Bleacher Report - Articles by Matthew Irby

Michael Young, AL Player Of The Week

Matthew Irby — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 10:01:37 -0400

Even though it was not a successful week for the Texas Rangers, who went 3-4 on the week, it was a career week for third baseman Michael Young.

For the second time in his career Young won the AL Player of the Week award.

In the seven games this week Young batted .500 (15-for-30) and had a .733 slugging percentage. He had two doubles, one triple, one home run, and one stolen base.

Young scored seven times and drove in eight runs, including two with two outs.

Others considered for Player of the Week were Jack Cust (Oakland), David Ortiz (Boston), C.C. Sabathia (New York), and Brian Roberts (Baltimore).

Young won this award the first time almost exactly three years ago this week, August 16, 2006.

Young’s biggest day was Saturday in the Rangers 5-4 loss in Tampa Bay. At the plate Young went 3-for-4 with a home run, triple, run scored, and two RBI.

His first hit, a single in the first inning, extended his hitting streak to 10 games. It was the 19th time he has had a hitting streak of 10 or more games in his career, and that ties him for the Texas Rangers all-time record with the new teammate Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez.

Young's hitting streak has now reached 11 games.

Later in the game Young tripled. It was his 43rd career triple, which puts him now only one behind the Rangers all-time record currently held by one of the latest Rangers Hall of Fame inductees Ruben Sierra.

The final accomplishment that Young achieved was with his third hit of the game.

It was the third straight game in which he had recorded at least three hits in a game, and the second time he had three straight games of at least three hits this season.

The last time this happened in the American League was by Johnny Damon in 2000.

During that three-game stretch Young batted .692 (9-for-13) with a home run, triple, two doubles, a stolen base, four runs, and four RBI.

Young has not only been one of the most consistent hitters for the Rangers in the past eight seasons but has also been a catalyst for a Rangers offense that has struggled this season.

Hopefully this current hitting streak and Player of the Week award will not only increase the publicity of his MVP candidacy but also spark a Rangers offense that needs to get going for the team to make a push for the postseason.

On the year Young is hitting .329 (sixth in AL, eighth in ML) with 160 hits (third in AL and fourth in ML). He is on pace right now to surpass 200-plus hits for the sixth time in seven years.

Texas Rangers to Promote Chris Davis, Start Tomorrow in New York

Matthew Irby — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 09:53:45 -0400

Multiple reports have been coming out all day that the Texas Rangers are going to promote Triple-A first baseman Chris Davis.

Davis was demoted down to Oklahoma City after a July 5 game against the Tampa Bay Rays and returns after playing 44 games in the minors.

Before his demotion, Davis was obviously struggling this season. He never hit above .220 in a single month.

On the year, Davis is currently hitting .202 with a .256 OBP, along with 15 HR, 33 RBI, and 114 strikeouts in 258 at-bats.

During his time in the minors, Davis has worked on the mechanics of his swing and has made adjustments to his stance. In the minors, he is currently hitting .327, .418 OBP, .521 slugging, with six HR and 30 RBI.

Rangers general manager Jon Daniels has said that in the past couple of weeks the team has been looking for the opportunities to promote Davis back to their Major League team.

It seemed as though that opportunity would not arise and he would rejoin the team when the rosters expand at the beginning of September. But with the current struggles of first baseman Hank Blalock, Texas will find a way to make this work.

In the month of August, Blalock is hitting a dismal .180 with a .204 OBP, and slugging only .337.

Rangers manger Ron Washington has already said that Davis will once again be used as the everyday first baseman. Meaning that Blalock will fall back into a platoon role as DH.

If Davis returns and can show the type of hitting and power that he did last season, then this could be the boost that the Rangers' offense needs to make a run at the postseason.

There still is no word on the move that the Rangers will make room for Davis on the 25-man active roster. I’m purely speculating, but possible moves could be outfielder Julio Borbon or a relief pitcher Doug Mathis.

I know, I know, I’m not a fan of sending Borbon back to the minors, if even for a week, since he would return when the rosters expand. But I see this happen as opposed to sending a relief pitcher down, especially since Texas currently has six relievers and won’t go into a series in New York and Minnesota with only five.

So even if Borbon is the odd man out, I hate losing that speed if only for a week, but this might be the right time to activate Chris Davis and hopefully spark the offense.

Josh Hamilton's Recent Hot Streak Could Spark Texas Rangers' Offense

Matthew Irby — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 10:12:46 -0400

In last week’s edition of Sports Illustrated, Josh Hamilton was on the colder side of a section labeled “Who’s Hot, Who’s Not.”

In the magazine's defense, up to that point, Josh was not having the season he had hoped for during spring training.

Hamilton has struggled at the plate in 2009, and has spent two stints on the disabled list while dealing with some off the field issues.

In the months of March and April, he batted .242 in 18 games, notching 16 hits, eight runs, three extra-base hits, 10 RBI, three walks, and 15 strikeouts.

In May, he improved his power numbers to eight extra-base hits, 14 RBI, 12 runs, and doubled his walks. However, his average went down five points to .237, hits went down to 14, and strikeouts to 16 in only 17 games.

Josh was placed on the DL for part of May and all of June.

He returned to the lineup and the third batting spot in July.

However, things only got worse.

In 20 games he batted .205, with 16 hits, only six runs, three extra-base hits, five RBI, four walks, and 22 strikeouts.

At the end of July, Rangers manager Ron Washington dropped Hamilton from the third spot in the lineup to the seventh. This was done to reduce the amount of pressure on Josh so that he could work out the kinks in his swing and re-discover what he did during the first part of 2008.

Since dropping to the seventh spot, he has improved all of his numbers over a short span. He has risen from seventh to sixth to fifth, and last night he batted third in the lineup again.

So far in the month of August, he has played in 16 games. His batting average is currently .407, with 24 hits, nine runs, seven doubles, 11 RBI, eight walks, and only eight strikeouts.

To break that down even more, since last Monday, when Sports Illustrated ran the piece about his struggles at the plate, he has played in seven games.

In those seven games Josh is batting .517 (15-29), with five doubles, seven RBI, five runs, three walks, and seven two-out RBI. Josh even had a stretch earlier in the week in which he got 10 hits in 11 at-bats.

Though the home run power has not returned yet, Rangers fans are not and should not complain. Josh is hitting the ball hard, he is hitting the ball to the opposite field, he is drawing more walks, he is striking out less, and he looks comfortable at the plate now.

This is very important for the Wild Card leading Texas Rangers, a team being led by their pitching and defense. The Rangers have always been an organization that lives and dies by the long ball.

This year is much different. The offense is down this season.

It's true that the team is still second in home runs and third in steals in the American League. But the batting average numbers are down, the walks are down, and the strikeouts are up.

The Rangers need other hitters (Ian Kinsler, Hank Blalock, Chris Davis, Nelson Cruz) that have struggled or been injured as of late to mimic Hamilton's recent return to form.

If that happens, and this team begins to hit to their potential, than this team could not only hold their lead in the Wild Card, but they also could contend for the AL West title, and make some noise when we get to October.

Texas Rangers' Week 19 Review: Taking Control of Wild Card

Matthew Irby — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 13:04:48 -0400

This week for the Rangers started off with a much needed day off from playing. Though the Rangers struggled in Oakland, last week, they kept themselves in the hunt for both the AL West title and the Wild Card spot by winning the series in Anaheim.

This week the Rangers finished their longest road trip of the year with three games in Cleveland and then came home for another battle hosting the Red Sox.

Texas would loss both first games of each series, Texas would go on to win both series going 4-2 on the week and surpass the Red Sox for the lead in the Wild Card spot.

Monday: OFF

Tuesday: L, 0-5 (62-49)

This game was all about the bottom of the third inning. In that half inning the Indians scored all five runs of this game. The Tribe scored four runs before Ranger starter Dustin Nippert could even record an out. The inning was highlighted by Indian second baseman Luis Valbuena’s two-RBI double.

Nippert joining the rotation with the departure of Vicente Padilla pitched well outside the third inning. He would pitch six innings, allowing the five runs on six hits and strike out 10. He became the first Ranger to pitch less that seven innings, strike out 10 or more, and lose since Nolan Ryan.

Wednesday: W, 5-0 (63-49)

As rough as the first game of this series went this one went that well. Tommy Hunter took the mound for Texas and continued his “Rookie of the Year”-caliber season. He shutout the Tribe for 7.2 innings, allowing only six hits and no walks while striking out five.

Hunter would also get the necessary run support in this game as Texas scored twice in the third and three more times in the eighth.

The offense was highlighted by Josh Hamilton who seems to be re-discovering his stroke at the plate, he recorded three hits including two doubles, and two RBI.

Thursday: W, 4-1 (64-49)

Continuing his hot bat from the day before Hamilton went 4-4 in the rubber match in Cleveland. He added two more doubles, two more RBI, and two more two-out RBI. In his last two games in Cleveland Hamilton has seven hits in eight at-bats, four doubles, two runs scored, and four RBI (all RBI came with two outs).

The Ranger offense also got multi-hit games from Michael Young, Marlon Byrd, and Hank Blalock to lead a 12-hit, four-run win and series win.

Scott Feldman was on the mound going six innings, allowing one run on seven hits and striking out six. Neftali Feliz came in relief and pitched perfect seventh and eighth innings, striking out the first five batters he faced before a groundout to short to end the eighth.

Friday: L, 4-8 (64-50)

This game was really a tale of two games.

The Rangers started the first game off with a two-run homer from Young in the first inning. Nothing else happened until David Ortiz hit a two-run shot in the top of the sixth inning.

Texas took the lead back with single runs in the sixth and seventh innings, and this game ended after eight innings with the Rangers leading 4-2.

The second then started and it lasted only one inning, unfortunately for the Rangers it was the one that counted.

The Red Sox preceded to score six runs in the top of the ninth off of Ranger closer Frank Francisco. The inning was highlighted by a two-RBI double from Victor Martinez and a two-run home by J.D. Drew.

Saturday: W, 7-2 (65-50)

In his second consecutive outing in which the Rangers needed a solid outing from rookie starter Derek Holland, he delivered again.

Holland would go 6.2 innings, allowing only two runs on seven hits and striking out three. Both runs were scored on solo home runs in the fourth and fifth innings by Jason Bay and Martinez, respectively.

Feliz came in for the two inning save, striking out three and allowing only one hit.

The Texas offense was lead by huge games from Julio Borbon and Elvis Andrus. Borbon went 4-for-5, scoring twice and knocking in two runners. Though his four hits were only singles Borbon stole second base after each of them, giving him four steals on the night. Andrus went 3-for-4 scoring three times and steal three bases as well.

Kinsler added a solo home run in the second inning and a stolen base as well to give the Rangers eight on the game.

Sunday: W, 4-3 (66-50)

In the rubber match of this series, to the victor would go the lead for the Wild Card.

The Red Sox struck first with another home run from Ortiz, but Texas responded in the next half inning with another home run from Kinsler.

The Rangers added two more runs in the third thanks to an RBI double from Hamilton followed by a single from Kinsler scoring Hamilton from second.

Boston would get a run back in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Brian Anderson, but Texas would get the eventual game-winner when catcher Taylor Teagarden launched a solo home run to left field in the sixth.

Though Boston cut the deficit in half the next inning on a Dustin Pedroia home run, the Rangers held on for the win behind a redemption save by closer Frank Francisco.

With the win the Rangers won the season series against the Red Sox 7-2 and now currently lead the Wild Card race over Boston by a half game.

In the West, the Angels (70-45) continue to hold the same pace as the Rangers as they still hold a 4.5 game lead with the Mariners (61-57) 10.5 games out of first and six behind Texas, and the A”s (52-65) a whole 19 games out.

With the half game lead in the wild card the Rangers main competition remains to be Boston (66-51) and Tampa Bay (63-54) 3.5 games back.

This week the Rangers start off by remaining at home for a four-game series with the Twins. So far this season Texas has struggled with Minnesota at times, but they need to take three games out of this series to hold the wild card lead and attempt to catch the Angels.

After that Texas starts another tough road trip that begins with a weekend series in Tampa Bay.

The Angels finish up a series with Baltimore today before going to Cleveland and Toronto for three game series.

Texas Rangers' Week 18 Review: Wild Week Heats Up Wild Card Race

Matthew Irby — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:13:21 -0400

The Rangers came into this past week beginning a long, 10 game road trip that lead the Rangers to Oakland and Anaheim for seven of the games.

With the Rangers still trailing the Angels, the hottest team in baseball, in the AL West standings and the Red Sox in the wild card, Texas needed a productive week.

It would not start that way, as the Rangers lost three of the four games in Oakland and would fall to 4.5 games behind the Angels heading into Anaheim.

The Rangers went into Anaheim having beaten the Angels seven of nine times this season, however many media outlets and Angel fans would tell you this time the Rangers would get a dose of reality. But once again the Rangers won the series, pulling to within 3.5 behind the Angels and a tie with the Red Sox in the wild card.

Monday: L, 2-3 (59-45)

Dustin Nippert would make a spot start for the Rangers and pitched five shutout innings, while allowing only one hit and striking out five. Following him was the Major League debut of the Rangers top prospect Neftali Feliz.

