Filed under: Ranger Wins | Tags: Eddie Guardado, Eric Hurley, Gerald Laird, Hank Blalock, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Michael Young, Milton Bradley, Tommy Hunter, Vicente Padilla
Well, here it is on the eve (okay, early morning) of the trade deadline, and I’m finding myself apologizing again for not posting for several days in a row. A busy schedule, lack of sleep and just plain writers block have all found me unable to sit down and write at length this week (I haven’t even been to see the new X-files movie yet, that’s how busy I’ve been). There’s been plenty of happenings and trade rumors to write about lately though, meaning I’ve got some catching up to do – why don’t we dive in.
Last night’s 4-3 win over the Mariners was pretty nice, overall. Vicente Padilla drummed up whatever last minute trade value he could, with 7 strong innings – he gave up 10 hits, but held the Mariners to 3 runs and even escaped a monumental bases-loaded, no-out situation in the 7th (albeit with a little help from David Murphy, who threw out Willie Bloomquist at home plate that inning). While no Ranger had more than one hit on the night (they where out-hit 11 to 7) they managed to squeeze just enough out of the 7 they did have to make it count – Josh Hamilton and Brandon Boggs homered, and Michael Young drove in the winning run with a pinch-hit sac fly in the bottom of the 8th.
It was Young’s first pinch-hit appearance in 6 years, and it only came on account of his being out of the starting lineup with a broken finger. Young fractured his right ring finger diving back into first base on a pickoff throw in the first inning on Monday, and originally was supposed to be out 5-7 days – but in a tribute to his toughness, he was back in the starting lineup on Tuesday, going 0-5 with a walk. He was too sore to start last night however, leaving him available to pinch-hit and become the hero with a 1-0 fly ball to left-center that was just deep enough to score David Murphy from third – much reminiscent of his game-winning sac fly in the all-star game a couple weeks back.
CJ Wilson managed to nail down his first non-acidic save in recent memory in the 9th, retiring Kenji Johjima, Willie Bloomquist and Jose Vidro around an Ichiro infield single - much more like the type of outing he needs to have on a consistent basis. Before you go and get all encouraged that this was a big step forward for CJ though, remember who he was up against – with the exception of Ichiro (who reached base anyway) those where some pretty sorry hitters the M’s sent up there in the 9th.
The Rangers did get some bad news yesterday however, as it was announced that Eric Hurley will skip his next start - Hurley, who got lit up on Sunday his first start since his DL stint due to a strained hamstring (prolonged by a sore arm) apparently has biceps tendinitis, and will miss his next start on Friday. The Rangers plan on calling up Tommy Hunter from AAA Oklahoma to replace him and make his Major League debut. CJ Wilson had a case of biceps tendinitis in spring training this year that kept him sidelined for almost two weeks, but the Rangers seem to think that if Hurley’s arm “heals as anticipated” he’ll be able to make his next start and not require another trip to DL.
As for Hunter, he will become just the second player from the class of 2007 draft to make it to the Majors (the Washington Nationals Ross Deitwiler got a callup and pitched a single inning last September) after just 161 total minor league innings. Hunter, a 22-year old right-hander who is listed as 6′ 3″ 255 (although most personal accounts believe him to be heavier than that) throws an 89-94 MPH fastball along with a breaking ball that is supposedly his best pitch, and a changeup tossed in for good measure. None of his three pitches are really considered above-average, just solid - it’s probably due to this fact that he’s seen his strikeouts decline as he’s climbed the minor league ladder, which has in turn made his control an increasingly key part of his success.
Hunter started 2008 with high-A Bakersfield, where he logged 58 innings and went 5-4 with a 3.55 ERA, a 1.22 WHIP, and an excellent K/9 of 7.71. Promoted to AA Frisco in May, his numbers jumped to a 3.78 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP, as his K/9 was slashed to 4.82 and his BB/9 spiked from just 1.23 in Bakersfield to 2.92 in 52 innings. That’s a notable spike, but Hunter was quick to adjust, rediscovering his control after a promotion to AAA Oklahoma – he has put up a 1.08 BB/9 since the jump, and has subsiquently gone 2-2 with a 3.24 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP in 33 innings despite his K/9 dropping slightly again to 4.59.
Hunter sounds to me like another Joe Blanton, only with better control - a guy who will probably give up his fair share of hits, but will also get enough outs with his stuff to be a solid starter. His swift rise through the system this year has so far concurred with what the Rangers projected him as - a quick-starting back of the rotation innings eater who might provide us with some stability in the 4th or 5th spot in the rotation by 2010 if not 2009. If he performs well, I could conceivably see him knocking Luis Mendoza (who is back to being horrible of late) or Scott Feldman (to limit his innings) to the bullpen for awhile, and sticking in the rotation until the Rangers decide to shut him down for the season – this should be a very interesting debut.
Now we turn our attention to the hotbutton subject of the day: the trade deadline. According to the latest from GM Jon Daniels, the Rangers (who have been featured prominently in rumors this past week, but have yet to even come close to making an actual deal) says the Rangers are looking for pitching, and will likely not be making a deal if they do not get any in return:
“It’s not a well-kept secret we place a priority on pitching, now and the future,” Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said. “It’s not the only singular factor or the only thing we’re looking for, but it is a priority going forward.”
“Things can change, but right now we’re prepared to go with the horses we came with,”
I really believe though, that it is necessary for the Rangers to trade either Gerald Laird or Jarrod Saltalamacchia – you cannot have Salty sitting on the bench for the second half and expect him to develop, and yet at the same time, Laird has performed well enough to start. I think Laird probably has just as much, if not more current value on the market than Salty (especially for teams looking for a more experienced catcher) and from a personal standpoint, I’d obviously rather see him dealt, seeing as how I consider him superfluous in the Rangers long-term plans – but at the same time, if the Rangers aren’t going to play Salty I would rather see him dealt to an organization that will.
According to ESPN on Monday, nearly eight teams have been looking at Laird and Salty – the Marlins and Reds have reportedly the most aggressive regarding Laird, but so far have not agreed to give up any pitching prospects for him. The Yankees traded for Pudge Rodriguez yesterday, putting them out of the discussion for now, but the Red Sox are currently interested in a catcher of the future, making them a possible destination for Salty.
