The Rangers kicked off the series against the Braves with a win thanks to a great pitching performance, (yes you heard right, a great pitching performance) from Vicente Padilla and some homerun power.
Padilla went 6 innings allowing just 2 runs (only 1 earned) on only 2 hits as he improved to 9-3 on the season and lowered his ERA to 3.73. The Rangers lead 6-0 going into the 6th when the Braves finally got on the board putting 2 runs across against Padilla, which spelled the end of his night. The Rangers added one more insurance run in the bottom of the inning to take a 7-2 lead. The Braves mounted another rally in the 8th scoring 3 runs off Eddie Guardado to make it a 7-5 game, but C.J. Wilson shut down the Atlanta offense in the 9th for his 14th save of the season and the Rangers won the opener 7-5.
Josh Hamilton hit a 2-out, 2-run homerun in the first inning against Tim Hudson, his 19th blast of the year.
Vicente Padilla is currently on pace to win 20 games this year. If he makes it he would be the Rangers first 20 game winner since Rick Helling did it back in 1998.