Feliz pitched two perfect innings, striking out the first four batters he faced in his Major League career.

The Rangers had a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the ninth when then closer C.J. Wilson allowed four runs on three hits, including a walk-off triple by Rajai Davis to lose the game.

Tuesday: L, 0-6 (59-46)

Derek Holland took to the mound coming off his incredible performance in Arlington to shutdown the Mariners. However this outing would be a return to Earth for Holland, he allowed four runs (three earned) to score in 4.1 innings and received no help from his offense.

The Ranger bats would not score, only got five hits, one extra-base hit, and struck out 11 times.

Wednesday: L, 5-7 (59-47)

The Rangers would drop their third straight game and lose the series in Oakland, thanks in part to another sub-par performance from Vicente Padilla. Padilla allowed six runs to score in 5.2 innings, but it would be the last time he took the mound in a Rangers uniform.

Texas' offense was highlighted by a two-hit outing from Josh Hamilton and a pair of home runs by David Murphy.

The Rangers came back from deficits twice, but could not the third time and took another painful loss in a divisional and wild card race that's heating up.

Thursday: W, 6-4 (60-47)

Trying to avoid a sweep at the hands of the A’s, the Rangers needed a strong pitching outing, that would get that from Tommy Hunter. Hunter went seven complete innings allowing three runs (two earned) and gave the Rangers the outing they needed to avoid the sweep.

The Rangers offense again came back from a 2-0 deficit in the first inning and was sparked by power shots from Hank Blalock and Michael Young.

The win kept the Rangers 4.5 games behind the Angels as they left Oakland and headed into Anaheim.

Friday: W, 11-6 (61-47)

Needing to make a statement early in this series, the Rangers scored four runs in the first inning that was highlighted by back-to-back home runs from Hamilton and Blalock.

The Rangers offense would knock out Angel starter Joe Saunders before the end of the second inning.

The Texas offense notched three more runs in the fifth inning off of three solo shots by Taylor Teagarden, Omar Vizquel (first of the year), and Young.

Scott Feldman started for the Rangers. Though he didn’t have his best stuff, he managed the game well and held the Angels offense down from scoring a ton of runs, which they have been doing a lot lately.

Saturday: L, 2-3 (61-48)

Coming off a slugfest, the Rangers and Angels had a pitching duel. Kevin Millwood pitched a short outing for him going only six innings, allowing two runs to score, and struck out five. Jered Weaver took to the mound for the Angels, he pitched 7.1 innings, giving up two runs as well, but struck out 11 Ranger batters.

Texas scored both runs in the fifth on a Blalock two-run shot, scoring himself and Hamilton. But the Rangers best chance to win the game was in the eighth inning when they had runners at second and third with only one out. However Young would strike out and Marlon Byrd popped out to end the threat.

Sunday: W, 7-0 (62-48)

In the rubber match of this series, the Angels had their ace John Lackey on the mound and the Rangers needed a strong outing from Derek Holland.

Lackey pitched well, but multiple errors killed him in this outing as the Rangers scored four times (two earned) in 6.2 innings. Texas got three more runs off the Angels bullpen highlighted by home runs from Teagarden (eighth inning) and Byrd (ninth inning).

Holland, on the other hand, out-did his performance in Arlington against the Mariners. He had a no-hitter going until a sixth inning single by Maicer Izturis.

The difference is Derek would get to finish what he started this time out, he went all nine, scoreless innings, giving up only three hits and striking out a career high eight. He was masterful again and right when the team needed it the most.

As of Monday, the Rangers had pulled to within 3.5 games of the Angels (65-44) with the Mariners (58-53) still trailing the West leaders by 7.5, and the A’s (49-62) are 17 games out.

This week the Rangers finish off their road trip with three games in Cleveland before returning home for three games with the Red Sox. Texas needs to win this series against the Indians before another huge series against the current wild card leading Red Sox.

Vicente Padilla: So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodnight

Matthew Irby — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 16:08:40 -0400

The only difference between this departure and that of the Von Trapp children is that we the Texas Ranger fans are saying "Adieu, adieu, to you (Vicente)."

The facts are that the Texas Rangers organization has designated Vicente Padilla for assignment. Meaning that he will pass through waivers over the next 10 days, in which it is very unlikely that he will be claimed by another team.

Then the Rangers can either demote him to the minors or release him. The Rangers front office has already made it clear that he is no longer a part of the team, therefore its almost a lock that he will be released from the team.

Back on June 3, I wrote an article stating that the Rangers had placed Padilla on outright waivers. Obviously, at the time he was not claimed by another team or released from the Rangers, but a message was sent.

That move came after his outing against the Yankees in which he plunked ex-Ranger Mark Teixiera twice.

In Padilla's last start he lost to the Oakland A's, in the first inning he surrendered a home run to Scott Hairston, two batters later he hit Kurt Suzuki.

Two innings later, the A's retaliated by plunking Michael Young. Immediately after that the TV cameras caught Padilla, sitting in the dugout, smiling a smirk face. When asked about it later, he denied laughing at Michael saying he was in the clubhouse.

Yeah I watched the game, I saw exactly what was said, right after Young was hit he was smiling in the dugout, not the clubhouse.

This time instead of sending a message to Padilla a message was sent to the rest of the team and the fan base.

Rangers General Manager Jon Daniels spoke shortly after the move to the media and talked about this move coming after a series of incidents with Padilla, that he was a bad teammate, and he also talked about the difference of 24-to-1 and 25 guys pulling on a rope.

Rangers' outfielder Marlon Byrd was quoted by the Dallas Morning News before yesterday's win over the Angels on the incident, "It’s about time. When a player disrupts a team, eventually there is going to come a time when management has enough. They have seen enough.

"We are fighting for a playoff spot. The last thing we need in the clubhouse is a distraction like that. There are 25 guys in this clubhouse who are behind management on this. They showed that they are serious. They did their job. That just serves as assurance that they are doing the right thing here."

And Byrd wasn't the only one that agreed with Daniels' decision to release Padilla, injured second baseman Ian Kinsler told MLB.com that he shook Daniels' hand and told him, "Congratulations."

The face of the franchise Michael Young also said to MLB.com, "I support JD's decision. We need to put any uncertainty on this club behind. This time is to important to us. This is the way the organization feels, it's time to move on."

I couldn't agree with Young any more. I could give you examples of Padilla's inconsistencies, his problems with teammates, or his lack of conditioning efforts. But I'm not going to waste the effort or your time.

Padilla is gone and we are a better team for it; it might hurt out pitching the rest of this season, but I say again we are a better TEAM without him.

Daniels stated the Dustin Nippert will step into the starting rotation to replace Padilla's departure and that the coaches and front office have as much confidence in Nippert's abilities as they do Padilla's.

In a statement over the phone after the dismissal Padilla said, "I had a good time. The fans treated me well. I don't know what has happened this year. I never had a problem with them. I had three years with the organization. I'm going to keep training. I can pitch if I get the opportunity. They want to wash their hands of me? That's fine."

Padilla, we are washing our hands on you and will not give it a second thought. And on his way out-of-town I hope he gets the tune stuck in his head, "So long, farewell, Auf Weidersehen, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, GOODBYE!"

Neftali Feliz Torches in His Major League Debut

Matthew Irby — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 09:35:54 -0400

The Texas Rangers' arguable No. 1 prospect got the call to "The Show" on Sunday. He was in uniform but not activated for Sunday night's win over Seattle.

However, on the first day of the Rangers' long road trip starting off in Oakland we would see Feliz's Major League debut.

Dustin Nippert made the start for the Rangers and held the A's to only one hit for five innings. In the top of the sixth Ranger fans, that stayed up late for this West Coast game, got their first glimpse of Feliz warming up in the bullpen.

And in the bottom of the inning Feliz took the ball in relief of Nippert and inheriting the slim 1-0 Ranger lead.

Feliz's first batter would be the A's leadoff hitter Adam Kennedy. Kennedy has been one of the best hitters in the A's lineup most of the season, but that would not phase Feliz at all. His first pitch was a 98-mph fastball right down the middle for strike one.

His next four pitches were all 97-99 bringing the count to 2-2, and then he threw a 91-mph changeup to get Kennedy to swing and miss.

Next he faced A's catcher Kurt Suzuki and started him off with back-to-back fastballs at 98 and 100, two curveballs and a changeup later he got Suzuki to strikeout swinging.

Then Feliz took on Scott Hairston, he threw two balls to start the at-bat, but then his next three pitches went 99, 100, 100 and he struck Hairston out swinging.

Feliz official first inning of his career he threw 16 pitches, 10 strikes, three fastball clocked at 100 mph, and three strikeouts (all swinging). The performance in the inning went so well that he earned another inning.

In the bottom of the seventh Feliz's first batter was the dangerous Jack Cust. Cust only saw fastballs and on the fourth he swung and missed at a 99-mph pitch.

Next, Ryan Sweeney saw only fastballs and changeups, but he was able to put the 2-2 pitch into play. However, it was a groundout to second baseman Joaquin Arias.

The groundout ended Feliz streak of starting his career off with four consecutive strikeouts, a Texas Rangers franchise record. Pretty good start for the No. 1 prospect.

A's first baseman Tommy Everidge was the final batter Feliz faced and on a 101-mph fastball he got Everidge to pop up to Ranger first baseman Hank Blalock in foul territory.

Feliz worked two perfect innings in his Major League debut and Ranger fans could not have asked for anything better than what he did. Feliz struckout four batters, all of them swinging, he threw 30 pitches, 21 strikes, seven fastballs clocked at 100+, and his last pitch of the night was 101-mph.

Now, I'm not crowning the young man the savior of the Texas Rangers, I'm not saying he is going to become the greatest pitch right now, no, not at all.

I do believe that Feliz is going to have a great career in baseball, I believe the same with Derek Holland, but it is going to take more work, more time, and some growing pains. Feliz is going to have some bad outings, he is going to have some of them very soon.

Any baseball fan should know that but I look at last night this way, that was a glimpse into what he will become in his career.

Could Feliz be this year's David Price? Possibly. Could Feliz be another big boost in an already above average Ranger pitching staff? Very Likely. Should a Ranger fan be excited about the sick, sick, SICK stuff that Feliz displayed last night? HELL YES!

Texas Rangers' Week 17 Review: Pitching and Long Ball Lead to 5-2 Week

Matthew Irby — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 10:50:50 -0400

With another winning July (17-8) and a couple of days into August, the 2009 Texas Rangers find themselves right in the thick of a race for both the AL West Championship and the AL Wild Card.

The 17 wins in July was the second most in the entire American League, but here is the problem: The most wins came from the Los Angeles Angels (19-7).

Even though Texas was able to win the series against the Tigers (2-1) and the Mariners (3-1), the team still finds itself a full four games behind the incredible, red hot Angels. In the wild card race, the Rangers are currently two-and-a-half games behind the Boston Red Sox, who trail the New York Yankees for the AL East lead by only a half game.

Monday: W, 5-2 (55-42)

Tommy Hunter took the mound for the Rangers against the Detroit Tigers, who to this point had won all six games against Texas this season. The first batter of the game, Curtis Granderson, bombed his 20th home run of the season, but that is all the Tigers would do against Hunter.

Hunter went seven solid innings, giving up the one run on five hits and striking out six. His opponent Armando Galarraga, a former minor leaguer of the Rangers, looked just as solid through four shutout innings.

Nelson Cruz tied the game in the fifth with his 24th home run of the season. The next inning Texas took the lead for good with three runs highlighted by a Hank Blalock two-RBI double. Michael Young added his 14th homer, a solo shot in the eighth and C.J. Wilson got his 11th save.

Tuesday: W, 7-3 (56-42)

Doug Mathis made a spot start for an injured and fatigued Rangers' rotation, he would go four innings and only struggle in the second. Mathis allowed three Tigers to score in the second, but the Rangers' offense responded, scoring four in the bottom half of the inning.

Texas would add single runs in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings and then get five near perfect innings of relief from the bullpen. Jason Grilli, Eddie Guardado, Darren O'Day, and Guillermo Moscoso allowed only one hit and struck out two, combined.

The Rangers' offense was highlighted by Elvis Andrus, who went 3-4 with a HR, three runs, two RBI, and a SB, and Ian Kinsler, who finished 1-3 with a 3B, run, and three RBI.

Wednesday: L, 5-13 (56-43)

Texas then failed to sweep Detroit, a team that has swept us twice this season, taking the series 2-1.

Granderson again hit a lead-off home run and then hit a two-run shot in the second inning. Miguel Cabrera also had a big game nabbing four hits, including a home run and double, and also knocked in four runners as well.

The Tigers would score a run in each of the first seven innings in this blow-out win. The Rangers' only highlight was Andruw Jones hitting his 16th and 17th home runs of the season, his second multi-HR game of the season.

Thursday: W, 7-1 (57-43)

Amidst the talks of being traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in a package deal that would send ace Roy Halladay to the Rangers, Derek Holland took the mound and made a statement. With team president Nolan Ryan and general manager Jon Daniels in attendance, the Rangers' young prospect was nearly perfect.

