A lonestar in california

You know… as much fun as the last two games against the Angels where, I think both the Rangers and their fans needed something like last night’s 7-2 win to settle things down. Well pitched and well performed, the Rangers simply pulled away early and cruised to a less dramatic, but much crisper win – and and after the high drama of the last two games, that’s exactly what this ballclub needed.

After allowing 8 runs in 1.1 innings on Monday against the Angels, Luis Mendoza looked like a completely different pitcher last night, as he tripled his season strikeout total by racking up a spectacular 8 K’s in 6 innings. The difference? Well, much better command of his sinker and slider for one thing, and a much more aggressive approach:

“I was more aggressive this time and attacked hitters with first-pitch strikes,” Mendoza said. “All night long, I wanted to throw first-pitch strikes and stay ahead of hitters. After my last time, I had a little pressure, but I tried to let it go and learn from it.”

Aggressive is exactly what he was, attacking hitters with his low-90’s sinker and using his curve to generate swings and misses. Mendoza also cracked the 5 inning barrier for the first time in his career, even though the Rangers where trying to keep his pitch count low because he was pitching on 3 days rest. After throwing 51 pitches in his abbreviated start on Monday, Mendoza threw just 79 through 6 innings last night (47 strikes), allowing one run on just three hits and a walk. While I’m still of the opinion that Mendoza’s future ultimately will lie in the bullpen, there’s no denying that he came out last night and did exactly what he needed to do to stay in the rotation for now, and then some – hopefully he’ll be able to build upon this start in the second half.

The White Sox Gavin Floyd on the other hand, did not have a very good start at all – he walked 7 in just 2.2 innings, and the Rangers took advantage to light him up for 6 runs. Chris Davis had a solo shot in the second to give Texas a 1-0 lead, and then David Murphy hit a 2-run jack as part of a 5-run third. Josh Hamilton also had an RBI double (his 4th extra base hit in the last 3 games), and Ian Kinsler an infield single that inning, extending his hitting streak to 23 games (tied with Michael Young, who did it earlier this year, for the 4th longest such streak in Rangers history).

The highlight of the game however, came in the top of the 4thinning. With Carlos Quentin on third and one out, Jim Thome lined what appeared to be a sacrifice fly to left fielder Brandon Boggs. At least it did until Boggs gloved it, and threw a laser beam strike to the plate where Jarrod Saltalamacchia applied the tag. Second night in a row Boggs has thrown out a man at the plate – I’d like to see Boggs playing center at some point or another this season, and I definitely think he needs to be getting more playing time than Marlon Byrd.

Things did get a little tense in the top of the 9th inning, when Warner Madrigal allowed the White Sox to load the bases with 2 out for Paul Konerko. But Eddie Guardado came in and got Konerko to fly out to center, wrapping things up a mere 2 hours and 50 minutes after they had started. That should give you an idea of just how efficient Luis Mendoza was – a game under 3 hours long, in which one team scored 7 runs is a very rare thing indeed.

The Rangers did make a couple roster movesyesterday to provide their depleted bullpen with some fresh arms – they sent Wes Littleton (who pitched 3.1 innings Thursday night) back to AAA, and Scott Feldman to AA to make room for Kameron Loe and minor leaguer Joselo Diazon the roster. Loe is just came off the DLinOklahoma with a back problem, and Diaz is a minor league journeyman who has made a grand total of four Major League appearances with the Royals in 2006, so don’t expect either one to be here for too long – they’re just here in case there’s another starting pitcher implosion before the All-Star break starts on Monday, and will likely be sent down just as soon as Hurley, Padilla and Feldman can return. In fact, Diaz will probably be DFA’d or put on waivers right after this weekend.

When the aforementioned trio of starting pitchers return after the All-Star break however, one of them might have a different role – apparently the Rangers are considering putting Scott Feldman in the bullpen for the second half in an effort to conserve his innings and his arm. Apparently the Rangers wanted to keep the number of innings Feldman threw this year at about 135, but he’s been the workhorse of the Rangers rotation in the first half, throwing 92 innings between 2 AA starts and 16 the Majors. That’s about double the amount of innings he’s had at this point in the season anytime previously in his career, and although Feldman hasn’t complained at all, the Rangers are concerned that overusing him now will have a negative impact on him next season:

“He could probably finish this year if we gave him the same workload and had him make every start,” [Ron] Washington said. “He wouldn’t feel it this year, but he would feel it next year.”

The current plan is to let Feldman rest over the ASB, and reasess where he’s at afterwards, but considering Feldman’s likely replacement in the rotation would be Matt Harrison, I think a lot regarding their decision could be riding on Harrison’s start tomorrow – if he pitches well again, he might very well make their decision for them.

Also of note is the health of Milton Bradley – or lackthereof, as Bradley was out of the lineup for a third consecutive night with tendinitis in his left knee. According to Ron Washington, the Rangers aren’t worried about it and it shouldn’t keep Milton out of the lineup in the All-Star game - but it’s obviously been serious enough to keep him from DH’ing for 3 days straight, which leaves me slightly concerned. This is Milton Bradley after all – he’s almost as susceptible to injury as Hank Blalock, and every dent or ding he takes makes me nervous – especially as we edge toward the trade deadline.

Quick hits: Ron Washington says Chris Davis is “safe” in the Rangers organization, but did not actually state whether or not that means he’ll still be playing first base once Hank Blalock comes off the DL… ESPN’ s Jayson Stark has picked Ian Kinsler as his AL first half MVP… Eric Hurley will make a rehab start for AA Frisco on Monday as he recovers from his slightly strained hamstring… Jarrod Saltalamacchia, though he was in the lineup last night is apparently still not at 100% yet as he continues to deal with a groin injury.

Big game today for those that are sentimental about ex-Ranger pitchers – John Danks, whom we traded to the White Sox for Brandon McCarthy in the winter of 2006, will go up against Kevin Millwood tonight at the Ballpark. Dank’s 2.52 ERA is 4th overall in the AL, and he’s a lefty, so we should probably expect a bit of a dropoff in our offensive production tonight.