Of the Rangers other valuable commodities, Hank Blalock is off the table, as he is on the DL again with a shoulder problem – something the Rangers tried to cover up initially, passing it off as a stomach illness on Monday when they thought it would be a one-day thing. But it wasn’t, and Blalock’s latest DL trip is rumored to have killed a deal involving him and the Twins for Boof Bonser. Which is probably good, because Boof Bonser is nothing more than a younger, fatter version of the pitcher Kevin Millwood currently is.
Milton Bradley was also out of the lineup last night with a strained left quad – the same thing that caused him to miss some extended time back in June. He’s hoping to be back in the lineup today, but this latest nick to Bradley’s health may have sapped some of his last-minute value here at the deadline – that is if the Rangers choose to deal him at all, and from the conservative approach Jon Daniels seems to say he wants to take, a deal involving Bradley or Vicente Padilla probably ins’t likely unless the Rangers get an offer they can’t refuse.
Eddie Guardado’s name has also come up in the rumors, including one about a week ago that had him being dealt to St. Lous for a pitcher Jess Todd. The Marlins have also reportedly had some interest, but so far nothing tangibly concrete has actually come up regarding Eddie – which is unfortunate in my opinion, because I don’t see us bringing him back (at age 38) in 2009.
Bottom line: it kind of sounds like Jon Daniels is planning on standing pat unless he finds a deal out there that blows him away. And in my opinion, that might be a mistake – we’ve got several guys having what will likely be career seasons right now, and even if we don’t get the next Mark Teixeira haul in return for one of them, they could still bring back a very solid and valuable bounty. I wish JD would go for broke on the rebuilding like Billy Beane has done in Oakland this year, but I’m preparing for a relatively quiet (and for me, consequently disappointing) deadline.
Tonight, Matt Harrison opposes former Ranger RA Dickey - if you’ll remember, he gave up many a homer in Texas trying to become Tim Wakefield. He appears to have finally figured out how to lob that knuckleball this year however, so this might be quite the experience for some of the Rangers young players (like Chris Davis) who I doubt have ever seen a knuckleballer. Needless to say, I am not looking forward to this game, because as I’ve mentioned before on here, I hate knuckleballers.
Filed under: Ranger Wins | Tags: Hank Blalock, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Max Ramirez, Milton Bradley
After the low-scoring 14-inning affair on Friday, the Rangers sure needed a game like this one. Unlike the way so many games have unfolded recently, Texas got everything they needed for a win, and then some - Kason Gabbard pitched well for the first 5 innings, Frankie Francisco bailed him out of a huge jam when he needed to, and the Ranger offense saw several guys snap some recent hitting slumps as they pummeled the Washington bullpen late for an impressive 13-3 victory.
Things started off on a high note last night, with Ian Kinsler nailing a leadoff homer out to left field on just the second pitcher from Nats rookie starter Garret Mock. Texas added two more in the first inning on a 2-run double by David Murphy, giving Kason Gabbard a nice cushion from the very start.
Gabbard, for his part, turned in his second solid start since being recalled from AAA Oklahoma last weekend, giving up 3 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks in 5.1 innings. The 2 walks where Gabbard’s fewest since May 13th when he only walked one batter in a start against Seattle, and his 5 strikeouts where a season high, as he picked up his second win of the year, and his first since April 4th.
Gabbard cruised through the first 3 innings, until he tweaked his ankle running out a run-scoring double play ball in the top of the fourth. Whether it had anything to do with the ankle or not, Gabbard allowed 2 runs in the bottom of the fourth, and another in the 5thbefore he was pulled with runners on first and second and one out in the 6th. With the Rangers 4-3 lead in jeopardy, Frankie Francisco was brought in to get out of the inning – but the first thing he did was allow a single to Paul LoDuca to load the bases. With the drama climaxing, Frankie induced a pop fly to center from Wily Mo Pena. It wasn’t deep enough for the Nats to score the tying run though, because #1, Dimitri Young was the runner at third base, and #2 Josh Hamilton did a nice job of charging and catching the ball, and throwing a strike to home plate. That turned out to be the pivotal moment in the game, because after a 10-pitch battle with pinch-hitter Corey Casto, Frankie got him to line out to short to end what turned out to be the Nationals last chance at doing any damage, as the Rangers offense was about to blow things open.
With Garrett Mock (who had settled down after his rough first inning to pretty much keep the Rangers in check up till he was pinch hit for) out of the game, the Rangers where able to go to town on the Nats bullpen, as they batted around in the top of the 7th to plate 7 runs. Michael Young, who went 3-6 on the night to break out of his recent 2-38 slump, got it started with a 2-run single, and Josh Hamilton followed with his Major-League leading 75th RBI. David Murphy also rapped a 2-run single that inning, and Ramon Vazquez hammered a 2 run double as the Nats had to use three different pitchers just to get out of the inning.
It was pretty much over after that impressive outburst, as Luis Mendoza (called up just yesterday from AAA when Doug Mathis was placed on the DL) came in and pitched the last three innings to earn his first Major League save. He showed some pretty impressive stuff those last three innings too, flashing an absolutely filthy sinker and touching 95 MPH as he allowed just one hit and struck out 3. If he doesn’t find his way back into the starting rotation this season, I’ve got a feeling that Mendoza just might carve himself a niche in the bullpen if he can come in a mow people down in one turn through the lineup like that.
Most significant though where some of the slumps that got snapped by Rangers hitters last night – the most evident was of course Michael Young’s aforementioned effort, but also snapping a big cold streak was David Murphy, whose 2-5, 3 RBI night snapped a 2-27 stretch. Ramon Vazquez also snapped a slightly smaller 1-13 stretch by going 3-4 with 3 RBI, and even Josh Hamilton re-energized his bat, as he had been 0-for his last 10 with 3 strikeouts when the game started.
The only bad news was Milton Bradley was not in the lineup for the 4th straight game thanks to his strained quad, which is apparently still tender. He did pinch-hit again in the 7th, this time coming away with a base hit - but he was immediately pinch-run for by Chris Shelton, so apparently the leg’s not ready to run the bases yet. According to TR Sullivan’s tidbits, the Rangers still don’t think he’ll go on the DL, but they have now pushed back his return to Tuesday (which should be the same day that Hank Blalock comes off the DL, by the way). Sigh. I guess this is the argument against the idea of signing Milton to a contract extension.