Holland didn't allow a Mariner baserunner, until Jack Hannahan's broken bat single up the middle in the fifth inning with two outs. Through eight innings, Hannahan would be the only Mariner to get on-base. Holland struggled in the ninth inning, allowing a walk and single, and with only one out away from his first career complete game, manager Ron Washington took him out.

I was in attendance and as hard as it was to take Holland out of the game, he was losing his control in the ninth and threw 118 pitches. It was an amazing performance and hopefully a glimpse into what the future holds for this young man. Holland was given a standing ovation and there have been few times it has been more deserved.

Aside from the masterpiece that Holland showed the near 24,000 fans, the Ranger bats had some pop in them as well. Blalock hit his 20th and Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit his eighth in second inning, Young launched his 15th and 16th home runs in the third and fifth innings, while Marlon Byrd in the seventh inning got his 10th of the year.

Friday: W, 5-4 (58-43)

Finally recovered from the lingering effects of "swine flu," Vicente Padilla took the mound in the second game against the Mariners. Again, Texas pitching had allowed a first inning home run, as Jose Lopez hit a two-run shot.

Padilla would calm down after the first inning and pitch six quality innings, allowing three runs on six hits, good enough for the victory.

The Rangers cut the deficit in half with a sacrifice fly from Taylor Teagarden in the second inning scoring Josh Hamilton. But the offense took the lead back for good with a four run fifth inning, highlighted by long balls from Teagarden and a three-run shot from Byrd.

During Young's at-bat in the seventh inning, the game went into a two hour and 18 minute rain delay before the Rangers could finish off the win. The playing time before and after the delay was only two hours and 10 minutes.

Saturday: L, 2-7 (58-44)

Once again the Rangers had allowed a first inning home run; this time it was Ken Griffey Jr., fifth all-time in home runs, with his 622nd homer of his career (a three-run blast).

Ranger starter Tommy Hunter would have his worst outing of the year in this one, however, he would calm himself down after the early long ball from Griffey. Hunter would go five innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on five hits and three walks.

The only highlight for the Rangers was a huge one in the fourth inning when Cruz hit his 25th home run of the season. It was a shot that nearly hit the back railing of the visitor's bullpen. The tape measure shot was estimated to have travelled 458-ft., the fourth longest home run in the history of the Rangers' Ballpark.

Sunday: W, 4-2 (59-44)

On three days rest and coming off his worst outing of the season, Scott Feldman took the mound in the final game of the four-game series. This outing would go much better for Feldman as he would earn his 10th win of the season.

Feldman would go seven innings, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks while striking out four.

The Rangers' offense again used the long ball early when David Murphy hit an upper deck shot to right field in the bottom of the first, his ninth of the season.

After falling behind 2-1 in the top of the sixth, Young answered in the bottom of the inning with his 17th home run of the season, a solo shot. The Rangers completed the comeback when Saltalamacchia hit his ninth of the season in the seventh inning, a two-run shot off of the right field foul pole.

The Rangers also got big news off the field as well.

Kinsler and Grilli both were put on the 15-day DL, Kinsler with his lingering right hamstring tightness and Grilli with elbow inflammation. Frank Francisco was activated off of the DL before the game and pitched a perfect eighth inning, striking out two.

Warner Madrigal was demoted back down to Triple-A and the Rangers promoted Doug Mathis back to the Majors. The Rangers' No. 1 prospect Neftali Feliz was also promoted and could make his Major League debut any game now.

Even with Texas winning five games this week and 11 of their last 14 games, the Angels have won five straight games and 13 of their last 15 games, averaging over 7.5 runs a game.

Texas (59-44) now trail the Angels (63-40) by four games with two months to go. The Mariners (54-51) have now fallen 10 games out of first, while the A's (44-60) are 19.5 games back.

In the wild card race, the Red Sox (62-42) lead the Rangers by 2.5. The closest team trailing the Rangers are the Rays (57-48) by three games.

This week, Texas begins a long road trip that starts off with four games in Oakland before playing the Angels for three games in Anaheim.

The Angels are in Chicago for three games before hosting Texas, the Red Sox go to Tampa Bay for two games before travelling to New York for four, and the Yankees are at Toronto for two before hosting Boston.

Texas Rangers Post-Trade Deadline Outlook: A Run at October

Matthew Irby — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 10:59:43 -0400

It's over, another hectic week of the trade deadline. Some teams made major moves, some minors, and yet many made noise but in the end have the same time they had a week ago.

The Rangers made some noise that they wanted to add starting pitching and a right-handed bat.

First the right-handed bat. The best target we had in our sites was Cleveland Indians first baseman Ryan Garko, but before serious trade talks to get rolling with the Indians the Giants swooped in and grabbed him.

After that Texas talked about adding players like Josh Willingham or Nick Johnson, both of the Washington Nationals. The price for Willingham was too high and talks for Johnson never really got rolling. Johnson eventually went to the Florida Marlins.

The majority of the conversations were around trying to add another starting pitcher. The names that came up during the final week were: Cliff Lee (CLE traded to PHI), Doug Davis (ARZ), Jon Garland (ARZ), Ian Snell (PIT traded to SEA), Zack Duke (PIT), Aaron Harang (CIN), and Jarrod Washburn (SEA traded to DET).

None of these players in deals ever got serious talks throughout the final week of the trade deadline. Instead the Rangers focused their time and energy on Toronto Blue Jay ace Roy Halladay.

Without going into too much detail, not only did the deal never happened but it seems as though it never was really going to happen.

Roy Halladay holds a no-trade clause in his current contract and when trade talks with the Rangers became serious he told the Blue Jay organization that he would not waiver his no-trade clause. Killing the talks with the Rangers right then and there.

Now I know he is arguably the most dominant pitcher in baseball today. I also know that the Rangers would be a better team today with him in the rotation. But the price tag to acquire him was just way too high.

For the longest time the Blue Jays have said that a trade for Halladay would have to center around the Rangers top pitching prospects, our top offensive prospects, and a Major League ready pitcher.

At first the Rangers were told that we would have to part ways with either Derek Holland or Neftali Feliz, then Justin Smoak and/or Julio Borbon would need to be added. Finally one or two pitchers from these pitching prospects: Martin Perez, Michael Main, Kasey Kiker, Omar Poveda, and Blake Beavon.

As the trade deadline got closer, the number of teams via for Halladay decreased yet the price tag increased.

On the night of July 30, when Holland pitched his masterpiece against the Mariners, the Blue Jays told the Rangers that a deal would now need to include Holland, Smoak, and either Elvis Andrus or Tommy Hunter.

Before I had made peace with losing Holland, hoping that they would take Feliz instead. I did not like losing Smoak one bit, but was starting to accept it as long as Borbon was not included. But when the Blue Jays started mention names like Andrus and Hunter, I was done and completely against this trade.

Now I can speculate longer about "what might have been," but the fact of the matter is that Halladay was not going to accept a trade to the Texas Rangers.

Personally that pisses me off a little bit, but whatever Halladay. You said that you want to be part of a contender, well enjoy the rest of the season with your fourth place, 13 games out of first place, Blue Jays, while we enjoy the fourth best record in the AL and make a run at the postseason.

So now that the trade deadline has gone and past, who will the Rangers be sending out the rest of the season. I'm not going to talk at all about external options that the team could add from players passing through waivers, this is simply the players in the organization that will lead the Rangers to the postseason.

Currently the Rangers starting rotation is Kevin Millwood, Vicente Padilla, Scott Feldman, Hunter, and Holland. Assuming that the extra rest will help Millwood get past with "tightness in his buttocks" and Padilla doesn't get the "swine flu" again, the top three in the rotation are set for the rest of the season.

Matt Harrison has been lost for the season due to surgery to fix his Thoracic Outlet Syndrome on his left side. Brandon McCarthy, who has not pitched since June 4 because of a right shoulder stress fracture, has begun a pitching program and is expected to be available next month.

The other options Texas has to make spot starts are Dustin Nippert and Doug Mathis. Nippert made a start of July 22 against Boston he went 5.2 innings, allowed one run, and got the win.

Four days later we entered the game in the third inning for an injured Millwood, he pitched 4.2 innings, allowing one run on one hit, and again got the win. Mathis made a spot start on July 28 against the Tigers, going four innings and allowing three runs.

A healthy Millwood will continue to throw as he ahs all season, Padilla has been on-and-off all season but lately seems to be figuring it out, and if Feldman can shake his last start and return to the way he has been pitching all season then the top end of the rotation will be solid.

As for the bottom spots, if Hunter can continue to work quickly and efficiently through his outings and Holland proves that his last start was not just "lighting in a bottle" then the Rangers pitching is set for a run at the postseason.

There will not be any major changes in the bullpen the rest of the season, aside from the imminent return of Frank Francisco.

The only problem, a good problem, is who do the Rangers have close games if Frankie returns 100 percent healthy. Before his injuries he was incredibly dominate, but lately C.J. Wilson has been just as dominate stepping into the roll of closer.

The next time the Rangers bullpen has an injury or need to drop a pitcher due to fatigue or lack of success, look for the organization to promote Neftali Feliz for his Major League debut.

The Rangers defense continues to be a strength of this team and I see no changes in that throughout the rest of the season.

The final piece that needs to come together for a playoff run is the offense. This has definitely not been the Rangers offense of the past few years. Texas has continued to be very aggressive on the base paths, the power comes and goes in waves, but hitting consistently has escaped the team most of the year.

The only injury issue right now has been Ian Kinsler, who should return to the lineup today or tomorrow, however having Omar Vizquel as the backup option is never a bad thing. Once he returns the Rangers starting lineup and rotation of starters will stay almost the same throughout the season.

The outfield will continue to rotate between Nelson Cruz, Marlon Byrd, David Murphy, and Andruw Jones depending on hot bats. Josh Hamilton will continue to see everyday time with some rest in the attempts he can break out of his season long slump.

The one change we will likely see in the near future before the rosters expand in September could be the call-up of Chris Davis. I know he has struggled as year in the Majors hitting .202 for the season with 15 HRs and 33 RBI but striking out 114 times with only 17 walks.

However, he might be showing that he is out of that slump by what he is producing in Triple-A Oklahoma City. Davis through 22 games is batting .322 with 4 HRs, 20 RBI, and has struck out only 19 times and walked eight times.

If the Rangers believe he has worked out his hitting kinks we could see a Davis promotion in the near future, The only reason it has not happened sooner is because of the recent success of Hank Blalock both at bat and in the field.

This is your 2009 Texas Rangers, these are the guys that are going to take to the field and make a run at the postseason and get this organization back there for the first time since 1999.

If you don't like what the team did or did not do at the trade deadline and only want to talk about the potential of them falling apart again. Well the Dallas Cowboys just started training camp, why don't you go watch that.

Texas Rangers' Week 16 Review: Winning Not Enough

Matthew Irby — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 09:35:22 -0400

This was supposed to be a week of excitement–Texas won five of the six games this week. That includes a three-game sweep of the mighty Boston Red Sox and then a series win in Kansas City.

However, we can’t get too excited because, despite a 5-1 week, the Rangers lost ground to the Angels.

We have all seen it before and I have talked about it a lot this season—the Angels will get hot and they will have long winning streaks. The key is to weather the storm, keep playing winning baseball, and beat them when we play them.

This past week, the Angels went 6-1, until finally on Sunday the Twins beat them to end their eight-game winning streak. The Angels are now 9-2 since the All-Star break.

In the month of July they are 16-6, but 1-3 against the Rangers. And since June 23, the Angels have a 22-7 record, yet are 2-4 facing the Rangers during that stretch.

So enough with the Angels playing great, let me recap the huge week the Rangers had on the field, despite the flu bug going around the clubhouse.

Monday: W, 6-3 (50-41)

Former Atlanta Brave teammates Kevin Millwood and John Smoltz faced off in the first of this three-game series. Smoltz started off better, but in the end Millwood pitched six quality innings for the win.

The Rangers offense used a huge, five-run sixth inning to power past the Red Sox. The Texas offense was highlighted by three home runs in the inning from Michael Young (12), David Murphy (8), and Jarrod Saltalamacchia (7).

Tuesday: W, 4-2 (51-41)

Ranger rookie Tommy Hunter took on former All-Star and World Series ace Josh Beckett. After allowing two runs in the first, Beckett settled down to pitch the rest of the game, allowing only two more runs on a total of seven hits.

However, Hunter had the better stuff today, not allowing any Red Sox players to score until the sixth. He pitched six complete innings, allowing the one run and only four hits.

Wednesday: W, 3-1 (52-41)

Trying to avoid being swept in Texas, Boston sent their super-prospect Clay Buchholz to the mound. Ranger starter Vicente Padilla was too ill, later diagnosed with “swine flu,” to make his start and was replaced by Dustin Nippert.

Buchholz lasted only four innings, surrendering three runs off Ian Kinsler’s 23rd home run, RBI groundout by Taylor Teagarden, and a successful “suicide squeeze” by Elvis Andrus (scoring David Murphy).

Nippert, on the other hand, was exactly what the Rangers pitching staff needed. He went 5.2 innings, allowing only one run on five hits and striking out five.

Thursday: OFF

Friday: W, 2-0 (53-41)

Coming off a huge sweep of the Red Sox the Rangers were rewarded with a matchup against the AL leader in ERA, Zack Greinke.

