Rangers getting plunked at record rate
ARLINGTON -- The Rangers keep getting hit by pitches, and things got chippy Friday night between the Rangers and the Indians, with a combined five batters getting hit by a pitch in the Indians' 8-3 win.
Home-plate umpire Joe West warned both teams after the Rangers' Kyuji Fujikawa hit Jose Ramirez with a fastball in the sixth inning after giving up a home run to Brett Hayes. Indians manager Terry Francona seemed irked by that particular incident after the game.
"That looked a little … ," Francona said. "If he wanted to get our attention, he did. If that was his intention, he did a good job."
Cleveland's Scott Atchison hit Prince Fielder with a breaking ball in the seventh, but there were no ejections. It was the third time this week that Fielder had been hit in the arm.
"Same area, it's a big arm, though," Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. "[The pitches] could have been a foot apart. It still hit the arm."
Although there was tension in Friday's contest, Banister went on to say it's part of the game.
"A lot of times it gets played by very competitive players, but you love each player to have that brand of competitiveness," Banister said. "Sometimes when we see it now, we look at it, it looks ugly to us. The reality is it's still the nature of our game. As a pitcher, you need to be able to pitch, in, out, make hitters move. As a hitter, you need to still be able to stand in.
"It is a confrontation in a game unlike any other sport. Two-hundred and eighty times a night. One-on-one confrontation. Take the human element out of it, it doesn't look as bad. ... We never want to see any of our athletes hurt. But still pitchers need to be able to pitch in and hitters need to be able to stand in."
The Rangers had been hit by pitch a league-leading 28 times collectively entering Saturday's games. Texas is the first team to get hit 28 times in a season's first 36 games since at least 1914. Last season, the Rangers were hit 61 times all season.
"I know exactly the number," Banister said. "I pay attention to it every day. ... Maybe they don't like us as much."
Worth noting
• Shin-Soo Choo had his 14-game hit streak end Friday night. Choo's streak was the longest in the American League this season.
• The Rangers were 5-12 at Globe Life Park entering Saturday, tied with Oakland for the worst home winning percentage in the Majors. Texas has not won a series at home this season.
• Delino DeShields' bunt hit Friday against the Indians gave the Rangers a Major League best seven bunt hits this year. DeShields is hitting second in the order Saturday for the first time in his career.