In other important news, Ron Washington has answered the questions as to what the club will do with the catching situation now that Gerald Laird is sidelined – and as expected, Jarrod Saltalamacchia will now be the full-time catcher, while Max Ramirez (who is scheduled to make his Rangers debut today playing first base) will be the backup catcher while also seeing time at first and DH.
“[Salty will] get the bulk of the catching,” Washington said. “This is a great opportunity for him.”
Ron did say he wanted Salty to focus on working with the pitching staff and blocking, and suggested that the Rangers will live with the throwing as it improves. And it’s worth noting that last night, Salty pretty much did exactly that: he seemed to do an excellent job handling Gabbard, Francisco and Mendoza, and made a few pretty good stops on some breaking stuff in the dirt as well – so far so good.
Saltalamacchia meanwhile, has acknowledged the chance that he’s been handed and said he hopes that playing everyday will help him take his game to the next level.
“I hope being in there every single day will help me get in a rhythm and get into a rhythm working with the pitchers,” Saltalamacchia said. “I’ve been working on defense every day whether I play or not: calling pitches, throws to second, blocking balls, getting set, receiving, trying to stay in tune with all that so that I feel like I’m in there every day.
“I’ve got to take this as an opportunity, just like when I first got called up. Anytime you get into a game, you’ve got to seize the opportunity. I just need to play and help my team win.”
“Just because I’m the starter now doesn’t mean I’m going to be starting for the whole season,” Saltalamacchia said. “If I hit 1.000 while Gerald is out, I still think they are going to split our time when he comes back. What I can do right now is show them what I can do every day. I can show them I can be a better me.”
Lets hope he can do just that.
Quick hits: Hank Blalock started his rehab assignment in OKC last night, playing 5 innings at first base, and going 2-3 with 2 singles. Chris Davis also went 3-4 with a triple and an RBI in the game, and Matt Harrison pitched 8 strong innings to secure the win… the Rangers players and their families got to pay a visit to the White House yesterday, and meet with former Rangers owner President Bush.
Series finale in Washington today – Max Ramirez will be making his Major League debut, so that’s something to tune in for. The pitching matchup is Vicente Padilla against Nats lefty John Lannan – lets hope the offense doesn’t backslide against the lefty today. I’d really hate to lose a series to the Washington Nationals.
Filed under: Ranger Losses | Tags: CJ Wilson, Gerald "Superstar" Laird, Hank Blalock, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Max Ramirez, Milton Bradley
It was not a very good homecoming for the Texas Rangers in Washington Friday night. Returning to the spot from which their franchise had morphed 37 years ago, they not only saw their offense shut down and their bullpen futilely spent in the 14-inning 4-3 loss, they lost the veteran half of their catching platoon.
The Rangers pitchers at least did a pretty good job in this one – Kevin Millwood gave the Rangers 8 solid innings, allowing a total 3 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks, striking out 4. Through 7 innings the Rangers lead 3-2, and it seemed Millwood might very well be on his way to a win, and a very important bullpen-saving performance. The only problem was he gave up a solo homer to Elijah Dukes to lead off the top of the 8th inning, which knotted the game at 3 for the next 6 innings.
The Rangers offense, for their part, did practically nothing after Ian Kinsler hit a base-clearing 3 run double in the top of the second. Without Milton Bradley in the lineup for a third consecutive day, they had just two hits and four baserunners from the third inning on, and completely failed to take advantage of a rare solid performance by their bullpen, which matched up with the Washington Nationals’ bullpen until Jamey Wright’s lack of control finally lead to the Rangers succumbing in the bottom of the 14th. After a HBP and 2 walks, Wright struck out 2, and appeared on the verge of getting out of the inning when the red-hot Dukes (who went 5-6 with 2 RBI, stole 2 bases, and fell a triple short of the cycle) grounded the first pitch he saw to the hole and past Michael Young to put a blessed end to one of the most boring and frustrating games the Rangers have had in 2008.
Of course, the real story wasn’t the lack of offense, or losing the game – the real story came in the 4th inning, when Gerald Laird pulled his right hamstring while beating out a bunt single. As he tore down the line, Gerald apparently felt his hamstring tighten just a few steps from the bag, and then give out just as he reached it. He immediately collapsed on the ground in pain, and had to be helped off the field by Milton Bradley and Ron Washington.
“It’s disappointing,” Laird said. “It’s tough to swallow. I want to be out there with my teammates. I felt I had made some adjustments from last year, and I felt I was playing pretty good. Lying on the grass I was saying to myself, ‘This is not happening … this is not happening.’ It’s tough to swallow.”
It is indeed a tough break for Laird who was putting up career-high numbers while platooning with Jarrod Saltalamacchia, hitting .306/.360/.437 in 183 at-bats - 50 points or more higher in all categories than his career line of .257/.308/.387.
Initially it was reported during the game that the strain was “mild” but I think everyone who saw Laird go down at first base had to know that that assessment was extremely optimistic. Later, Ron Washington confirmed that the situation was indeed as serious as it looked, saying
“He pulled it pretty bad. It’s certainly not going to be a day-to-day thing.”
Gerald says he wants to be back by the All-Star break, but the Rangers aren’t going to give a timeline for his return until the MRI results confirm whether or not his hamstring is indeed fully intact (there’s still a worst-case scenario it could be partially torn, like Hank Blalock’s was earlier this year). In any case, him returning by July 14th (the start of the break) seems like an awfully optimistic goal, although it would really be advantageous if he could get back sometime before the trade deadline on July 31st.
In his stead, the Rangers are going to call up Max Ramirez (who was acquired from Cleveland last year in the Kenny Lofton trade) from AA Frisco to serve as the backup catcher, while Jarrod Saltalamacchia should get his shot in the full-time role. Going into yesterday, Max’s line in Frisco was an otherworldly .362/.457/.651 in 235 AB’s with 16 home runs – 17 once you count the one he bashed in the first inning of yesterdays game (of which he was removed once the news of the callup came).