Greinke pitched seven solid innings, striking out 10, allowing only three hits and three walks, and giving up only one run on a Marlon Byrd home run.

Scott Feldman took the mound for the Rangers and he was more than solid, in fact he was near flawless. Feldman pitched eight shutout innings and allowed only seven Royals to reach base.

The Byrd home run and a Blalock two-out RBI single in the eighth was all Texas needed for the victory.

Saturday: L, 3-6 (53-42)

The Ranger offense started off promising, scoring three times in the first four innings, highlighted by Young’s 13th long ball of the season. But that would be it for the Ranger offense that again faltered late in the game.

Ranger starter Derek Holland pitched well for four innings, but has always had one inning during an outing in which he struggles. This time it was the fifth in which Holland surrendered three runs and lost the lead.

Royals starter Luke Hochevar did the opposite, he struggled early on but held his composure and pitched seven innings, allowing two earned runs (three runs total) on five hits, no walks, and striking out 13.

Sunday: W, 7-2 (54-42)

In the rubber match of this series, things did not look good for the Rangers early on, as Millwood left the game before the start of the third inning with a reported “tightness in his left gluteus muscle.”

However, Wednesday starter Nippert took the mound in relief and was a shot in the arm for the Rangers pitching again.

Nippert pitched 4.2 innings, allowing one run, one hit, and two walks. It was necessary as the Ranger bats could not solve Royal starter, and former Ranger Sidney Ponson.

Ponson departed the game after six shutout innings and the Rangers feasted on the Royals bullpen. Texas scored seven runs on eight hits in the seventh and eighth innings.

After the rough start, the Rangers finished the game hitting 6-18 with runners in scoring position. The Rangers capitalized and scored all three runs in the seventh inning after Royal second baseman Alberto Callaspo dropped a Kinsler pop fly that would have ended the inning.

Even though the Rangers 5-1 week lost a half game to the Angels, it did put some distance between them and the Mariners and brought the Rangers back into the wild card discussion. Currently the Rangers trail the Red Sox by 2.5 games for the wild card.

Vaulted by their recent hot streak, the Angels (58-39) lead the Rangers by 3.5 games, the Mariners (51-47) are currently on a three games losing streak and now trail the Angels by 7.5 and the Rangers by four games. Oakland (41-56) is 17 games out of first and 13.5 behind the Rangers.

This week, the Rangers play all seven games at home, three against the Tigers and then four hosting the Mariners. Texas needs another solid winning week as the Angels host Cleveland then travel to Minnesota.

Texas Rangers Keep Winning Despite Injuries and Illnesses

Matthew Irby — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 16:33:56 -0400

Let's start this off with a bad-good-bad news sandwich.

Bad News: Vicente Padilla was scratched from Wednesday start due to the flu and Matt Harrison is likely lost for the rest of the season with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome.

Good News: Despite the Padilla illness and Harrison injury the Rangers have won five straight games, including a three game sweep of the Boston Red Sox.

Bad News: The Angels have won seven straight games and still lead the AL West by 3.5 games.

Now let's break each of these down a little more.

Padilla was slated to pitch in the final game of the series against the Red Sox, but was a late scratch due to an illness. The organization stated that it was simply a flu bug that had made its way into the Rangers clubhouse.

However the team was told and announced on Friday that Padilla had tested positive for H1N1 Type A influenza, better known as "Swine flu".

Padilla is already stating that he is feeling much better, even threw a bullpen session later that day in Kansas City before taking an early flight home back to Arlington. The organization also announced that he is slated to make his next regular start on Tuesday in Texas against the Tigers.

Along with the news of Padilla's illness the Rangers got worse news that Harrison was diagnosed with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome in his left shoulder, an injury that sidelined Kenny Rogers (2002) and Hank Blalock (2007).

Harrison will need to have surgery and the minimum recovery time after this surgery is two months. The surgery could be done as early as Monday. The diagnosis was discovered following tests after Harrison experienced some discomfort while pitching in a rehab assignment in Frisco on Wednesday.

Even though Texas was hit with both of these bad news the team has been winning, currently on a five-game winning streak going into Saturday's game in Kansas City.

The highlights during this current winning streak has been the effectiveness of the pitching staff.

On Monday the Rangers avoided being swept by the Twins with eight shutout innings from the bullpen, they only allowed two hits, two walks, and struckout nine on the way to a 12th inning walk-off home run from Ian Kinsler.

During the sweep of the Red Sox the Ranger starting pitchers all had quality starts:

Kevin Millwood - Win, 6 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 3 K

Tommy Hunter - Win, 6 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 2 K

Dustin Nippert - Win, 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 5 K

And finally on Friday Scott Feldman took on the ERA leader in the American League, Zack Greinke. Greinke pitched seven solid innings, allowing only three hits, three walks, 10 strikeouts, and one run on a Marlon Byrd home run.

But Feldman outdueled him. Scott pitched eight shutout innings, giving up only four hits and three walks.

With the loss of Harrison the Rangers first solution is to reinstate Derek Holland into the starting rotation. Depending on what the front office does over the next few days at the trade deadline will determine what the next step will be towards the starting rotation going into the final months of the regular season.

I don't know exactly what the team is planning to do, there is very little chance that Roy Halladay will be a Ranger and it's looking unlikely that Cliff Lee will join the team, but I do know that if the pitching staff continues to do what they are doing right now then this Rangers team still has a very good chance of winning the AL West.

Texas Rangers' Rookie Tommy Hunter Strengthens Rotation

Matthew Irby — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 09:21:00 -0400

Many fans went into last nights second game of a three game series hosting the Boston Red Sox worried that this would be the game Texas would likely drop.

Can't blame you too much, we won a well played game on Monday, All-Star and World Series pitcher Josh Beckett was taking the mound for Boston, and Texas sent a rookie making his eighth career start.

However most of these people are waking up this morning asking, who is this Tommy Hunter?

Raymond Thomas Hunter was born on July 3, 1986 in Indianapolis, IN. In high school, he played baseball and football, but I bet you didn't know that he is a two-time Olympic judo champion.

Also won a gold medal at the World Championships as a member of Team USA baseball, he went 3-0 with a 3.80 ERA, striking out 23 over 21.1 innings pitched.

Tommy was originally drafted out of high school in 2005 by the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays in the 18th round, but went on to college at the University of Alabama.

In 2007 the Texas Rangers had two first round picks and three compensation picks between the first and second rounds. Texas drafted Blake Beaven, Michael Main, Julio Borbon, Neil Ramirez and then selected 21-year-old, 6'3" 255-lbs Tommy Hunter.

Much has been made of the top three players selected in the draft, but many experts and fans have overlooked the career of Hunter.

With just over a year of professional experience Hunter made his Major League debut last season on Aug. 1. He made three starts last year and was nowhere near as successful as he hoped it would go.

Hunter went 0-2 with a 16.36 ERA, pitching only 11 innings in the three starts. He allowed 20 earned runs on 23 hits, four of them leaving the yard, on the flip side he only walked three batters and struck out nine.

Hunter spent a lot of time with the Major League squad during Spring Training but started the year off in the minors. After flying through the minor league system, the Rangers' organization wanted to give him more time to work on his stuff and make adjustments.

On May 29, Hunter made his debut this season with the Rangers against the Oakland A's. He went 5.1 innings and got a no decision, allowing three runs on seven hits, walking three and only striking out one batter. It was a spot start and Hunter would return to the minors afterwards and not return again until June 28.

On the 28th, he got the start against the Padres, this time he would go 6.1 innings, allowing two runs on seven hits, but would take the loss as the Ranger bats struggled to find a rhythm. This time Hunter improved his command throwing 61 of his 94 pitches for strikes, striking out three and walking none.

Since that start, Hunter has earned himself a regular spot in the rotation, making three more starts so far in the month of July.

On July 3, he made the start against the team that originally drafted him, Tampa Bay, and did so on his 23rd birthday. In the start Hunter got his first career Major League win going 5.1 innings, allowing only one run on three hits, three walks, and struck out five.

July 9, he made the start in Seattle, pitched six full innings of shutout baseball. He allowed four hits, walked three, struck out four, but again took a no decision due to a lack of offense.

Last night, July 21, Hunter made his first start of the second half of the season and fifth of the season. He pitched six complete innings, allowing one run on four hits and one walk.

Two early runs off a Hank Blalock single was enough run support to give Hunter his second win of the season.

In his five starts this season Hunter is 2-1 with a 2.17 ERA, he has pitched 29 innings, given up only seven runs on 25 hits. He has struck out 15 batters but walked 10. Three of his five starts can also be classified as quality starts.

Since becoming a regular part of the rotation on June 28, Hunter has pitched 23.2 innings and given up only four runs, that's an ERA of 1.52.

Now I'm not saying that he will continue this pace the rest of the season, once teams have a good, solid scouting report on Tommy he will need to adjust his gameplan. There will likely be some growing pains during this time, but so far I like what I have seen from Hunter.

Most of the pitching prospect talk has always been about Derek Holland and Neftali Feliz. After that people will tell you about Michael Main, Omar Poveda, Blake Beaven, and Kasey Kiker, however Hunter is the one surfacing with solid Major League numbers.

At a time when the Rangers still trail the surging Angels by three games, the trade deadline quickly approaching, the Roy Halladay talks losing almost all its steam, and Holland continue to struggle to find his grove, the Rangers need someone to step-up.

Hunter could be that guy.

Kevin Millwood and Scott Feldman have both been the most stable pieces of the rotation all season long, Vicente Padilla has been very up-and-down, Matt Harrison and Brandon McCarthy still recovering from injuries, Hunter could be that next piece to the puzzle for the Rangers to make a push for October.

Not to mention that if he continues what he is doing, forget Elvis Andrus for Rookie of the Year, the Hunter campaign could quickly gain some steam.

I'm not the first writer to talk about this, read Bo Reed's Tommy Hunter Poised to Establish Himself, and I won't be the last to talk about the success of Hunter. That, along with his pitching performances, should tell you about what he can do for the rotation this season and in the near future for the Rangers.

Texas Rangers' Week 15 Review: Let's Take a Break

Matthew Irby — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 10:29:02 -0400

The honeymoon is over, literally and figuratively. Literally my honeymoon is over and now begins married life, thanks to all for helping out with the Rangers and be patience while I took a week off.

Figuratively the Rangers honeymoon of leading the West is over and now that have a bit of a deficit to overcome.

After a disappointing way finish to the first part of the season, losing the series to the Mariners and the AL-West lead to the Angels, the Rangers as a team all needed the All-Star break.

Monday: Home Run Derby

Not Josh Hamilton this year, but Nelson Cruz represented the Texas Rangers as one of the eight competitors in the 2009 Home Run Derby.

With Hamilton as his coach and support, Cruz wasted no time making a name for himself in the derby. Still a rather unknown player throughout many baseball circles, he blasted 11 home runs to start the derby off.

The 11 long balls would put him into a tie with Milwaukee Brewer slugger Prince Fielder after the first round. In the second round Nellie, only needed five home runs to bring his total to 16 and advance to the finals.

In the final round, Cruz was matched against Fielder. Nelson hit first and was able to launch five more balls over the fence, but it would not be enough to outlast Fielder who hit his sixth with nine outs.

Tuesday: AL def. NL, 4-3

Once again the American League continued their All Star Game dominance over the National League. The “Junior” League was not lost to the “Senior” League for 13-straight years now since the NL's 1996 win at Veterans Stadium.

Texas sent Hamilton, Cruz, and Michael Young to the All Star Game this year. Hamilton was voted in by the fans as the starting center fielder, Young was voted in as a reserve by the players and coaches. However with the injury to Evan Longoria, Young got the start. Cruz was also a late addition due to the injury to Torii Hunter.

Hamilton and Young each went 1-3 at the plate and Hamilton added an RBI on a groundout in the first inning. The only down side was a Hamilton throwing error to Young at third in the second inning that allowed the NL to score. Cruz did not get into the game.

Wednesday and Thursday: OFF

Friday: L, 5-3 (48-40)

In the first game back after four days off, the Rangers dropped the opener to the visiting Minnesota Twins.

The Rangers got off on the right foot when Hamilton blasted his seventh home run of the season, a two-run shot in the bottom of the first inning.

But starting pitcher Vicente Padilla could not hold the lead, as the Twins scored twice in the next half inning and then three more times in the third off a Jason Kubel three-run homer.

The Rangers added another Hamilton RBI single in the fifth, but could not get anything done against the Twins bullpen, which pitched four scoreless innings.

Saturday: L, 4-1 (48-41)

In a pitcher’s duel Twins starter Scott Baker ousted Ranger starter Scott Feldman. Feldman had another quality start, going six innings and allowing three runs on five hits while striking out five and walking none.

However, Baker went eight innings, allowing only one run on six hits and striking out eight.

The Ranger offense came primarily from Cruz, going 3-4 with a double and solo home run, his 23rd of the season.

Sunday: W, 5-3 (12) (49-41)

Ian Kinsler led the Ranger charge to avoid a five-game losing streak, a three-game losing streak to start the second half of the season, and another sweep.

