ARLINGTON, Texas -- Texas Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton made a lot of homeowners happy Wednesday when he ripped a fourth-inning grand slam in a 9-1 victory over Cleveland.
The CC Carpet Flooring & Design Center had been running a promotion that if Hamilton hit a grand slam in September, all flooring or countertops purchased during the month would be fully refunded.
Not only was the victory big for those into home improvement, it kept the Texas lead over Los Angeles in the American League West at three games with 13 games remaining.
The odds were certainly with CC Carpet. Hamilton had not hit a grand slam since May 7, 2008. His at-bat was just the eighth time this year he had batted with the bases loaded, and he was just 1 for 7 in those situations with three strikeouts. Four of those at-bats had come since the promotion began.
Those numbers changed in the fourth though, as Hamilton capped the biggest inning by the Rangers since 2009 when he hit a 1-2 offering off David Huff 384 feet to left field, just clearing the wall and falling short of the seats.
The Indians helped the cause too, as an error allowed Ian Kinsler to reach and an Elvis Andrus infield single was nearly snared by Huff. The Andrus hit loaded the bases.
"The situation doesn't come up that often so when it does you can't help but think about it," said Hamilton. "I'm in the business of giving back. I like to help people as much as I can."
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