In promoting Ramirez, the Rangers did pass up their other top catching prospect Taylor Teagarden who many initially expected would get the promotion because of his superior defensive ability. But Teagarden has been dealing with a sore shoulder, is not yet on the 40 man roster, and is only currently hitting .246/.372/.447 in AAA Oklahoma. Also, unlike Max Ramirez (who can also play first base), Teagarden is strictly a catcher, meaning it would have been impossible to get him any kind of consistent at-bats, even if he was platooned with Saltalamacchia. And with the way Teagarden has struggled offensively this year, it’s probably pretty important that he continue to get consistent AB’s – so perhaps passing over him for now was the best call.
One thing to keep in mid about this callup though is his defense is even less impressive than Salty’s has been this year - he’s only thrown out 16 of 66 baserunners in AA, and Frisco manager Scott Little said awhile back that Max still needs to improve in ”receiving, throwing, blocking and game-calling” – basically everything. So if anyone out there is expecting Max to come up and somehow knock Salty out of the catchers role, don’t. Max will get his AB’s, make no mistake about it – as Ron Washington said:
”Ramirez is going to play. We’ll just wait and see when he gets here how much he’s going to play.”
But I’m willing to bet the vast majority of those at-bats will come at first base and DH – they should at least, because considering his defensive defences, it really doesn’t make any sense to play Max at catcher when you’ve got a golden chance to give Saltalamacchia the opportunity to snap out of his funk with some everyday playing time.
Of course, Salty’s gonna have some serious work to do – offensively he’s in the midst of 2-for-30 slump that has plummeted his numbers from a season-high .279/.417/.471 back on June 3rd down to an ugly .219/.342/.354 again. He did finally snap his streak of allowing 23 consecutive stolen bases last night after he replaced Laird however - and while he only threw out Nats catcher Jesus Flores on a botched hit-and-run, the throw he made was about as strong and on target as you can get, reinforcing the assessment that there is ability there which consistent playing time should help bring out.
This is it, folks – this wasn’t the way I wanted to see Salty get his shot at every day playing time, but it’s here, and the Rangers better let him try and make the most of it. If for some reason however, all they do is start another platoon with two below-average defensive catchers, it’s going to be beyond stupid and moronic - it’s going to be a travesty.
Anyway, moving on to some other stuff, TR Sullivan has a piece up on the struggles of the Rangers bullpen as a whole, noting that Doug Mathis was put on the DL yesterday, and Luis Mendoza was called up from AAA to take his place in the bullpen. Apparently, Mathis felt some stiffness in his shoulder during two bullpen sessions Thursday and Friday, prompting the Rangers to make the move. Also noted is that Ron Washington reaffirms that CJ Wilson is his closer for now, and the Rangers plan to try and ride this rough patch out:
“Right now, C.J. is still the closer,” Washington said. “If there needs to be a change, there will be some conversations first, but there hasn’t been any yet. He came into the season as our closer and we’re going to give him the opportunity to work through these rough times.”
Speaking of the closing situation, Evan Grant also gave us his take on the subject, basically saying that what the Rangers do with CJ Wilson should depend upon what direction they want to take the team, which is pretty much true.
Milton Bradley was held out from the lineup last night for the third game in a row - he did pinch-hit for the pitcher’s spot in the 10th inning (grounding out on one pitch), so apparently he can swing the bat, he just wasn’t ready to play right field yet. It was reported that Ron Washington expects him to play by the end of this series with the Nats, so we’ll just have to wait and see whether its today or tomorrow.
One thing’s for certain, the Rangers are sure missing his bat in the lineup – without him they’ve scored only 12 runs in the 39 innings since he was removed from the game on Tuesday. Furthermore, a couple key guys in the middle of the order are mired in slumps right now – after going 0-6 Friday, Michael Young is 2 for his last 38, and David Murphy is just 7 for his last 45. If the Rangers complete inability to score last night after the second inning was any evidence, Milton needs to come back soon.
Another missing bat, Hank Blalock starts his rehab assignment in AAA today, and will play three games with the Redhawks at first base before being reevaluated. As a result, everybody’s favorite beasticon Chris Davis (who just went 2-3 with another home run last night) will have to move to DH for 3 games. Now, that’s something that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me – why send Blalock to Oklahoma and displace Davis, who is tearing PCL pitchers a new ass right now and playing a great first base (from what I understand anyway), when you could have sent him to AA Frisco where they don’t have one of our “prospects” playing first base? Not that it probably matters much of course, Davis still gets to hit, but that’s just something that bugs me a little for some reason.
Quick hits time: several Rangers players including CJ Wilson visited the Walter Reed hospital Friday morning, and apparently it helped bring things into perspective for CJ, who said ”I blew a save, they were wounded in battle. Blowing one save is not as catastrophic. … I hate to break it to Rangers fans, but that’s the way it is.”… Kevin Sherrington has a feel-good, Jim Morris kind of collumn up on Oklahoma reliever Brian Gordon, who apparently has gotten some help from Nolan Ryan in his late-career conversion from outfielder pitcher.
Kason Gabbard goes for the Rangers today against Nats rookie RHP Garrett Mock, who will be making just his second career start. Gabbard is coming off a solid (but not spectacular) start against the Mets last time out. The Rangers could really use some innings from Gabbard today, because after the dragout last night, the only pitchers that are fresh in the bullpen are Luis Mendoza, CJ Wilson and Eddie Guardado – and both Wilson and Guardado could probably stand to go another day without pitching, too.
Filed under: Ranger Wins | Tags: all-star voting, Hank Blalock, Vicente Padilla
Was there something different about last nights game at the Ballpark in Arlington? If there was, the Rangers sure didn’t seem to notice - either that or if they did, it sure wasn’t something negative. The sometimes maddeningly inconsistent Vicente Padilla was at the top of his game, and so was the Rangers offense, as they beat up Tim Hudson and any thoughts Mark Teixeira may have had of a grandiose return to the RBiA by the score of 7-5.
Yeah, that was the headline for last nights game, Tex’s first return to Texas since being traded last July to the Braves – but it sure as heck didn’t turn out to factor much into the actual story. As expected, he mostly got booed, and Vicente Padilla’s welcome present of a fastball up and in to start Tex’s first at bat really couldn’t be called a surprise, either – aside from a bases-loaded at bat where all he could produce was weak sac fly, Teixeira’s return was the very definition of anticlimactic.
Which is why I found it kind of fitting that the Rangers offense stole the show against Hudson early, with Josh Hamilton jacking a monstrous 450-some foot solo homer into the RF upper deck in the bottom of the first inning to put the Rangers up 1-0 early.
