Rangers History Today: Texas Erupts For 26 Runs vs Orioles
If the Texas Rangers would have had the Six Shooters on this date in franchise history, they would have gotten the workout of a lifetime.
The Rangers recorded their largest margin of victory in a game to that point, defeating the Baltimore Orioles by a score of 26-7 at The Ballpark in Arlington.
The game was on April 19, 1996, and the Rangers set franchise records for total runs, runs batted in (26), and runs in an inning (16 runs in the bottom of the eighth).
That 16-run eighth inning was the second-most runs scored by a Major League team in the game’s modern era (since 1900). The only team to score more runs in a single inning to that point was Boston, which scored 17 runs in the seventh inning against Detroit on June 18, 1953.
The Rangers set several team records and came close to setting or tying other Major League records. Perhaps the most incomprehensible is that outfielder Darryl Hamilton had three plate appearances in that eighth inning, just the eighth time in MLB history that had happened.
Hamilton was the only Rangers player in the game with four hits. But Rusty Greer and Kevin Elster each had three hits. Elster, along with Juan González and Will Clark, homered in the game for Texas. Dean Palmer had two home runs.
Perhaps the most incredible thing? Roger Pavlik started the game for Texas and didn’t get the win. Pavlik left the game in the fourth inning, having given up six runs on six hits and three walks. When Pavlik left the game, he had given up a five-run fourth inning that allowed the Orioles to tie the game at 6-6. From there the Rangers outscored the Orioles 20-1. Dennis Cook came into the game in relief and took his first win of the season.
Just nine years later, the Rangers would again break the franchise record for runs scored in a game when they routed the Orioles (again) on August 22, 2007 by a score of 30-3. To this day, those 30 runs are still the most scored by a team in the modern era.
Are we missing a moment from this day in Texas Rangers history? We’re happy to add it. Hit us up on Twitter @PostinsPostcard and let us know what to add.
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