On the second pitch of the bottom of the first inning, Kinsler blasted Twin starter Francisco Liriano for his 21st home run of the season. In the 12th inning he hit his 22nd off of former Ranger R.A. Dickey, this time is was a two-run, walk-off home run.

After falling behind 3-1, the Rangers used small ball in the middle innings to bring themselves back into a tie with the Twins.

Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia had never completed the sacrifice bunt at the Major League level. Last night he did it twice.

With the win, the Rangers brought themselves back to within three games of the Angels (52-38). And not to forget about the again surging Mariners, who trail the Angels now by only four games (49-43). The A’s (38-52) have again fallen out of the picture, now 14 games out of first place.

This week, the Rangers play host to the Boston Red Sox for three games before travelling to Kansas City for a weekend series. Texas needs a solid week as the Angels travel to Kansas City first and then head home for a series against the Twins.

Andruw Jones Powers Rangers Back into First

Matthew Irby — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:24:00 -0400

In the last two games the Rangers offense has posted eight runs in both games against the Angels. The offensive outburst has put the team back into first place with four games remaining before the All Star break.

A huge part of that offense has been the recent success of Andruw Jones. Josh Hamilton has returned from injury, Chris Davis was demoted to Triple-A to work out his season-long swing-and-miss kinks, Hank Blalock is now the starting first baseman, and yet it still seems as though Ron Washington is stuck on keeping Jones in the lineup regularly.

Jones is likely the best option right now as the DH. He can play in the outfield and can still be a back-up option at first for Blalock. With Hamilton's return, Marlon Byrd hitting and fielding well, David Murphy rediscovering his swing, and Nelson Cruz beginning to hit his way out of his recent slump, Jones's time in the outfield could be very limited.

Jones struggled over the last couple months to find a regular hitting rhythm with his playing time being drastically cut down. His batting average dropped from .344 at the end of April to .239 during the months of May and June.

But Jones has found a little bit of a resurgence so far in July. In five game against the Rays and Angels he is hitting .318 (7-22). Jones has launched five home runs, scored six times, and even notched 11 RBI.

Last season as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Jones played in only 75 games, batted .158 with 33 hits, 21 runs, three home runs, 14 RBI and no steals. After 12 seasons with the Atlanta Braves, the Dodgers paid a ton of money to bring Jones out to the West Coast, and got next to nothing in return. So at the end of the 2008 season the Dodgers released him. Because of guaranteed money in his contract the Dodgers are still paying Jones nearly $15 million this season.

The Rangers, on the other hand, signed him to a $500,000 base salary with up to $1 million in incentives. So even if he reaches the full potential of incentives, the Rangers will be paying Jones about 10 percent of what the Dodgers are paying him this season. And yet, he wears Ranger blue and not Dodger blue.

Talk about a bargain.

So far this season Jones has played in only 46 games. He is currently batting .250 (.097 higher than 2008) with 40 hits (nine more than 2008), 29 runs (eight more), 14 home runs (11 more), 34 RBI (20 more) and already three steals.

Put it this way: In 2008 Andruw Jones hit three home runs for the Dodgers, all on the road, so he hit zero in the city of Los Angeles last season. In the past two days Jones has hit four home runs in the city of Los Angeles, and his three in last night's game was the same amount he hit for the Dodgers in all of 2008.

And again, he is not wearing Dodger blue—he is wearing Ranger blue.

Welcome Back, Josh Hamilton

Matthew Irby — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:27:16 -0400

Guess who’s back, back again, Hambone’s back, tell a friend.

Sorry, I started singing that Monday night when Josh returned to the lineup, so I had to use it.

Now with that fun out of the way, let the real fun begin. You heard it right, Josh Hamilton is back from his surgery, he is back from being on the disabled list for the second time this year, and hopefully the Hamilton from last year is back.

And say what you want about him starting in the All-Star game, he got voted in according to the rules laid out and he is going to play. The argument why he shouldn’t is another article for another day.

I know it has been only two games, but the early returns lean toward Hamilton not only looking healthy, but looking like his old self.

Hamilton returned to the lineup on Monday for the first time since May 31 against the Oakland A’s. He went 2-4 hitting in each of his first two at-bats. In his first at-bat, Hamilton smashed a single off of Jered Weaver right back up the middle.

Hank Blalock batted next and singled up the middle as well, scoring Michael Young. Hamilton took off running and headed for third base, forcing center fielder Torii Hunter to make the throw.

Hunter’s throw one-hopped third baseman Chone Figgins and skipped right past him. Hamilton got up and ran home without a throw.

This turned a simple RBI single into a 2-0 Ranger lead in the top of the first inning.

In his second at-bat, he slapped a double down the right-field line, but would be stranded on the base path.

On the down side of his return, Hamilton would strike out in his final two at-bats.

On Tuesday, Hamilton picked right back up where he left off. He would not record any extra base hits, but did notch singles in each of his first three at-bats and stole his fourth base of the season.

He would also ground out to first and draw an intentional walk.

So through his first two games back, Hamilton is batting .625 (5-for-8), slugging .750, he scored twice and stole a base.

In the two games, Hamilton has raised his batting average on the year from .240 to .263. He is also batting .833 (5-for-6) when putting the ball in play since returning.

Okay, I know that this is a small sample, and we have to see how he is doing in the long run to see if he is fully recovered. However, I would much rather be giving you these positive stats as opposed to bringing you a hitless slump or 3-4 strikeouts.

The matter of the fact is that the Rangers need Hamilton in the lineup. Texas is one game under .500 with him out of the lineup, and 11 games over .500 when he is in the lineup.

I know he has been struggling, but we are a better team with him, no matter if his average has been down in the .240s.

Just having his presence in the lineup picks up the other players, it forces other teams to adjust their defense, and makes pitchers re-think their game plans. That’s what players like Hamilton bring to the lineup.

So we don’t know for certain yet if he is 100 percent back, healthy, and the 2008 Hamilton version, but I like what I see so far.

Texas Rangers' Week Thirteen Review: Texas Heat Smolders Halos and Rays

Matthew Irby — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:56:34 -0400

The Texas Rangers came into the series hosting the Angels at the end of a terrible June. For the month, Texas had a losing record, the worst hitting, and worst on-base percentage. And worst of all they had lost their lead over the Angels.

Down 1.5 games to the Angels, and the Mariners only 2.5 behind Texas, the Rangers needed a big showing against the defending AL West champ Angels and defending AL champ Rays.

Monday: L, 2-5 (40-35)

The Rangers jumped out early with back-to-back solo home runs from David Murphy and Marlon Byrd in the third inning. However, for the struggling Rangers' offense, that would be all they would score against the Angels. They went 0-5 with runners in scoring position.

Rangers starter Vicente Padilla held on strong for five innings, but could not record a single out in the top of the sixth before the Angels notched four runs. This was highlighted by a two-run homer from Juan Rivera, followed by a solo shot from Kendry Morales.

Just like all of June, the Rangers' offense failed to continue any momentum, and the starter couldn’t hold a slight lead.

Tuesday: W, 9-5 (41-35)

Now trailing the Angels by 2.5 games, the Rangers needed the bats to come back to life and the starter to last through much of his start. On Tuesday night they got exactly that.

Scott Feldman took the mound, and eventhough he struggled in the second inning by allowing three runs and having a high pitch count, he bounced back to pitch four scoreless innings for the six-inning win.

The Rangers' offense wasted no time scoring three runs off Angels' starter Joe Saunders in the first inning thanks to home runs from Ian Kinsler and Byrd.

Texas took the lead back in the third with a solo shot from Nelson Cruz, his 19th of the season. The Rangers completed the onslaught on Saunders with a four-run fourth inning, highlighted by a three-run bomb from Byrd, his seventh of the season and second of the game.

Texas added another run in the seventh with a solo blast by Murphy, the teams fifth home run of the contest.

Wednesday: W, 9-7 (42-35)

In the rubber match of the series, two of the top six ERA leaders in the AL took to the mound, Kevin Millwood and Jered Weaver. Both pitchers were nearly hitless the first time through the opposing lineups.

The Texas offense struck first in the fourth inning with two runs, highlighted by Hank Blalock’s 15th home run of the season. The Angels cut that deficit in half with a run in the sixth.

But the Rangers blew the game wide open with a five-run sixth inning, giving the Rangers and Millwood a 7-1 lead. But it would not be enough to hold.

Millwood went out for the seventh inning but only recorded one out and was charged with three more Angel runs, bringing the game to a 7-4 lead.

In the ninth Ranger closer Frank Francisco took to the mound to seal the deal, but control issues lead to Vladimir Guerrero at-bat as the tying run with only one out. Francisco was able to strike out the always dangerous Vlad, but could not repeat for the final out against Rivera. The Angel outfielder launched a two-out, three-run, game-tying home run, a severe blow to the Rangers’ hearts and fans' nervous systems.

In the bottom of the ninth Michael Young lead off with a single and was sacrificed to second by Murphy. After Byrd could not drive in the winning run, Blalock took to the plate with two outs. The Hammer delivered with a walk-off home run, his second of the game and 16th of the season.

For the third time in as many series the Rangers took the series win from the Angels and improved their AL West record to 15-4.

Thursday: OFF

Friday: W, 3-1 (43-35)

After facing the might of the Angels, the Rangers got the defending AL champion Tampa Bay Rays. Lately the Rays have been on a tear, and the Rangers would face them without their aces taking the mound. Instead, they would face two rookies and a pitcher that started the season in the bullpen.

However Tommy Hunter, Derek Holland, and Scott Feldman were more than up for the challenge.

Hunter took to the mound in game one on his 23rd birthday and faced off against the hard-throwing lefty Scott Kazmir. Kazmir was good, but Hunter was better.

Kazmir has been dealing with injury issues all season and is beginning to return to his form from the past two seasons. He went six innings, allowing three runs (one earned), on five hits and struck out six. His one big mistake was a fourth inning two-run bomb by Blalock.

Hunter, on the other hand, went 6.1 innings, allowing only one run on three hits and striking out five. After Hunter, the Rangers bullpen of Jason Jennings, CJ Wilson, and Francisco pitched 3.2 innings of hitless, shutout baseball.

Saturday: W, 12-4 (44-35)

Both teams prized pitching possessions took to the mound in Holland and David Price. Holland was again a little shaking giving up seven hits and two long balls, but he threw 56 of his 92 pitches for strikes, went six innings, and allowed only four runs.

Price on the other hand never saw the end of the second inning. He was blasted for six runs on only three hits, but walked five Ranger batters in only 1.1 innings of work. Texas would eventually score seven runs by the end of the third, highlighted by a first inning three-run shot by Andruw Jones.

Jones lead all Ranger hitters going 2-5, one home run, and four RBI. Young also had a good night batting 2-5, scoring twice, and knocking in three runs. Cruz also recorded his team-leading 20th home run of the season in the fifth inning.

The Rangers' offense scored 12 times on 14 hits, five doubles, one triple, and two home runs. They also went a combined 6-15 with runners in scoring position.

Sunday: W, 5-2 (45-35)

In a crazy Sunday, the day started off with Josh Hamilton finding out that he was voted the starting center fielder in the All-Star Game by the fans. Young also made the team as a back-up. But the biggest snubs came when it was announced that Kinsler and Millwood did not make the team. Kinsler still has a chance as he is one of five players that can be voted in by the fans as the 33rd spot on the team.

After that the Rangers took to the field for the Sunday Night Game on ESPN. Texas improved their Sunday night ESPN record to 2-0, as they beat the White Sox earlier in the season.

Texas offense got started early in this one scoring in each of the first four innings. More impressively this win was done without the use of the long ball, Texas scored three times on sacrifice flies.

Three and four hitters Murphy and Byrd highlighted this with a combined 4-5, BB, 3 RBI, and 2 sacrifice flies.

Feldman had another solid outing, going six innings and allowing two runs (one earned). At times he was a little shaky as he walked four Rays, allowed a double steal that lead to both runs, and needed 105 pitches to go six innings.

With the win, Feldman tied his career high with seven wins, the Rangers swept the AL defending champs, and they also tied the Angels atop the AL West.

The final piece of news came later as the Rangers announced with the activation of Hamilton for the series in Los Angeles and Seattle, they would be demoting the season-long slumping Chris Davis.

The Rangers take to Los Angeles tonight for a three-game series against the Angels, followed by four games in Seattle before the All-Star break.

With this five-game winning streak, the Rangers have pulled back to a tie with the Angels (45-35), the Mariners trail both teams by 3.5 at (42-39), and the A’s are all but written off at (34-46)—a total of 11 games back.

The Rangers need a good showing from the offense, continued success from the pitching, and a healthy Josh Hamilton to close out the first part of the season on a winning note before making a run for the division in the second half of the season.

Hamilton Returns, Davis Demoted

Matthew Irby — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:04:21 -0400

According to multiple sources, the Texas Rangers will be activating Josh Hamilton from the disabled list today. Hamilton has been traveling with Triple-A Oklahoma City the past few days as he attempts to return from surgery and his second stint on the DL this season.

He will be joining the team as they travel to Anaheim and Seattle for the final two series before the All-Star break. This activation comes only a day after Hamilton has announced as a starter in the Midsummer Classic, an honor he was given based on fan voting.