The third inning was when the Rangers really got to Hudson though, as Gerald Laird and Ramon Vazquez (whose sudden offensive turnarounds from their career means have been two of the nicest surprises for the Rangers this year) got things going with back-to-back singles to start the inning. Ian Kinsler drew a walk to load the bases for Michael Young who almost rolled into an inning-killing double play – but Kinsler broke it up withacontroversial slide at second, making it an RBI fielders choice instead. Withone out and runners on the corners, Hudson all but intentionally walked Josh Hamilton, choosing to go after Milton Bradley with the bases loaded instead – and while he wound up paying for it, the Rangers almost did too.
Bradley whacked a 3-2 pitch 2 into center field to plate two runs, making it 4-0, but he came up with a mild quad strain as he ran down the first base line. Supposedly the injury is not serious, and Milton might even be able to DH today, but the Rangers aren’t making any determinations until he’s reevaluated before tonight’s game.Myself, I’d bet that he gets a day off tonight, seeing as how our next two series are going to be be in NL parks, and Thursday’s contest is a day game.
Getting back to the game, David Murphy tacked on another run with a sac fly that inning to make it 5-0 Texas, and Vicente Padilla took a perfect game all the way into the 5th inning before Brian McCann doubled to break it up. He did run into some trouble in the 6th, when Omar Infante hit a leadoff home run that nearly sparked a Braves rally. After the homer, Padilla walked the #9 hitter Gregor Blanco and Josh Hamilton dropped a fly ball in RF to put 2 on and nobody out. Padilla then got Kelly Johnson to pop up but he walked Chipper Jones, forcing him to face Mark Teixeira with the bases loaded and one out.
But all Teixeira did was hit a sac fly to score one run, and Padilla would make it out of the inning leading 6-2. That turned out to be his final frame, as he was pulled after 91 pitches – so although he probably could have gone another inning, he wound up with a line of 6 innings and 2 runs (1 earned) allowed on 2 hits and 2 walks, striking out 4 – a very good outing by any standard.
As usual, the bullpen had to put a dramatic stamp on this one - Jamey Wright pitched a scoreless 7th, but Eddie Guardado allowed a 3-run home run to McCann in the 8th to pull the Braves within 2, making it a save situation for CJ Wilson, who had an extremely shaky outing just this Sunday in New York. True to his dramatic form, CJ allowed a leadoff double, but then got two comebackers to the mound, the second of which he had to leap straight up and make a spearing grab of to turn into an out. With 2 down, Yunel Escobar flew out to center to end it and the Rangers pulled even at .500 yet again, Vicente Padilla picking up his club-leading 9th win of the season.
In other news, Hank Blalock is getting close to returning from the DL, but he had another small setback - after taking BP at the Ballpark in Arlington for two days, his right wrist is feeling a little sore, and he has pushed back the date he’ll report to AAA Oklahoma for a rehab stint from Tuesday to Saturday. Blalock has now been on the DL since April 29th, when he originally went down with a torn hamstring, and carpal tunnel syndrome has been what’s kept him out.
Once he does finally come off the DL, Hank is going to be stepping into an all-of-a-sudden crowded first base position – not only will one of Frank Catalanotto or Chris Shelton have to be dropped and/or have their playing time reduced, but the guy who projects to be the Rangers opening day first baseman in 2009, Chris Davis, seems literally just about ready for his Major League debut. In 24 games since being promoted from AA Frisco, Davis has hit an insane .352/.411/.682 for OKC, and up till last night (when he went 2-5 with a double and 2 RBI) had homered in three straight games. He’s not just knocking on the door, he’s beginning to batter on it – meaning that unless Milton Bradley can start playing RF every day, the 1B/DH situation could get pretty complicated. Let’s hope Hank builds his trade value back up ASAP.
The latest all-star voting update is in, and the Rangers are still making substantial gains – Josh Hamilton, Ian Kinsler and Michael Young all sit second in their respective categories, and in the biggest gain, Milton Bradley has shot all the way to eighth in the OF voting. In a couple menial gains, Hank Blalock is all of a sudden 5th at third base, and Frank Catalanotto is up to 4th in DH votes – Ranger fans are doing an impressive job this year. Speaking of which, one of the posters over at Lone Star Ball has an intriguing idea for a “Great Big Rangers Vote” which you might check out – we’ve gotta get Bradley in this thing, folks!
I’m afraid I’m running low on time here again - and you know what that means, time for some quick hits: Joquin Benoint threw a bullpen session yesterday, which apparently was his first time on the mound in a week – so much for him being ready to pitch yesterday… Evan Grant’s latest newsletter focuses on Milton Bradley, and the argument of whether we should trade or keep him… Kevin Sherrington has a piece up discussing Mark Teixeira, and what the Ranger should try to do at the deadline this year… Tom Grieve dropped by the RBiA yesterday for a visit, and is recovering nicely from his surgery for prostate cancer.
Eric Hurley takes the mound tonight for the first time in the Ballpark in Arlington – the challenge is about to get turned up a notch for Hurley, as he’ll have to see if he can keep it in the yard here in a smaller park against a better offense. Young left-hander Jo-jo Reyes will oppose for the Braves. All I have to say about that is David Murphy better not be in the lineup - or at the very least, he better not be batting 5th against a lefty again.
Filed under: Ranger Losses | Tags: Bad Managing, Chris Davis, Hank Blalock, Joaquin Benoit, Milton Bradley, Ron Washington
Every once in awhile, you just have a game where you really get your ass kicked. This isn’t the first time it has happened to the Rangers this year (far from it) but there really isn’t much more to say about Friday night’s 7-1 loss to the Mets.
Scott Feldman got lit up for the first time this season, allowing 7 runs over 5+ innings of work, and the Ranger offense just could not solve Oliver Perez, who held them to just 3 hits in 7 innings and striking out 8. Two of those hits where by Josh Hamilton, who went 2-3 with a home run in the first, and the other was by Feldman himself – the rest off the offense though, got utterly owned.
Despite this, the Rangers did manage to bunch together a couple hits and a walk in the 6th to give them a shot at turning the game in their favor, but they failed to get the job done. Feldmanlead the inning off with his first career hit, after which Ian Kinslerand Michael Young each flew out. But Josh Hamilton kept the inning alive with a single, and Milton Bradley drew a walk to load the bases. That brought up #5 hitter David Murphy, who struck out on 3 pitches to end the inning.
