As I write this, the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers are tied, 4-4, through five innings on Wednesday night. It's been an exciting first four frames at the Ballpark in Arlington. The Rangers struck first with two runs in the first, only to give the lead right back in the bottom half of the inning when Mark Teixeira hit a two-run shot to left field of Rangers' starter Derek Holland.
↵The first inning homer gives Big Tex an even 20 for the 2011 season, marking the ninth consecutive season that the switch-hitting slugger has gone yard at least 20 times. Teixeira now has 295 career home runs for his career, an impressive total considering he just recently turned 31 years old. Teixeira hit 26 homers in his rookie season back in 2003. Since then he's eclipsed the 30-HR plateau for the past eight seasons. With 20 long-balls through mid-June, it's a safe bet that he'll extend that streak easily and make a run at his first 40 HR season since 2005 when he blasted 43.
↵Congratulations to Teixeira for what I'm sure he'll consider a non-noteworthy accomplishment. But one day he'll look back at his career and commend himself for the impressive consistency he showed. Stay tuned for more Yankees updates and news as the night goes on.