On a cool Friday night at the Ballpark in Arlington, the highly anticipated return of CJ Wilson and his face-off with Japanese pitching sensation, Yu Darvish, created playoff atmosphere rarely seen in May. Unfortunately, a two-hour rain delay would dampen the mood.
Darvish got off to a solid start, striking out leadoff hitter Mike Trout. He surrendered a soft line drive to left, but got Albert Pujols to foul out on a broken bat blooper to Michael Young at third. Darvish proceeded to strike out Torii Hunter to end the inning.
CJ Wilson didn't get off to the start he had in mind. After striking out Ian Kinsler, Elvis Andrus singled to left and stole second. Josh Hamilton singled to center, moving Andrus to third. Adrian Beltre knocked in Andrus on an infield single to second. Wilson walked Michael Young to load the bases. Heavy rains immediately followed the walk, and temporarily bailed out Wilson.
Play resumed about two hours later and the Angels decided to not let Wilson return, putting Jerome Williams on the mound instead to try and finish the inning. Nelson Cruz grounded Williams' first pitch into left field for a 2-RBI single. Both runs count against Wilson. Mitch Moreland knocked in Young (Wilson's last baserunner) on a fielder's choice to put the Rangers up 4-0. Craig Gentry followed that with a 2-RBI triple, building the lead to 6-0.