As soon as it seemed the Texas Rangers would cruise to a series-salvaging win behind a gem from Derek Holland in The Bronx, the New York Yankees took a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning after starting the inning with a 4-0 deficit.
The next half-inning though, the Rangers' bats came to play and specifically Craig Gentry.
The Rangers' outfielder, who we've come to know affectionately as "Kitten Face", thanks to @tweetgrubes, was tearing it up at the plate in June and July when the rest of the lineup was struggling through a terrible offensive slump.
During that two-month stretch, Gentry made 29 starts and hit .356 with a .417 on-base percentage with 12 RBIs. Then, all the sudden, Gentry was just absent, seemingly overtaken in the Rangers lineup by perhaps the only hitter hotter than him, David Murphy.
Before Thursday's game in The Bronx, Gentry had made just one August start, back on Aug. 2. He finally got another opportunity on Thursday and delivered in a two-out, two-strike situation, fighting off a tailing-in fastball back up the middle to plate two runs and give the Rangers a 7-5 lead. He finished the day with just the one hit and three RBIs, but he came up big when needed.
At .321, he's without a doubt the best player in baseball to have just two starts in August based solely on manager's discretion. Maybe he's in line for some more now.
