Texas Rangers' Week Seven Review: Sweeps Week

After week six of the season, the Texas Rangers were finally getting some respect and finally getting national media attention, as the team was sitting in first place in the AL West.

The Rangers won seven straight games and 11 of 13 games, but then came Comerica.

The Rangers entered the series with the Detroit Tigers with an eight-game losing streak at Comerica Park, and things wouldn't get any better.

Monday: OFF

Tuesday: L, 0-4 (23-15)

Coming off the three-game sweep of the Angels, the Rangers then flew to Detroit for a three-game series with the AL Central-leading Tigers. Unfortunately, the Rangers forgot to pack their offense, as the team scored only six runs in 27 innings.

Dontrelle Willis and four relief pitchers combined to one-hit the Rangers, allowing only a Michael Young double in the first inning.

Brandon McCarthy had another quality start, going seven innings and allowing only four runs (three earned) on nine hits, and took the tough-luck loss.

Wednesday: L, 3-5 (23-16)

Matt Harrison and Justin Verlander each allowed only one run through five innings. However, for Harrison, things got ugly in the sixth, when the Tigers got to Matt for four runs off two home runs before Texas could record an out.

Again the Ranger bats were silenced by Tiger pitching, getting only three runs, striking out 12 times, and hitting 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

Thursday: L, 3-4 (23-17)

The Rangers and Tigers scored their runs early off of home runs by David Murphy (solo, first inning), Clete Thomas (solo, first), and Curtis Granderson (two-run, third).

Starting pitchers Kevin Millwood and Edwin Jackson closed the door on the runs until the eighth inning. In the eighth, with the Rangers down two runs, Nelson Cruz doubled in Murphy and Hank Blalock to tie the game.

Millwood went back out for the bottom of the inning but couldn't get the third out before allowing Placido Polanco to score on a single by Miguel Cabrera.

Friday: W, 6-5 (24-17)

Derek Holland, the 22-year-old phenom, got his first career Major League start in Houston, and the Rangers were looking for the kid to put a halt to the three-game losing streak.

For five innings Holland did exactly that; he was dominant, he got outs, and he did so with a minimum number of pitches. That was until the sixth inning, when Holland made his first mistake—unfortunately for him, it was to Lance Berkman and with two runners on.

The Rangers got their bats back into order after the difficult series sweep at the hands of the Tigers with home runs in the fourth and sixth from Elvis Andrus and Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

The two teams couldn't decide this game in nine innings and went into extras, where Nelson Cruz took care of business in the 10th. Cruz blasted an opposite-field home run, his ninth of the season, and Frank Francisco came in for the bottom of the inning to close out the game.

Saturday: W, 6-3 (25-17)

The Rangers and Astros slugged out this game with eight of the nine runs being plated from home runs. Miguel Tejada took the first shot with a solo shot in the first inning.

The Rangers then took the next three shots, a Cruz three-run bomb in the fourth to give Texas the lead. In the sixth inning Cruz would launch another home run, and then Blalock followed with his 11th home run of the season.

Cruz came into the series struggling with his hitting, not only with contact but power as well, but after the sixth inning home run he had three in four at-bats in Houston.

Geoff Blum added a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh, bringing the Astros to within three at 6-3. However, the Ranger bullpen closed down the rest of the game to improve Scott Feldman's record to 3-0 on the season.

Sunday: W, 5-0 (26-17)

Brandon McCarthy took the mound as the Rangers were looking for their first sweep in Houston in franchise history. Not only would they accomplish that, but McCarthy would also get his first career complete game and first career shutout.

The Ranger bats got B-Mac the run support he needed before he even took the mound. Josh Hamilton hit his sixth home run of the season with a first inning, opposite field, solo shot. 

The Rangers add three more runs in the third, highlighted by Ian Kinsler's 12th home run of the season. Texas added their fifth and final run of the game in the fourth behind Salty's fifth long ball of the season.

The Rangers had a week full of sweeps, losing all three in Detroit but then winning all three in Houston. The 3-3 week kept Texas in first in the AL West, still holding a three-game lead on the Angels (23-20), six-game lead on the Mariners (21-24), and nine games on the A's (16-25).

The Rangers this week start off Monday with a series that has most of the baseball community buzzing. Texas will host the Yankees for a three-game series. The stadium is likely to be packed all series long, as this is the only time this season that the pinstripes will be in Arlington.

After that series, the Rangers then host Oakland for four games in three days, as the two will compete in a doubleheader on Friday.

If the Rangers can win this series against the Yankees or even sweep them, it will go a long way to proving to the entire baseball community that this Texas Rangers team is for real and here to stay.