ARLINGTON, Texas -- In this difficult season, the Rangers' best player reminded you of just why he’s that.
With the Oakland Athletics fighting to clinch a playoff berth, Adrian Beltre put a dent in those hopes with a game-winning home run to give the Rangers a 2-1 victory in Thursday night’s game.
“Beltre, there’s not a lot you can say about him,” interim manager Tim Bogar said. “He was looking for a certain pitch and he got it and he didn’t miss it.”
It was Beltre’s eighth career home run and 16th game-ending RBI of his career. On the season, Beltre has become more of mentor to several young players. Wednesday night, he talking to rookie second baseman Rougned Odor about his footwork in failing to turn a double play.
“It’s really important,” Bogar said of Beltre. “That’s how they learn how to play this game. That’s how they learn how to act, how they learn how to get through the tough situations. We’ve had a lot of adversity this year and when you watch Beltre and (Colby) Lewis do their thing every day regardless of what happened around them, they showed up every day and were professional. There’s so much value in that. These young kids are learning how to do it right.”
Leonys Martin’s night: The leadoff hitter picked up his 30th stolen base of the season in Thursday’s victory and now has 66 steals the last two seasons. Martin also picked up his 17th bunt base hit this season, tying him with Julio Borbon for the second highest total in franchise history. Otis Nixon holds the record, getting 23 in 1995.
Lewis finishes the season: Thursday night was Colby Lewis’ last opportunity to show the Rangers if he’s worth bringing back to the club for 2015. He picked up the no-decision, pitching seven strong innings and holding the Athletics to 0-for-6 with RISP. After struggling in the first half of the season, Lewis’ ERA dipped in the second half to 3.86 in 13 starts. He led the team in innings (170.1), starts (29) and was tied for wins (10).