Hamilton has said in the past couple weeks he would accept an invitation to the All-Star Game if he was extended one, but that he would not compete in the Home Run Derby this year. So Rangers' fans, go ahead an exhale.

Don't look for Hamilton to jump straight into the lineup start and play all nine innings. He will see a good amount of time this week, but Ron Washington will likely not use him all the time in order. Hamilton will continue to get some rest.

With the activation of Hamilton, the Rangers needed to designate a player for assignment back to the minors. It was widely speculated that recently promoted outfielder Julio Borbon would be the odd man out. However, this what we get for speculating.

Not Borbon, but Chris Davis was sent down to the minors. Davis has been in a season long slump so far, he is batting .202 on the season and struckout 114 times so far. He has shown some power throughout the season with 10 doubles and 15 home runs out of his 52 hits, but only 33 RBI and 31 runs.

Davis has struggled each and every month this season: April and May (.200), May (.189), June (.220), and in only three games in July (.182).

This move might end of being the best move not only for the Rangers, but for Davis as well. He will get some significant time in the minors to work on the kinks in his hitting. Washington said it best, "We rushed him through the minors, he never got a chance to fail, make the adjustments, and then succeed."

With the demotion of Davis, the Rangers lose a huge glove in their defense. Hank Blalock will take over as the everyday first baseman and his backup will likely be Andruw Jones.

Rangers Look To Shake Their June Bug

Matthew Irby — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:14:32 -0400

First off, I can give you stats saying that this was not that bad of a month, show you that the Rangers are only a half game out of first place, or convince you that you need not worry the bats will return.

All of that is true, but your Rangers fans and you can take the cold, hard truth. As painful as it might be for me to say, the month of June was not good. It was not fun to watch at times, but let’s face it: June flat out sucked.

For years we have been known as a hitting team. Well, June was not one of our better months for hitting. The team batted a combined .225, which is good for dead last in all of baseball. That’s behind the Reds (.229), the Padres (.230), and the A’s (.232).

When it comes to one base percentage, 28 of the 30 teams were .300 or above, except for the Royals (.289) and of course, your Rangers in dead last again (.288).

The Rockies lead the Majors with 154 runs scored and 452 total bases in the month. The Rangers scored 99 times (t-12th in AL, t-22nd in ML) and had 337 total bases (last in AL and 25th in ML).

Now I’m not trying to say that all is lost and the season is about to coming to a crashing halt. No, not at all. These Ranger hitters are too good of baseball players to be stuck this low for the rest of the season.

At the beginning of the month, the Rangers led the AL West over the Angels by 4.5 games. The Rangers finished with a 11-15 record for the month and the Angels went 17-9, and gave them a 1.5 game lead in the West.

But June is over, July is here, and Hank Blalock’s walk-off two-run homer has brought the Rangers to within only a half game of the Angels.

Josh Hamilton has been hurt, Ian Kinsler is slumping, Nelson Cruz is slumping, Hank Blalock is slumping, Chris Davis has been slumping all season, and even Andruw Jones is slumping. Don’t worry; not all these guys will stay like this the rest of the season.

And as always, the greatest thing about baseball is that tomorrow we play again.

Texas Rangers' Week 12 Review: West Lead Gone, But Not Lost

Matthew Irby — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:20:42 -0400

OK, first things first.

Yes the AL West lead is gone as the Angels have finally overtaken the Rangers. Being one and a half games behind the Halos is the first time the Rangers have been out of the lead since May 5.

Let's get the facts straight first.

The Angels are a good team and they are finally getting healthy. They have a starting rotation that rivals the best in all of baseball and some solid sticks in the lineup, but they are not unbeatable.

The Angels do not have as good of a lineup as they have had in the past few years and their bullpen has been and will likely continue to be a hindrance.

With that said, let’s review last week’s series in Arizona and then hosting San Diego. We'll then look forward towards this week’s three-game series against the Angels and Rays.

Monday: OFF

Tuesday: L, 2-8 (37-32)

Matt Harrison took the mound to start a three-game series against the Diamondbacks, but he didn’t last long. Harrison struggled right out of the gate and was eventually pulled before the end of the fourth inning. In that time, he allowed seven earned runs on seven hits and four walks.

The Ranger offense did not provide much help scoring only single runs in the third and fourth inning. Arizona starter Max Scherzer dominated the Ranger lineup for six innings as he struck out seven total.

Wednesday: W, 2-1 (38-32)

Vicente Padilla took the mound and went seven solid innings to snap the Rangers five game losing streak. Padilla allowed just one earned run on six hits and out-dueled D’backs ace Dan Haren. Haren only allowed two earned runs on four hits in his seven innings while striking out eight.

An RBI double from Taylor Teagarden in the second inning scored Marlon Byrd, and then in the third David Murphy’s RBI single scored Ian Kinsler, who had singled and then stole second.

Thursday: W, 9-8 (12) (39-32)

After what has seemed as a month long slump for the offense, the Ranger bats finally broke free, scoring nine times. It was the first time since May 30 that Texas had scored more than six runs in a game.

After allowing a two-run home run to Mark Reynolds in the first inning, Ranger starter Scott Feldman calmed down and only allowed three base runners and one run over the next 5.1 innings he pitched.

That was enough stability for the Texas bats to awake and take the lead back. The offense notched 15 hits, five doubles, and three home runs. Ian Kinsler scored three times, Andruw Jones drove in three runs, and Chris Davis went 4-for-5, scoring two runs, knocking in two RBI, hitting a homer and double to try and salvage his seemingly season-long slump.

The bullpen could not hold the lead and the game went into extra innings. In the 12th when Texas got two, two-out home runs, Davis (14, two-run) and Murphy (fourth, solo).

Friday: W, 12-2 (40-32)

Playing late into the night and then flying home from Arizona was not enough to break the hot streak of the Ranger bats as they dropped a dozen on the Padres in the series opener.

Texas had the bases loaded in each of the first three innings and scored nine of their 12 runs in that time off of the Padres starter, Walter Silva.

Finally Ranger ace Kevin Millwood got some run support. Millwood struggled with his command early, but finished with a quality start, going six innings and striking out five.

The Ranger offense was highlighted by:

Elvis Andrus—4-for-4, run, two RBI, triple

David Murphy—1-for-4, two runs, three-run homer

Hank Blalock—2-for-4, two runs, two RBI, home run

Saturday: L, 3-7 (40-33)

With the loss and for the first time since May 5, the Rangers found themselves looking up at the AL West lead.

Coming off a spectacular performance in San Francisco, Derek Holland struggled again in this outing. He breezed through the first inning, but after that San Diego hitters jumped on his first pitch strikes. He did last 5.2 innings, giving up seven runs (six earned) on 13 hits, however he did strikeout eight.

On the flip side Holland did become the first player in Major League Baseball history to allow 13 hits while striking out eight in less than six innings pitched.

The Ranger offense, again struggled to put hits together and get runners in scoring position against San Diego starter Kevin Correia. Correia went seven innings, allowing three runs on five hits, and striking out nine.

Sunday: L, 0-2 (40-34)

With Matt Harrison going back to DL, Tommy Hunter has to make an emergency start. Not only that but he was also making his case to not only remain on the big league roster but in the starting rotation.

Hunter needed only 94 pitches to go 6.1 innings, allowed only two earned runs on seven hits, no walks, and three strikeouts. Hunter was only beat by a Scott Hairston's fourth inning solo home run and Everth Cabrera's sixth inning triple.

Unfortunately for Hunter he got zero run support as the Ranger bats again hit rock bottom. Texas only scrounged a Michael Young single in the first inning off starter Chad Gaudin. Gaudin went eight shutout innings, giving up only the one hit, two walks, and striking out nine.

The Rangers finished up interleague play going 9-9, 5-1 against the Astros and 4-8 against the NL West.

The Rangers did finish 3-3 on the week, but with the Angels on another five game winning streak and finishing 14-4 in interleague the Rangers lost their AL West lead.

The Rangers continue their home stand with three against the Angels, a day off on Thursday, and then a three-game series against the now surging Tampa Bay Rays.

The Angels are currently 41-32, 1.5 game lead on Texas. Right behind the Rangers, as well, are the Mariners (39-36), three games out of first and 1.5 behind Texas. The Athletics (31-43) are now 10.5 out of first and might be out of the race in the midst of a five-game losing streak.

Texas Rangers' Week Eleven Review: Offense Slumping, West Lead Shrinking

Matthew Irby — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:48:54 -0400

After their difficult two week stretch in which the Rangers played four potential playoff teams, it looked as though the team would get a little bit of a break against two middle of the road teams in Houston and San Francisco.

However, with a 2-4 week that included being swept out of San Francisco and with the Angels continuing on their hot streak, the Rangers' lead in the AL West is only a half game.

The week started off great with two wins over the Astros and wrapping up the Silver Boot in the Lone Star Series again, but after blowing the third game, everything has gone wrong this week, especially the offense.

The Rangers are 7-11 for the month of June so far and in those 18 games, the team has only scored 59 times, that's 3.3 runs per game.

The biggest problem has been simply getting hits. Texas has only 129 hits in the month (7.2 hits per game) and twice already have pitchers had no-hit bids through at least six innings, Jon Lester (BOS) 6.1 innings and Barry Zito (SF) 6 innings.

Ranger hitters have recorded 592 at-bats in the month, giving the team a .218 team batting average so far in the month. How many thought that was going to happen?

Monday: OFF

Tuesday: W, 6-1 (36-27)

The Rangers got yet another solid outing from their ace Kevin Millwood as he went seven innings, allowing only one run on four hits and striking out six. His one run that he allowed was to former Ranger great Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez.

Houston's starter Wandy Rodriguez has had periods of some spectular pitching this season, however this would not be one of those games as he would not see the fifth inning.

Ian Kinsler provided the bulk of the Rangers bang with solo home runs in the first and second innings, his 16th and 17th of the season.

Wednesday: W, 5-4 (10)(37-27)

The night started off with Pudge receiving a standing ovation from the Ranger fans as he set the new record for career games behind the plate at 2,227. Pudge broke the record that was held by long-time Red Sox great Carlton Fisk.

However that would not be the only bit of history made this night.

Later in the game Omar Vizquel tied Luis Aparicio's for the most hits in a career by a native of Venezuela. Vizquel recorded his 2,677th career hit with a fifth inning single to tie the Hall of Famer.

The game ended in the tenth inning with a walk-off single from David Murphy, giving the Rangers their fifth win in as many games this season against the Astros.

Thursday: L, 3-5 (37-28)

The night started off great with the Rangers scoring three runs in four innings and booting Astro's starter Brandon Backe before the fifth inning. The Texas offense was highlighted by solo home runs from Michael Young (9th) and Chris Davis (13th), however that would be all the offense could do.

The Astros bullpen pitched five scoreless innings and allowed only three hits. During that time, Rangers' starter Vicente Padilla began to fade and the bullpen had no relief as the Astros scored five times from the fifth inning on.

With the loss, the Rangers couldn't close out the season sweep of the Astros. If the Rangers had accomplished this, it would have been the first time it happened either way.

Friday: L, 4-6 (37-29)

Scott Feldman took the mound against the recent addition to the 300 win club, Randy Johnson. However for the Rangers, Feldman did not have his best stuff and allowed five runs in six innings on eight hits and two long balls.

The Rangers finally got on the board with a Michael Young solo shot in the fourth and then a three-run sixth inning that took the lead. The inning was highlighted by Marlon Byrd's two-out, two-RBI double to put the Rangers in front.

After that the Giants bullpen only allowed two hits over the last 3.1 innings, the Rangers could not come back twice.

Saturday: L, 1-2 (11) (37-30)

This game would turn out to be one of the most frustrating losses of the season for the 2009 Texas Rangers.

Derek Holland took the mound for the Rangers, as did Matt Cain for the Giants. Cain was 9-1 coming into the game and Holland was 0-3 in his starts. However, in this game, Holland would match Cain step for step.

Holland had, by far, his best career start as he threw 95 pitches in seven innings, only giving up a solo home run to Aaron Rowand. Holland allowed a total of four hits, walked only one, and struckout five. Cain went eight innings allowing only three hits, one run, and struckout eight. His one run came off Ian Kinsler, his 18th home run off the season in the sixth inning.

Neither team could get any more runners across the plate until the bottom of the 11th inning when pinch-hitter Nate Schierholtz scored on a wild pitch from reliever Jason Jennings.

Sunday: L, 2-3 (37-31)

Looking to avoid being swept in San Francisco, the Rangers had their ace Millwood on the mound again facing Barry Zito.

In the third straight well pitched game in this series, Millwood went seven innings giving up only three runs (two earned) on eight hits and struckout a season-high ten batters. But he was outdone by Zito who went seven innings before even allowing a hit. After that first hit in the seventh by Young, Andruw Jones broke-up the shutout as well with a two-run, game-tying home run down the left field line.

The Giants took the lead back in the bottom of the seventh with Rowand scoring for the second time in the game and again the Giants bullpen would shut the Rangers down for the finally two innings.

The Rangers now get a much needed break with Monday being another off day as they travel to Arizona for a three-game series with the Diamondbacks. After that they team returns home for a home-stand that starts with three games against the San Diego Padres.

