A lonestar in california

I think Baltimore Oriole fans must really be starting to hate the Texas Rangers. Because as of Thursday, for the second time in two seasons, we’ve beaten the Orioles twice in one day.

Of course, neither of these three games was anywhere near the record setting 30-3 romp at Camden Yards we enjoyed last year in game 1 of a doubleheader, but sweeping both ends of yesterdays two-fer was not only the perfect way to avenge Tuseday’s loss in the home-opener, but it also put the Rangers over the .500 mark for the first time in 18 months.

Things got off to a quick start for Texas in the first game of the twin bill, when Baltimore right-fielder Nick Markakis dropped an easy Michael Young fly ball in the first inning, and Josh Hamilton followed with an RBI double to put Texas on top early.

Kevin Millwood pitched like an ace for the third consecutive start this season, despite the fact that he did not have his best control. He walked 5 batters in his 7 innings of work, while striking out just two, while also battling another small strike zone. But he allowed just three hits to the O’s, and just one lone run in the second inning, coming after Aubrey Huff drew a leadoff walk, stole second, and was singled home by Ramon Hernandez. After that, Millwood shut the Baltimore offense out the rest of the way, hanging in there until the offense finally woke up in the 7th inning, and scored 2 runs to give Millwood his first win of 2008.

Ian Kinsler, who turned out to be key in both victories yesterday, sparked the 7thinning rally with a 1-out base hit, and a steal of second base, his first of the season. Michael Young then lined Oriole starter Steve Trachsel’s 100th pitch of the game into left-center to plate Kinsler, and break the 1-1 tie. Young himself then stole second and advanced to third when Ramon Hernandez’s throw skipped into center field, and then took a chance to score on a short sac fly by Josh Hamilton.

That was all Texas would need, as Joaquin Benoit came in for the 8th, shrugged off a 7-minute delay to turn on the Ballpark’s lights between the bullpen mound and his first pitch, and proceeded to strike out the side, working around a one out walk. To give you an idea of how good Benoit has been his last two outings, the last 6 outs he has recorded have been via strikeout. CJ Wilson then climbed the hill for the 9th, and sent the Orioles down on just 10 pitches to notch the save.

About 30 minutes after game one, it was time for the nightcap. And fittingly, perhaps, the night game was even more exciting that the first.

Kason Gabbard, starting on an extra day’s rest thanks to Wednesdays rainout, turned in another decent start, lasting 5.2 innings and 101 pitches, but he did allow the Orioles to rally in the 6th, when he gave up a 2-run homer to Jay Payton.

The Rangers got on the board in the first inning, just like in the first game, when Michael Young clobbered a solo home run off of Baltimore’s Adam Loewen to put the Rangers up early again. Baltimore did tie it in the 3rd, when Nick Markakis singled home Brian Roberts, but Texas came right back in the bottom of the inning. Milton Bradley came up with a 2 run double (one of two double-baggers in the game for Milton) and got singled home by David Murphy, making it 4-1 Rangers.

That lasted until Gabbard gave up the aforementioned 2-run shot to Payton in the 6th, which pulled the O’s to within a run. Jamey Wright (who it now appears will not be making the Monday spot start mentioned in my last post, after throwing 28 pitches last night) took over on the mound after Gabbard was chased, and got through 1.1 solid innings, before running into trouble in the 8th inning.

In a mystifying bit of bullpen management, Ron Washington elected to stick with Wright for the top of the 8th, despite it being a one-run contest, and despite having both Eddie Guardado and Kaz Fukumori unused and available in the bullpen. It almost wound up costing the Rangers dearly.

Melvin Mora led the inning off with a double off the wall in LF, and Markakis followed with his second single of the night. Kevin Millar got the game tied with an RBI groundout, after which Wright fortunately managed to battle his way out of trouble, and strand the go-ahead run on base. But Washington’s use of Wright, who never should have been in the game with a one-run lead in the 8th, still cost Kason Gabbard a win, and certainly came close to costing the Rangers the ballgame – in any case, it would mean another rally would be required by the Texas offense to make up for their manager’s ignorance.

The Orioles brought slow-tossing sidearmer Chad Bradford on for the bottom of the 8th, but it didn’t seem to help very much. David Murphy struck out to start the frame, but then Ben Broussard (who was brought in late in the game as a defensive replacement for Jason Botts, who got the start at first base), and Adam Melhuse popped consecutive singles off Bradford to put runners on the corners for Ian Kinsler, who scored the go-ahead run in the first game. Kinsler promptly smacked a single through the left side to score Broussard, and give the Rangers the lead back at 5-4.

CJ Wilson, who recorded the save on just 10 pitches in the first game, still had more than enough in the tank to come in for the second save of the evening – and this time he was even more efficent, retiring the Orioles in order on a mere 8 pitches – but he got some help from Ian Kinsler in the process, as Kinsler tracked down a ball headed up the middle and flipped a sidearm throw to first for the out from what was literally the centerfield grass.

Other noteables of the night for the Rangers included Marlon Byrd’s first hit of the season, a double in the 5th inning of the nightcap. It only took him 17 at-bats – lets hope it’s not that long until the next one. Byrd also picked up an outfield assist to go with his double, throwing out Adam Jones at third base during the nightcap as well.

What transpired yesterday has to have been one of the best days in the season so far – not just one, but twoRanger wins to celebrate. Oh, and that’s not all. Time for one of my favorite features here at LiCA, the Jarrod Saltalamacchia watch:

Salty had a monster day at the plate for Oklahoma today, as the Redhawks hammered Nashville 11-4. He started with a 2-run single in the first inning, and later added a 2-run double in the 6th, giving him 4 RBI while going 2-4 with a walk. That gives Salty 6 RBI in his last two games. Keep it up, Jarrod.

 Welp, it’s getting late here as I write this here in the middle of the night (my blogging hours seem inevitably nocturnal) and I can’t stay up forever – I’d love to write a few more paragraphs about how stupid this is (suffice it to say Ron Washington really seems to love Ben Broussard – and hate Jason Botts) but that’ll have to wait.

Tomorrow, the Blue Jays roll into town, as the Rangers continue their homestand – it’ll be young Jesse Litsch taking on Vicente Padilla. The Jays might be worn out, as they just went 12 innings in a loss to the A’s up in Toronto last night. Of course, so are the Rangers, after playing two, but they’re not taking a plane ride. However, that’s not something Ron Washington would know, as he channels himself some Joe Morgan with this quote:

“I really can’t say much about them,” Washington said. “We haven’t seen them at all. I know that they haven’t been playing very good, but I really don’t know much more than that.”

Umm… read scouting reports much, Ron???