After the game, Lone Star Ball’s Adam J. Morris pointed out the folly of Murphy even being in that situation. Murphy has scuffled badly against left-handers this year, and is now hitting .233/.255/.344 after going 0-3 with 2 K’s last night before he was removed in a double switch in the 6th. Despite those numbers though, Ron Washington keeps running him out there against left-handed pitching – and batting him 5th, no less.
It made no sense last night with Oliver Perez, a lefty who had allowed just 8 hits all year against lefties coming into the game (a line of .123/.284/.231) on the mound, and it has not really made any sense at any point this year when you’ve got Brandon Boggs, a switch hitter who has put up a .995 OPS against left-handers this year (and has killed lefties in the minors), and Marlon Byrd who has a .282 career average against lefties on the bench. When you look at this situation, and when you remember how Ron Washington threw Ben Broussard, a career platoon player with a .225 career average against LHP’sout there against both lefties and righties earlier this season, it really makes you wonder: does Ron not know what split stats mean? Or does he just not care? Either way, the man seems quite ignorant when it comes how he utilizes the players his roster, and this is another fine example of it.
But enough about that crappy game, we’ve got better things to discuss.
Something I mentioned in my last entry, but didn’t get the chance to revisit yesterday was the Milton Bradley/Royals announcer story. Since the story first broke, Bradley has come out with his side of things, and video has surfaced with what the KC announcers really said.
Despite what was claimed initially, Ryan Lefebvre and his partner Frank White did indeed have themselves a Milton Bradley “rip session” – starting when White questioned if ”with all the things [Josh Hamilton] does right, does he balance the scale with Milton Bradley on the ballclub”. Lefebvre agreed, and went on to say Hamilton would make a good role model for Bradley “who clearly has no control over himself”. Lefebvre also said that Bradley had refused to allow himself to be liked by fans or rooted for by fans, and White piled on by calling Bradley an “unpredictable teammate” and suggesting he makes it hard for players and coaches to work with him. There probably would have been more, too, had a base hit up the middle not halted their joint rant.
Bradley, for his part, caught the comments while he was in the clubhouse going over video of an AB. He said he became concerned because he new his mother was watching the game, and he felt he had to set the record straight. So after the game, he headed up to the KC broadcasters booth, but it wasn’t to cause a problem.
“He never met me, so, when the game was over, I wanted to introduce myself to him,” Bradley said. “Because it’s amazing when you actually meet somebody how different they become.”
I have to admit, at first I myself doubted Milton’s intentions due to his reputation. But after actually seeing the comments the KC announcers made, I’d say Bradley was 100% justified in what he did - and that the KC announcers seriously need to learn to keep themselves in check when it comes to personally degrading players. They should know better than that, if not only for the sake of common sense, but because they’re the ones with they Jose Guillen, and his reputation for HGH use and ego problems on their team.
In other news, Hank Blalock now has a timetable for his return – he expects to be back in action by next Friday against the Nationals. The incision on his hand from his Carpal Tunnel syndrome surgery has healed and he is now taking batting practice again – once he gets back, Ron Washington has said he’ll slide him right back into the #5 hole in the lineup. Which, should he hit David Murphy 6th, won’t be the most ideal lineup – that’ll give the Rangers 3 left-handed batters in their 3-4-5-6 combo, meaning opposing teams with a left-hander in their bullpen would have the perfect spot to use their LOOGY’s in. So hopefully, Ron will grow a brain and bat Murphy 7th instead when Hank gets back… but I wouldn’t count on it.
Now if you want a reminder as to why it was stupid to move Blalock to first base, here you go: Chris Davis is tearing AAA apart, and at the rate he’s going should be ready for a callup long before September. In fact, MLB.com’s Shawn Shroyer even suggests in that peice that Davis’ play of late might have the Rangers “rethinking” the move of Blalock to first. Interesting.
With Kason Gabbard due to be activated for tonight’s start, the Rangers are going to have to make a roster move today – the two obvious options are to send down Josh Rupe or drop Robinson Tejeda. Both pitched last night, Rupe going an inning and Tejeda going two – Rupe allowed 2 inherited runners to score, while Tejeda didn’t give up a hit and struck out 2.
There could be another option for getting Gabbard on the roster though: putting Joaquin Benoit on the DL. Apparently Benoit has complained of shoulder pain of late, and said he was “not ready to pitch in a Major League game” before yesterday. Obviously, this would explain his recent ineffectiveness, but apparently this is also the same shoulder soreness that has plagued him since he came to spring training not having thrown in three months this year. Which is kinda concerning to me, at least – I mean this is June, I’d think his arm should be back in shape by now - hopefully we won’t be finding out there’s a deeper problem there anytime soon. Whether he goes on the DL or not, it’s been quite a fall from glory this year for the Rangers 2007 pitcher of the year – I guess he’s paying the price for not taking care of his arm this winter.
Kason Gabbard vs. Pedro Martinez tonight. Pedro’s coming off the DL (where he has spent most of his time since the Mets signed him) and Gabbard’s coming back up from AAA, so this game will likely either be very well pitched, or be a slugfest. According to Mark Connor, Gabbard was able to regain his fastball command in Oklahoma – I sure hope that’s true as he’s gonna need it tonight.
Filed under: Ranger Losses | Tags: Chris Davis, Hank Blalock, Josh Hamilton, Scott Kazmir
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.
Filed under: Ranger Wins | Tags: Bad Umpires, CJ Wilson, Doug Mathis, Hank Blalock, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Josh Hamilton, Ron Washington
“Doug Mathis goes today against CC Sabathia – I hate to be negative, but all I really have to say is, it will be a small miracle if we win this game.”
As you may recall, that was my prediction regarding yesterday’s pitching matchup of the rookie Doug Mathis (who gave up 9 runs in his first major league start just last Tuesday) against the 2007 Cy Young award winner CC Sabathia. I don’t know that I’ve been this happy to be wrong in awhile.