With the Rangers struggling, as the team has now had back-to-back 2-4 weeks, and the Angels have been one of the hottest teams in baseball, the Angles are closing in on Texas.

The Angels are now 36-31 and only a half game back on the Rangers. The Mariners continue to lurk close by at 35-34 and only 2.5 games back of the lead. And finally, the Athletics have fallen back to seven games back at 30-38.

Rangers Look To Shore-Up the Pitching Staff By Signing "El Duque"

Matthew Irby — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:13:09 -0400

Many sources are confirming that the Texas Rangers have signed Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez to a minor league contract. El Duque has been out of baseball since he pitched in 2007 for the New York Mets.

El Duque is being sent to Triple-A Oklahoma City, he will first throw in the bullpen and batting practice, and if everything is healthy after that than he will move to the bullpen. Likely he will start in the bullpen, but look for him to make some starts before the organization considers a Major League promotion.

Hernandez is 39-44-year-old pitcher that defected from Cuba in 1998 and signed with the New York Yankees. He has a career 90-65 record with a 4.13 ERA in his nine seasons in the Major Leagues.

In 2007, with the Mets he pitched 27 times and 24 of them being starts, he nabbed a 9-5 record with a 3.72 ERA.

Aside from the numbers, there are many questions surrounding El Duque ranging from his age to what he has left in the tank.

General Manager Jon Daniels has said that, "He was somebody we looked into during the offseason, but he was still rehabbing. Our scout in south Florida, Juan Alvarez, has a relationship with him and has seen him throw a few times and liked what he saw. He's healthy, he's motivated, and he's in good shape. It's an opportunity we wanted to give him. He wants to show he can still pitch."

If he can show that he is healthy and he can perform similar to what he did before the 2007 season-ending foot surgery he had, than Hernandez would be a great addition to the pitching staff for a run for the 2009 postseason.

Whether the team would use him in the rotation or as an arm in the bullpen is yet to be seen, but we will see in the upcoming weeks.

Whether this acquisition works out or not, this is a good, low-risk, high-reward move by the organization, similar to that of Sammy Sosa (2007) and Andruw Jones (2009). And I personally love this move and look forward to the opportunity of seeing a healthy and dominating El Duque.

Texas Rangers Draft: Day One Review

Matthew Irby — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 08:33:19 -0400

In the past few years, the Texas Rangers organization has had either multiple first round selections or four to five selections in the first few rounds. This is directly related to the organization’s farm system gaining the No. 1 overall rank for minor league systems.

This year’s MLB First-Year Player Draft did not have the depth of certain talent or big name potential players as it has had in the past. However, the Rangers still believed they could draft to build for now and for the future.

In the first round Texas held the No. 14 overall pick, and after that the team had pick No. 44—a compensation pick for Milton Bradley signing with the Chicago Cubs. In the second round, Texas would then pick 62nd and then wrap up the first day with the 93rd pick.

The Rangers front office and scouting department made no secret that the team was looking for pitching to help with the future plans of the organization.

I would love to tell you a Cinderella story of how Stephen Strasburg fell all the way from No. 1 to the Rangers at No. 14, but that just didn’t happen. Here is a rundown of Texas' first four picks in the 2009 MLB First-Year Player Draft.

Matthew Purke, LHP (14th): 6′3″, 175 lbs.—Klein HS/Klein, TX

Matthew was a very highly touted prospect and considered the top left-handed pitcher in the draft on a short list of possible elite lefties. He already has three above-average pitches, including a fastball that ranges in the low-90s but touches 95.

The only concern with Purke is his slender frame. However, if he bulks up, this young man has the potential to be a front-end of the rotation type pitcher. He initially was not expected to drop down to the No. 14 pick for the Rangers, so this turns out very well for our fortunes.

Tanner Scheppers, RHP (44th): 6′4″, 195 lbs.—St. Paul Saints

A former standout for the Fresno State Bulldogs, Tanner was selected 48th overall last year by the Pittsburgh Pirates but did not sign due to a shoulder injury. He has spent the past season in the Independent League with the St. Paul Saints and has found his groove again.

There is some concern with his history of shoulder injuries, but if he can stay healthy, this young man has the talent of a top 10 selection. Down the road, this draft pick could turn out to be a huge steal for the Rangers organization.

Tommy Mendonca, 3B (62nd): 6′1″, 200 lbs.—Fresno St. U

Considered one of the top three power hitters in all of collegiate baseball this season, Mendonca (pictured above) nearly looks major league-ready. The young man has the build, power, and athleticism to become a solid left-handed power-hitting third baseman in the future.

The young man also provides exceptional defense at the hot corner position. This draft pick is certainly looked at to hopefully be the Rangers' third baseman by 2011.

Robert Erlin, LHP (93rd): 5′11″, 180 lbs.—Scotts Valley (CA) HS

A fastball-throwing youngster with a very good curveball, Erlin dominated the high school ranks, striking out twice as many batters as innings thrown this season.

The big piece that the Rangers value out of Erlin is his superior command and his ability to keep the ball. If Erlin can learn maybe one or two more pitches, he could potentially be a middle of the rotation type pitcher for the Rangers.

The draft resumes today at noon, and during the next two days is when teams are looking for that diamond in the rough. Talent is not always found with all of your later round selections, but many quality and Hall of Fame type players can come out of the late rounds.

Texas Rangers Have A Rough Monday

Matthew Irby — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:01:06 -0400

Sounds like someone has a case of the Mundays, but in this case the Rangers organization had a legit gripe.

First the news came Monday morning that Josh Hamilton would have surgery this Tuesday morning to repair his abdominal tear. Early projections have him missing the next 4-6 weeks as he recovers from the surgery. I have already heard some rumblings that the surgery went well.

The bad news of this is that the team does in fact lose last season's AL RBI champ. However, let's take the positive spin here. The team has been playing well and winning games this season without much production from Josh. He has only been able to play in 35 games and is batting .240 with only six home runs. On the flip side Josh has produced 24 RBI and scored 20 times in those games.

The best way to look at this is for Josh to take his time, use all six weeks to fully recover from the injury, and then return to the line-up. Look at Josh's return similar to that as an acquisition made right around the trade deadline; however, this time we get back a big league slugger and give up nothing in return.

Get well soon, Josh.

The second bit of news on Monday was the good news for the day. The news was passed down that the Rangers front office will exercise Ron Washington's 2010 club option. Meaning that he will definitely be the coach for the rest of the season and I have very little doubt that he won't be here all of next season, if not longer.

This season Ron has led the team to 34 straight games in first place in the AL West. The last time the team was in first place that long was 1999. Coincidentally that was the last time the team won the AL West.

The third bit of information was more bad news and it was that starting pitcher Brandon McCarthy has a stress fracture in his right shoulder blade. The injury is similar to the injuries that he has suffered over the past couple years. The team is only announcing that he will be out for several weeks.

The organization is hoping that with time spent resting and on the DL that Brandon will be able to recover from the injury and return to the rotation in late July or possible early August.

Then came last night's game. Scott Feldman took the mound and had one of his rougher outings of the season. I'm not saying that he pitched poorly, he simply pitched poorly by Scott's standards this season. Scott's only real problem was that he twice walked Vernon Wells and Adam Lind followed with a home run.

The Ranger offense struggled to find a rhythm against Blue Jay starter Casey Janssen until late and then were unable to fully comeback from down four runs.

The bullpen provided little relief in this one as the Rangers eventually lost 6-3.

Bringing us to the final bit of information for Monday. Though it took place on Tuesday morning, the beginning of this must have started as late as Monday. The Texas Rangers have acquired relief pitcher Jason Grilli.

Grilli is a 28-year-old righthander that has been with the Colorado Rockies this season. Colorado had recently designated him for assignment in the minors, then before the Rockies could place him on waivers the Rangers made a deal to trade for Grilli in exchange for cash considerations.

Grilli's stop in Texas would be his fifth Major League team in his career. He made his debut in the Majors with the Florida Marlins (2000-01), and has since spent time with the Chicago White Sox (2004), Detroit Tigers (2005-08), and Colorado Rockies (2008-09).

Grilli was on the Rockies 40-man roster and out of options, meaning that the Rangers will have to put him on their 40-man roster and keep him in the Majors. If we attempt to drop him down to the Minors then he would have to first pass through waivers.

It is very likely that the Rangers will release righthander Kris Benson to make room for Grilli, although no official word on that yet.

It was a busy day and a half for the Rangers organization that brought more bad news than anything, but that is the great thing about baseball. Yesterday is history, today is already here, and tomorrow we play a new game.

Texas Rangers' Week Nine Review: 3-3 Northeast Road Trip

Matthew Irby — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 18:34:11 -0400

Still with a 4.5 game lead in the AL West on the Angels, the Rangers went into week nine of the season with a trip to the Northeast to square off with the Yankees and Red Sox.

This would be an important week for the team as the next two weeks were against the leaders in the AL East and the Dodgers with their best record in baseball.

Monday: OFF

Tuesday: L, 3-12 (30-21)

In an interesting night in the Bronx the Rangers starter Vicente Padilla could not finish out the fourth inning and the Yankees eventually scored seven times. During the inning, tempers nearly boiled over as Padilla beaned Mark Teixiera for the second time in as many plate appearances.

The Rangers lone highlight of the evening was a three-run home run by Nelson Cruz, his 15th of the season.

Wednesday: W, 4-2 (31-21)

Needing some kind of spark the Rangers offense scored all four runs in the first two innings, including a three run first. That was all the run support that Scott Feldman needed as we maneuvered his way through the Yankee lineup.

Feldman pitched 6.1 innings, allowed only two runs (both earned) on five hits, and struck out five as well. With the win he improves his season record to 5-0. Frank Francisco came in the game in the ninth for his 12th save of the season.

Thursday: L, 6-8 (31-22)

Yankee pitcher Chien-Ming Wang got the start and the Ranger bats greeted him with another poor outing. By the time he was chanced from the game in the fifth inning the Rangers held a 5-1 lead.

But in the bottom of the fifth everything fell apart for Brandon McCarthy who was pitching a very solid game up until then. The Yankees scored five runs in the inning to take the lead back.

Texas would tie it back in the top of the sixth on a solo home run by Ian Kinsler, but the bullpen could not hold out. The Yankees scored twice in the eighth and closer Mariano Rivera survived a scare by the Ranger bats to close out the game and series.

Friday: W, 5-1 (32-22)

Again the Rangers needed a bounce back performance and this time they turned to the pitching staff's ace, Kevin Millwood. Millwood pitched seven quality innings, allowing one unearned run on seven hits and five strikeouts.

The run scoring started in the fifth when Elvis Andrus's epic battle with Red Sox starter Brad Penny ended with a two-out RBI single past shortstop Julio Lugo. On the very next pitch Kinsler blasted his 15th home run of the season, a three-run shot over the Green Monster.

Saturday: L, 1-8 (32-23)

Rangers' young starter Derek Holland pitched four quality innings, allowing only a Mike Lowell home run that barely cleared the fence. However, the Red Sox batters finally got to him and he never got out of the fifth inning.

Kris Benson came on in relief and fared no better, allowing four runs (three earned) in only 2.1 innings pitched.

Red Sox starter Jon Lester retired the first 19 Ranger batters he faced, before Michael Young's double in the seventh broke up the perfect game and no-hitter. Lester would go on to complete the game, giving up only one run on two hits and striking out 11.

Sunday: W, 6-3 (33-23)

In the rubber-match the Ranger offense struck early and struck often, scoring four runs in three innings. After Boston scored three runs, Texas held and increased the lead scoring single runs in the fifth and seventh.

Padilla made the start after many rumors had him either being claimed off waivers or being released by the Rangers. This time the Rangers got the good Padilla as he went seven innings giving up three runs (two earned) on four hits and getting his fourth win of the season.

The Rangers offense was highlighted by Cruz's performance as he fell a single away from becoming the fifth Ranger to hit for the cycle. Cruz's home run was his 17th of the season and tied him with Carlos Pena (TB) and Teixiera (NYY) for the most home runs in the American League.

The Rangers went up to the Northeast looking to both make a statement about their legitimacy in the American League and to get a hint of how the team will match-up with the other playoff potential teams.

With the 3-3 road trip the Rangers kept themselves ten games over .500 and are currently tied with the Yankees for the best record in the American League. The Angels (28-27) also went 3-3 on the week and continue to be 4.5 games behind Texas for the AL West lead, the Mariners (28-29) are 5.5 games behind Texas, and the Athletics (25-30) are now 7.5 games out of first place.

This week the Rangers come home for a four game series against the Toronto Blue Jays, where they will miss Roy Halladay. After that they will host the Los Angeles Dodgers in a three-game series, and that is without any Manny sightings.

Texas Rangers Should Send Vicente Padilla Packing

Matthew Irby — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:15:28 -0400

As multiple sources have reported throughout the day, the Texas Rangers have placed pitcher Vicente Padilla on outright waivers.

What this means for the team is still a little unclear, but here is what I know: If it's true that Padilla has been placed on outright waivers—he will be there until 1 p.m. Friday—he can be claimed by any team in baseball. The order of waiver pickup priority is worst to best record from last season, I believe.

