The Rangers ventured over to Carroll high school for a sunny afternoon of baseball on Turn Back the Clock Day in the MVABL. I think the team turned back the dial too far as they were able to escape with just a DH split with the Mad River Machine. The Rangers won staved off a game one upset with a 9-8 victory, but the bats fell silent in game two as they were blanked 7-0.

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The Rangers (19-2) were shut out for just the 6th time in the last 10 years, twice now at the hands of the Machine, and both times by Andrew Madlinger.

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Eric Becker stayed true to his chosen jersey top for the day by providing some first-inning thunder with a solo HR on an 0-2 pitch to lead off game 1. 

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Rangers starting pitcher Jesse Jones worked around a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first to retire the side unscathed. 

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In the second, the Rangers let some free passes work in their favor to increase the lead to 7-0. Liam Musgrove singled with one out. Kyle Moyer walked. Mike Seebock was hit by a pitch. After Machine starter Brock Adams induced a force out at the plate, he walked in a couple runs. Rob Pederson then laced a 2-run single to right, and Cooper Nolte followed with an RBI single of his own.

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The opposition put a couple runs on the board in the bottom of the third. Jones allowed a single and a couple walks, bookended around an error as the Rangers retained a 7-2 lead through 3 innings.

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Eric rumbled up an encore in the fourth, following Jaret Quinn's walk with a 2-run home run to left, his second of the game. Becker now has four home runs this season, six total for his career as a Ranger, and four against the Machine all-time.

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Joe Becker relieved Jones in the 4th inning. He struck out the first two batters he faced. After an Evan Kelsey triple, he got a flyout to end the threat.

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The Rangers loaded up the bases in the top of the 5th, but couldn't capitalize, which was a huge moment as the Machine started to chip away. Machine's Steven Chapman launched a 2-run HR in the bottom of the fifth to make it 9-4. 

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Mark Carpenter made his Rangers debut on the mound in the 6th and Aaron Strausbaugh had a 2-run double to cut into the Rangers lead, 9-6. 

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Working with the latter half of the Machine lineup, Carpenter ran into some more trouble in the bottom of the 7th. Andrew Madlinger and Kelsey had RBI singles to shrink the lead to one run. However, Carp got a groundball out with the tying run at second to preserve the victory.

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Joe Becker worked two innings of relief for his 5th win of the season, moving him into a tie for second place all-time on the MVABL wins list.

Game 2 was just an aberration as the Rangers could muster only 5 singles and 2 doubles off Machine starter Andrew Madlinger. Machine put up some solid defense and got 3-run blasts from Joel Turner and Steven Chapman. Mike Seebock suffered the defeat, allowing 7 runs over 4 2/3 innings while striking out 5. Joe Becker tossed the final 1 1/3 scoreless frames in his league-high 15th outing.