In a way, I guess you could say winning this game was a small miracle for the Rangers, as they took an advantage of a Ben Francisco error in the 10th inning to scratch out a 2-1 win. But what wasn’t a miracle was the pitching of Doug Mathis – his 6-inning line of 1 run allowed on 108 pitches, 7 hits and 3 walks was just a combination of gutsy perseverance and ground balls.
Of course, the timely ground balls (of which Mathis induced 11) and 3 double plays turned by the Ranger defense where what really saved Doug, who only struck out one batter. But on a certain level, you’ve also got to give it up for how the 24-year old Mathis conducted himself on the mound, keeping his cool, and making his pitches – a stark contrast to the horrible command that beleaguered him in his first start. As Mathis himself put it:
“I was a lot more under control today,” Mathis said. “Even early in those jams, I had an idea of what I wanted to do. I slowed myself down and made quality pitches rather than being too anxious and rushing the ball.”
Granted, the early innings where far from a cakewalk for Mathis, as the Indians scored a run in the first on a Victor Martinez RBI single to put themselves up 1-0. They then loaded the bases with one out in the second after a leadoff walk, a single, a sacrifice and an intentional walk to Grady Sizemore. That brought Ben Francisco (who had 5 RBI and 6 runs scored in the series), but Mathis got him to hit a nubber back toward the mound that he barehanded and tossed home for the force out – after which he got Travis Hafner to fly out and end the frame.
After that, Mathis settled down, allowing just 3 hits and one walk the rest of the way, with the three aforementioned double play balls he induced squelching any possible Indian rallys. That proved to be enough to match up with CC Sabathia, who held Texas scoreless on just four hits throughout the first 5 innings. But in the 6th, Ian Kinsler teed off on a 1-0 fastball for a leadoff home run to tie the game at 1 apeice.
Coincidentally, that would be the last hit Sabathia would surrender, and the Rangers would not have another till the 9th inning. But thanks to some effective bullpen work by Frank Francisco and Jamey Wright, the Indians where held in check over the 7th, 8th and 9th innings as well, and the game went into extras still tied at one.
Masa Kobayashi, who had pitched a scoreless 9th for Cleveland, went back out for the 10th inning, and he quickly struck out Chris Shelton and got Marlon Byrd to ground out to start the frame. That brought up Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who was 0-3 on the day. Salty, who crushed his first career grand slam on Friday, has only been hitting .216 since being called up and platooning with Gerald Laird, but he has shown tremendous patience at the plate despite his low average. His 14 walks in just 65 PA’s ties him for 9th among all major league catchers in that category, and have helped him maintain a healthy .385 OBP.
That patience and batting eye was about to come into play again, as Salty battled back from an 0-2 count to work a 10-pitch, 2-out walk from Kobayashi. After the game, Salty said he was trying to find a pitch to drive, and did not intend to get cheated up there:
“I was looking for a sinker that was up to drive because we needed somebody in scoring position,” Saltalamacchia said. “I fouled one off early, and then he kept going to sliders. I wasn’t going to strike out looking in that at-bat. If I was going to go down, it was going to be swinging. He either threw sliders that I fouled off or stuff that was out of the zone.”
With Saltalamacchia aboard, Ramon Vazquez, who had struck out as a pinch hitter in the 8th, came to the plate. Kobayashi fell behind in the count at 2-0, and then delivered a fastball which Ramon lined into RF. And then that happened. Indian’s RF Ben Francisco tried to go down on one knee as he played the ball on a hop, and it squirted between his legs and too the wall. Salty motored all the way home from first, giving the Rangers a 2-1 lead, and Vazquez wound up at third on the error.
Ian Kinsler grounded out to end the inning, but the damage was done for Cleveland. CJ Wilson came out of the bullpen, and executed a shutdown inning, working around a 2 out walk of pinch hitter Ryan Garko to record his 10th save of the season. CJ even struck out 2 batters, Travis Hafner and Jhonny Peralata, which is extremely good to see for a guy who hasn’t missed many bats so far this season. He seems to have greatly improved in his last two outings, which is apparently due to spending some time with Mark Connor and Dom Chiti:
“I did have to make a mechanical adjustment,” Wilson said. “Like I was saying a couple of weeks ago, there was a solution and I was looking for it. The coaches helped me out, and it has worked out.”
There’s some good news if I’ve ever heard it – although I’m still not sure he’s going to be our long-term closer.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing in Cleveland yesterday though, at least not for Josh Hamilton, who got ejected from the game by an outright overreaction by home plate umpire Bill Hohn, who Joey Matschulat has some scathing words for over at Baseball Time in Arlington. Hohm tossed Hamilton when he made a slight wave of his hand toward the third base umpire Dale Scott after he was rung up on a check swing (which turned out to be bogus anyway, according to TV replays). Having the third base umpire ring you up on a bad call is bad enough, but getting tossed for waiving your hand in disgust is another matter entirely. After the extreme hometown bias Ranger pitcher had to deal with up in Minnesota this past week, I’m starting to wonder if perhaps there is an ongoing conspiracy among Major League umps to consistently put the screws to the Texas Rangers.
Of course, there’s a chance that could be taken care of if Ron Washington would be a little more vocal in his complaints, instead of rolling over like a pansy (which he did once again after Hamilton’s ejection, by the way). Like the old saying goes: the squeaky wheel gets the grease… I know I probably sound like a broken record when I say this, but perhaps Ron needs to squeak a little more.
From the “injury setbacks” files: Hank Blaock’s carpal tunnel syndrome is not getting any better. Apparently, the medication they’ve given him is not relieving the pain, and it has ruled out his activation during the Tampa Bay series:
“He’s still not any better,” manager Ron Washington said. “I don’t anticipate him being activated [against] Tampa Bay. He came in today, and there was not a whole lot of change. The medicine isn’t working as quickly as we expected.”
Sigh. I’m starting to wonder who will play more innings for the Rangers this year: Hank or Brandon McCarthy?
The Rangers now head for the most craptastic stadium in the Major Leagues (in my opinion, anyway), The Trop in St. Petersburgh, FLA, to take on the Rays. As a result, TR Sullivan has a nice piece out on Josh Hamilton’s first return to the place where it all started (it was Tampa Bay that origionally drafted him #1 overall back in 1999).
“I’ll get to see a lot of people who were instrumental in getting me back into the game, and I’m grateful to them,” Hamilton said Sunday before the Rangers’ game with the Indians. “I’ll see a lot of players who I played with in the Minor Leagues. It will be good to see them, too. I’m glad I played with them. But now I play for a different team and we’re going in there with the attitude that we need to win.”
