Yes. The Rangers did it. They scored a run. Rangers fans knew it would happen sooner or later. Would it be Saturday night? Sunday afternoon? Sometime in September?

It was last night’s game, in the third inning.

It was a thing of beauty. An unselfish act of teamwork and athleticism.

The historic occurrence happened like this: 

The first batter, Rob Refsnyder, was hit by a pitched ball. That allows him to go to the first base. There are three bases total, leading back to home. When one touches each base in sequential order, then home, one is credited with what’s called a run. But we are getting ahead of ourselves.

The Rangers now had a runner at the first of the three bases.

After valiantly hitting the ball, but right into an opposing player’s glove, the next batter, Scott Heineman, was out, as so many of his fellow batsmen before.

Nick Solak was next. He also remarkably made contact with the pitched ball, causing it to travel to right field untouched. He made it to first. The runner who had previously occupied that base ran to the second base, then to the third one. 

With a runner at third base, now the team is just ninety feet from scoring.

The next batter, an offensively challenged player named Danny Santana, was able to accomplish something he has rarely been able to do. Rather than striking out, he made contact with the ball and sent it arcing majestically into the left fielder’s glove. The runner at third was then able to successfully advance to home, step on the plate, and score the run. It was called a sacrifice, an apt name for such a heroic act.

To mark the occasion, the scoreboard operator put a 1 next to all the zeros on the scoreboard. It was official. A run. The Rangers had scored a run.

The Rangers were so fascinated by this act of scoring a run, they decided to watch their opponent score ten of them to see the various ways a team can score a run.

After the game, the Rangers manager Chris Woodward vowed his team would attempt to score another run in the upcoming days.

They had so much fun doing it.

*****
TODAY’S GAME:

Mike Minor (0-4, 6.95) vs. Justin Dunn (1-1, 7.80)

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