Joseph Jason Putz, last year’s winner of the Rolaid’s Relief Man of the Year Award, turned Mariner fans’ stomachs a little when he served up a spicey meatball to Josh Hamilton. Hamilton, a former #1 pick of the Devil Rays and a former bad boy, took Putz far & deep into the Seattle sky over the rightfield wall for a two run dinger that gave the Rangers a one run 9th inning lead.
Seattle had taken the lead off Joaquin Benoit, scoring three runs, mostly due to two Texas fielding miscues. After recapturing the advantage, C.J. Wilson was brought on for the Rangers to close things out. Things didn’t go smoothly for C.J., as he got the first two batters before Yuniesky Betancourt doubled into right center (his 4th hit in five at bats), bringing up Ichiro. Suzuki grounded to Michael Young to end it.
J.J. Putz was placed on the DL after the game with a muscle strain in his rib cage, surprised it wasn’t in his neck, after watching the shot hit by Hamilton rocket over the wall.