Today, it’s Sidney Ponson vs. Scott Kazmir – this will be the third left-handed starter in a row the Rangers face, and the second lefty in three days who sports a sub-2.00 ERA coming into the game. In all likelihood, it’ll be yet another battle for the Ranger offense which has scored just three total runs off Cliff Lee and Sabathia the last two days.
One last item, sort of Ranger related: former Ranger Adrian Gonzalez of the Padres blasted a walkoff homer off former Ranger Edinson Volquez (of the Reds, of course) in the bottom of the 18th inning last night in PETCO park. Volquez, who had just started on Friday, had been brought into the game as the Reds had where running out of pitchers. Insanity.
Filed under: Ranger Wins | Tags: Hank Blalock, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Kevin Millwood, Tom Grieve
Welp, it wasn’t pretty. In fact, it was long, drawn out, and ugly. But at the end of the night, the Rangers where able to call this one a win, as they knocked off the first of the Indians “big three” pitchers, Fausto Carmona, and drew even at .500 again with a 13-9 victory.
Neither starter seemed to want the win in this one - Carmona, who came into the game with an ERA of 2.25, got lit up in the first inning for 4 runs, which came on a 3 run double by David Murphy and an RBI single by Chris Shelton. But Kason Gabbard didn’t seem to have much going for him last night either, as his lack of control nearly lost the Rangers that entire 4 run advantage.
Gabbard, who would surrender a horrifying 6 walks in just 2.2 innings pitched, gave up 2 runs in the bottom of the first on a double and a wild pitch. He then committed a gaffe on a fielders choice in the second, and gave up another run on a sac fly. By this time, the Ranger lead was down to a scant one run, but that was all about to change in a flash.
After pitching a scoreless second, Fausto Carmona was greeted by a Milton Bradley double to start the third, and then apparently strained himself covering first on a David Murphy infield single. After a prolonged injury delay on the mound, Carmona was removed from the game, and veteran reliever Jorge Julio was brought in to take over. That was when the wheels fell off for Cleveland.
Julio immediately walked Brandon Boggs to load the bases, and then walked Chris Shelton to force in a run. That brought up Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who came into the game 3-4 with 5 RBI in bases-loaded situations already this year. 2 pitches later, BOOM. First career grand slam for Saltalamacchia.
Ramon Vazquez (who had 3 doubles on the night) and Ian Kinslerfollowed up with back to back doubles, and Milton Bradley capped off the 7 run explosion with a sac fly. From there on out, it was just a matter of hanging on for the Rangers, but that wasn’t as easy as you’d have thought.
The struggling Gabbard, who was awarded new life thanks to his teammates 7 run outburst, promptly gave up a three-run homer to Grady Sizemore the next half inning to close the gap to 11-6. That brought about Gabbard’s immediate exit, and Kameron Loe took over to try and stop the bleeding. Which he did for awhile, pitching 2.1 scoreless innings before running into trouble in the 6th, when he gave up an RBI double to Ben Francisco, that probably should have been a 3-run homer.
Francisco appeared to hit the ball off the railing just above the high wall in LF. But the umpires blew the call and it went as a one run double, despite the best efforts of Indians manager Eric Wedge (who rightfully got ejected over it). That may have made a huge difference in the game, because Frank Francisco came in and bailed Loe out of the inning, and while the Indians would score two more in the 7th on a 2-run double by Jamey Carroll, it was only 12-9 instead of the 12-11 it could possibly have been.
We’ll never know for sure exactly what might have transpired had the Indians gotten those two runs, but as much bad luck as the Rangers have endured themselves this season, and with the way the umpires just treated us in Minnesota, I don’t really feel all that bad about Texas getting that call - even though it didn’t look like it was the correct one.
In any case, the Rangers tacked on another insurance run courtesy a Ramon Vazquez double in the top of the 8th (they’d previously gotten one in the 6th on a Vazquez sack fly), and Jamey Wright came in and retired all 6 batters he faced in the 8th and 9th innings to finally secure the victory – 4 hours and 9 minutes after the start of the game. Between all the scoring (which wasn’t so bad, really, it’s just the stuff that interspersed it), the 16 total walks that permeated the game, an umpire huddle, two ejections (Milton Bradley got ejected in the 9th for arguing balls and strikes) and a couple injury delays, and the fact that Rafael Betancourt (the slowest relief pitcher in the universe) pitched in this game, it was one of the most painfully drawn out Ranger wins I can recall – but I’m more than happy to take it.
In other news, Hank Blalock did not rejoin the team today, as you might have already guessed – apparently, Hank has now developed Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. As as dissapointed Hank would put it: “I feel like I lead the league in syndromes.”
On an even more somber note, Rangers broadcaster Tom Grieve has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, and will undergo surgery June 9th. Fortunately, it appears they caught it in time, and he will only be missing 2-3 weeks up in the booth – my thoughts and prayers go out to TAG, and I really hope he makes a full, speedy recovery.
Random stuff: Kevin Millwood will throw in a simulated game today, so the Rangers can determine if he needs to go on a rehab assignment, or if he can be activated Friday against the A’s… The Rangers have released John Patterson, since he will not be able to pitch at all this year… the DMN’s Kevin Sherrington has a piece up comparing Josh Hamilton and Edinson Volquez so far this year, and says the Rangers made the right choice in making that trade… duh… and finally, if you want a good laugh, check out this recent interview yahoo sports did with current Twins broadcaster (and one-time Ranger pitcher) Bert Blyleven. Hilarious stuff. My dad actually pitched on the same team as Bert in high school back in the 1960’s… but that’s another story.
Today, it’s Scott Feldman vs. the Red-hot Cliff Lee. To tell you how good he’s been, Lee leads the AL in ERA at 1.37, has a .202 opp average, and 46 K’s to 5 BB’s this year. He’s also left-handed, and the Rangers have struggled against left-handed starters so far this year – but his 6.52 career ERA against the Rangers is his second highest against all AL teams. Whatever happens, the Rangers could use a solid start from Feldman after having to burn through the bullpen last night – with Doug Mathis starting on Sunday, the Rangers are going to want to conserve their bullpen if at all possible.
