After his scorching week-long stretch that saw him hit nine home runs, including four in one game, and become the talk of the baseball world, Josh Hamilton cooled off a bit last week. How dare he, right?
Well, on Tuesday night in the Texas Rangers' 3-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners, Hamilton made his presence felt once again after his 3-for-18 stretch that followed his 16-game hitting streak, and it started with a huge play in center field.
While Matt Harrison was struggling through the first inning before settling in to throw a gem, Hamilton decided to get on his horse and get Harrison out of dodge in the first. Hamilton chased down a Casper Wells drive on the warning track in center with the bases full, taking away what would've easily been a bases-clearing double, maybe even a triple. Instead, the Mariners got out of the first with just one run, and that was all they got on the night.
In the third inning, Hamilton's glove showed its brilliance again when he took away another double, possibly triple, from Alex Liddi and did some damage to the center-field wall in the process as he crashed into it and scuffed it up pretty nicely with his cleat.
He also gave the Rangers a 3-1 lead on an RBI double to bring home Elvis Andrus after his two-run triple. So yeah, Hamilton might have had just one big hit at the plate, but his glove won the game for the Rangers.
