A lonestar in california

As a baseball fan, there are some pitchers I like to watch work, irregardless of what jersey they wear. Among those pitchers are Josh Beckett, Mariano Rivera, Jonathan Papelbon, and Cole Hamels. Monday night, I think I may have just added one to that list: Scott Kazmir. Even though it was my beloved Texas Rangers he was mowing down, I couldn’t help but sit in awe of his mastery as he sent the Rangers to a 7-3 loss in game one of this three game set in Tampa.

Kazmir was clearly locked in from the start, as he fanned 7 of the first 9 Texas batters, including the first four of the game, Kinsler, Young, Hamilton and Bradley. The Rangers didn’t even put a ball in play until David Murphy grounded out in the second inning, and didn’t register a hit until Michael Young hit a line drive off the glove of Rays second baseman Akinori Iwamura in the fourth for a single. His final line would be 1 run allowed in 7 innings, on just 3 hits, no walks and 10 K’s. I may be a dedicated Ranger fan, but unless you’re up against a team you really hate (i.e, Angels or Mariners), theres no way you can’t be awed by a performance like that.

Sidney Ponson meanwhile, was anything but fun to watch pitch, despite the fact that he was just 5 days removed from tossing a complete game against the Twins last week. He just didn’t seem to have much of anything for the Rays, as he gave up a slightly astonishing 12 hits in 5 innings along with three walks, to see his WHIP balloon to a slightly bloated 1.50. If there was anything impressive at all about Ponson’s outing, it was the miracle that he only surrendered 5 runs for all those hits (three of them on an Eric Hinske home run). Tampa Bay would leave a grand total of 15 men on base by the time the game ended, but with Kazmir out there on the mound, they could afford it.

The Rangers did piece together a rally against Kazmir in the 6th, when Marlon Byrd lead off with a single, and Ramon Vazquez doubled to put runners on second and third with nobody out. Ian Kinsler hit a sac fly to score Byrd and put Texas on the scoreboard, but with Michael Young batting, Vazquez made an ill-advised attempt to steal third. Instead, he got gunned down by Dioner Navarro, running the Rangers out of their rally, and Young flew out to end the inning.

The only real bright spot of the night the Rangers would come in the 9th inning, when Ian Kinsler launched a 2-run homer off of Rays reliever Gary Glover, giving him 3 RBI for the game. That extended an 11 game hitting streak for Ian, and gives him 7 HR and 31 RBI for the year.

Other than that though, this game was pretty bereft of highlights for the Rangers – Josh Rupe should get a mention for some solid relief work, as he gave up 2 runs in 3 innings after Ponson exited, allowing the Rangers to conserve their bullpen, and a call should be given to Ramon Vazquez, who after last night now has 7 hits and 6 doubles in his last 11 AB’s. But the Rangers need not hang their heads over this one – Kazmir was just too good for them.

Hank Blalock is still out with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, and will not be back till Friday at the earliest.  He’s going to get a cortisone shot today in Dallas, as apparently his oral anti-inflammatories aren’t knocking down the pain. If he’s out much longer, the Rangers may have to send him on a rehab assignment once is is able to play again, although Blalock disagrees.

Josh Hamilton made his much heralded return to Tampa Bay last night, and got a mixed, but mostly positive reception by the fans at the Trop. According to Evan Grant, about 25 percent of the fans where on their feet applauding, although there where a few boo birds. As Grant mentions, I can’t imagine why anyone would want to boo Josh in that situation – anyone who did is a douchebag extraordinaire in my book.

Chris Davis made his AAA debut yesterday up in Iowa, and went 2-4 with an RBI single while batting 5th for the Redhawks. Micah from Baseball is My Boyfriend was actually at the game, and had some insight on Davis’s debut, as well as the rest of his teammates, along with a few photos - she also has some great photos up from earlier in the weekend too, so be sure to check that out.

Other stuff: Max Ramirez bagged Texas League player of the week again for AA Frisco, and is hitting .388 for the Roughriders overall… if only the Rangers had an opening on the big league club, I think Max would be ready to debut now. Adam J. Morris over at LSB notes that the Rangers next 19 games will be critical in defining the 2008 season… and Joey Matschulat gives us his opinion on the recent insinuations that Texas might draft RHP Andrew Cashner in the first round this year based solely on Nolan Ryan’s opinion of him, and says that such an occurence might be an indicator of a “potentially catastrophic flaw” in the Rangers front office hierarchy.

Today it’s Vicente Padilla vs. the Rays Andy Sonnastine - it’s going to be important for the Ranger offense to rebound after being held in check by these three consecutive left-handed aces they’ve faced the last three days.