If he passes through Friday's deadline, then the Rangers can send him to the minor leagues. However, because of his service time in the majors, Padilla has the right to decline the assignment to the minors and immediately become a free agent.

Additionally, this move does not take Padilla off of the 40-man roster.

Here are some statistics from Padilla's career and time spent with the Rangers.

For his career, Padilla has gone 89-82 with a 4.37 ERA. Opponents are batting .268 against him and a WHIP at 1.39. He has 907 strikeouts and 477 walks.

In his fourth year with the Rangers we has a record of 38-31 with a 4.96 ERA. He has 381 strikeouts and 209 walks in a Rangers uniform.

To say his time with the Rangers has been inconsistent would be fair when comparing his numbers by the seasons:

2006: 15-10, 4.50 ERA, 200 IP, .266 opponent's AVG., 1.38 WHIP, 156 K, 70 BB

2007: 6-10, 5.76 ERA, 120.1 IP, .299 opponent's AVG., 1.63 WHIP, 71 K, 50 BB

2008: 14-8, 4.74 ERA, 171 IP, .275 opponent's AVG., 1.46 WHIP, 127 K, 65 BB

2009: 3-3, 5.57 ERA, 53.1 IP, .277 opponent's AVG., 1.52 WHIP, 27 K, 24 BB

How many other pitchers in the league can be on one season, off the next, then on again, etc?

He had back-to-back one-hitter starts in the month of May, in which he accumulated 15 innings pitched and only one earned run. In his next two starts, he gave up a combined 17 hits and 10 earned runs.

Twice this season he has been unable to finish four innings; Rangers fans haven't had to put up with that from Kevin Millwood, Brandon McCarthy, Scott Feldman, Matt Harrison, or even Derek Holland.

Those are the facts.

If Padilla is either claimed off waivers by another team or asks for his release from the organization, here is what will likely happen.

Texas will have lost its No. 2 starter, and the starting rotation would likely consist of Millwood, McCarthy, Feldman, Holland, and Tommy Hunter. Hunter or Holland would either go back to the bullpen or the minors when Harrison returned from the DL.

Maybe it's not the ideal rotation for a team attempting to make a run at the divisional title and postseason, but because of Padilla's inconsistency it could work out better in the long run.

If Padilla is not claimed by any team and the Rangers keep him with the Major League squad and keep him in the rotation, then a message has been sent.

During the offseason, team president Nolan Ryan called out his pitchers, saying they need to be in better shape at the beginning of spring training, not the end. For the most part every pitcher in the rotation or bullpen has adhered to that order—everyone except Padilla.

Padilla still looks years older than his 31 years would lead you to expect. He looks tired, old, and fatigued. He looks like a pitcher getting beat.

Maybe his placement on waivers being leaked to the public will ignite his fire and the team can see the Padilla of old.

We aren't likely to know any more until Friday afternoon, but my decision has already been made. It was made before the season, and before last season as well.

Get rid of Padilla!

Send him to the minors and make him ask for his release from the organization. Close the book on a painful and frustrating chapter in Rangers pitching.

In fact, I'll offer to help get the guy packed and drive him to the airport if that's any incentive.

I understand that making such a move could hurt the Rangers chances in making a run for the divisional title and postseason. Still, his attitude and inconsistencies are too much to bear.

I'm not making a direct comparison, but doesn't this remind you a little of Sidney Ponson last season?

In my opinion, the Texas Rangers are a better pitching staff, a better clubhouse, and a better team without the services of one Vicente Padilla.

Texas Rangers' Week Eight Review: Winning Homestand Leads to 20-Win May

Matthew Irby — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 10:16:21 -0400

After the first month of the season the Rangers were 10-11 sitting 3.5 games behind the Seattle Mariners and one game ahead of the injury riddled Angels.

Everyone in the organization knew that something needed the change and the Rangers needed to start winning games and winning now. The team responded with the most wins in the month of May and the second most wins in a month in franchise history.

The Rangers went 4-3 against the Yankees and Athletics this week to bring their month of May record to 20-9. September of 1978 was the only month that a Texas Rangers team won more games in a month, that team collected 21 victories in a single month.

Many fans will remember last year the Rangers went 19-10 in the month of May after a rough start to the season.

Monday: L, 1-11 (26-18)

In front of a Memorial Day sell-out crowd of 48,914 fans the Yankees took an early lead and never looked back. Yankee starter Phil Hughes dominated the Rangers last season and picked up where he left off today, going eight shutout innings, allowing only three hits and one walk while striking out six.

Matt Harrison struggled early on the mound and could never find a groove as the Yankees notched 11 hits off him and 19 in the game. New York scored the majority of their runs going 9-20 with runners in scoring position.

Tuesday: W, 7-3 (27-18)

After getting slugged the night before, the Rangers came out today and popped the Yankees right back. Texas got off to a quick start with a 3-0 lead through four innings.

The Yankees got the three runs back and tied the game at 3-3 in the sixth inning. In years past when the Yankees have come from behind and either tied or taken the lead on the Rangers, Texas has folded up and eventually lost the game. That would be different on this night as the Rangers followed the Yankee rally with their own.

Texas scored one run in the sixth, two in the seventh, and another run in the eighth. The offense was highlighted by struggling Chris Davis driving two solo home runs in the fourth and eighth innings.

Wednesday: L, 2-9 (27-19)

In the finale of the series, Derek Holland took the mound for his second career start and his first at home. Holland was solid for five innings allowing only three runs to plate, but he went out for the sixth and wasn't able to record any outs.

New York would take an 8-0 lead before the Rangers got their only runs of the game in the bottom of the seventh when Ian Kinsler smacked a two-run home run his 13th of the season.

Though the Rangers only won one of the three games, the numbers make it seem like the Yankees dominated more than just one game better. New York out-scored Texas 23 to 9 and out-hit the Rangers 47 to 18. With runners in scoring position the Yankees hit .341 (14-41), while the Rangers only hit .143 (3-21).

Thursday: OFF

Friday: GAME ONE - W, 6-3 (28-19)

In the first game of a doubleheader the Rangers sent Tommy Hunter to the mound for his first start of the season. Hunter went 5.1 innings and allowed only three runs.

The Ranger bats were a little slow getting started in this one as Josh Outman was dominate for six innings. Texas scored two runs in the first on a Nelson Cruz double, but couldn't do anything else until Marlon Byrd hit a game-tying solo home run in the bottom of the seventh.

The Rangers completed the come-from-behind win with three runs in the eighth behind a two-run home run from Andruw Jones and then directly followed by Cruz's 13th of the season.

GAME TWO - W, 5-2 (29-19)

The Rangers didn't wait for the late innings to rally, score runs, and come from behind to win, they took care of business in the first inning.

After allowing one run in the top of the first Texas responded with a four run inning. The Rangers batted around in the first and the scoring plays in the inning were RBI doubles from Josh Hamilton and Hank Blalock with the final two runs being scored on a single by Taylor Teagarden.

Texas got another solid, quality start from Scott Feldman who went six innings and allowed only two runs.

Saturday: W, 14-1 (30-19)

After a difficult first inning for starter Brandon McCarthy that took a lot of pitches and plated a single run, the Rangers calm down and put an old-fashion whooping on the A's.

Texas had four separate innings in which they scored three or more runs. Texas accumulated 17 hits, seven for extra bases, six players had at least two hits, and three separate players had multi-RBI games.

McCarthy would bounce back from the rough first inning and go a full six innings, allowing only the one run, and surrendering only three hits.

The offensive highlights: Ian Kinsler 2-3, 2B, 2 BB, 2 runs, 4 RBI / Michael Young 3-4, 2 2B, run, 2 RBI / Elvis Andrus 3-5, 2 runs, 2 RBI / Solo HRs for Blalock (12), Byrd (4), and Cruz (14).

Sunday: L, 4-5 (30-20)

After the offensive explosion for B-Mac the night before, Kevin Millwood got zero runs in support during his six innings of work. Millwood only allowed two runs on five hits and both runs coming from solo home runs by Adam Kennedy and Jason Giambi.

Reliever Derek Holland allowed two more runs in the first of his two innings of work and Texas found themselves in a four run hole going into the bottom of the seventh.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia's two-RBI double in the seventh cut the deficit in half and then the Rangers got the next two runs in the eighth behind RBI from Blalock and Byrd.

However the Rangers could not full come from behind and pull out the victory as Frank Francisco allowed his first earned run of the season. In the ninth, Kennedy smacked his second home run of the game and fourth of the season to give the A's the eventual game-winner.

Though it started and ended with losses, the Rangers finished with a winning homestand and have now led the AL West for 25 straight games.

The Rangers are off on Monday as they travel to the northeast for series against the AL East powerhouses New York and Boston. This week will be another major test for this young team to get some perspective where they sit amongst the potential playoff teams.

With the 4-3 homestand and 20-9 month of May the Rangers have improved their overall record to 30-20, that's good for a 4.5 game lead on the Angels (25-24), 6.5 games on the Mariners (24-27), and 10 games on the A's (19-29).

Texas Rangers' Week Seven Review: Sweeps Week

Matthew Irby — Mon, 25 May 2009 09:03:00 -0400

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.

Texas Rangers Week Six Review: The Rangers are for Real

Matthew Irby — Mon, 18 May 2009 11:39:57 -0400

The Rangers went into last week with the lead in the AL West for the first time since the opening weekend. Holding a narrow half game lead on the healthier by the day Angels and the hot starting Mariners, the Rangers were hosting a three game series against both teams.

Almost all of national media outlets stating that the Angels were now going to take command and run away with the AL West division again. This was the Rangers opportunity to make a statement in the race for the West.

I said in last weeks review that this was a huge week for the team in their attempts to stay ahead in the AL West and get some attention as a legitimate team. Said that the team needed a 4-2 week to prove that we are going to be a contender this season, and how does the team respond?

They sweep the whole week, 6-0 over the Mariners and Angels. For those that were unable to either go to a game, see, or listen to the games this week, my condolence.

It was an incredible week, full of walk-off wins, multiple come from behind rallies, quality pitching, great defense all-around, some spectacular highlight reel defensive plays, and a Josh Hamilton 460-ft HAM-BOMB.

Monday: OFF

Tuesday: W, 7-1 (18-14)

This game marked the return of Josh Hamilton from the DL and Michael Young was back in the lineup after taking off three days to rest and recover. The Rangers and Mariners were involved in another pitchers duel with only one run on a Chris Davis's ninth home run in the sixth.

But the Ranger offense came alive with a six run seventh inning. The inning was highlighted by a Hamilton two-run, opposite field home run. Derek Holland got his first career win with 1.2 innings of perfect relief for Scott Feldman. Feldman got another bad luck no decision as he went 6.1 innings allowing only one run on four hits.

Wednesday: W, 6-5 (11)(19-14)

The Rangers came from behind three separate times to get the win in this game. Hamilton's fifth inning, two-run bomb was his second home run in as many days and fourth of the season, tied the game at 3-3. Next inning Elvis Andrus's RBI triple tied the score again at four.

The game eventually went to the 11th inning and the Rangers allowed a run in the top of the inning, but Hank Blalock's walk-off two-RBI double to deep, right-center field completed the third and final comeback of the game.

Thursday: W, 3-2 (20-14)

As if one walk-off win over the Mariners wasn't enough, the Rangers did it again.

Matt Harrison started, went all nine innings giving up just two earned runs on five hits and struckout seven. He was on the line however for the loss until the bottom of the ninth.

Blalock led the inning off with his tenth home run of the season, but Texas was still down one. After a double from David Murphy, Davis blasted a Brandon Morrow fastball to deep center field for the walk-off home run.

It was Morrow's second loss and blown save in as many days as the hands of Ranger bats.

Friday: W, 10-8 (21-14)

Coming into this series the Rangers led the Angels by 1.5 games in the AL West, this was a huge series for both teams to make a statement about the divisional race in 2009.

The Ranger bats would face the hottest Angel pitcher so far this season in Joe Saunders (5-1). But the Rangers wasted no time welcome him to the Ballpark scoring two in the first inning, highlighted by a RBI triple from Hamilton.

Texas struck again in the third with two two-run homers from Ian Kinsler and Andruw Jones, Kinsler would later hit his 13th home run of the season. The Ranger offense also got another home run from Hamilton, his third in four games since returning from the DL.

The bullpen however struggled to close the game out as the Angels scored five runs in the ninth, but C.J. Wilson came in to stop the bleeding. Wilson is getting the saves as closer Frank Francisco went on the DL with elbow tennitis.

Saturday: W, 3-2 (22-14)

Angel ace John Lackey was making his season debut, but it didn't quite go as well as he was hoping. Lackey was tossed from the game two pitches in. His first pitch of the game was thrown behind Kinsler head, after the next pitch hit Ian in the ribs, home plate umpire Bob Davidson had seen enough and tossed him.

Whether he was sending a message to Kinsler who hit two home runs the night before, Lackey was still upset about his last outing against Texas last season (2 IP, 12 hits, 10 runs), or he was simply trying to establish the inside part of the plate the Angel bullpen had to go all nine innings.

Both teams scored all their runs by the end of the fourth inning. Texas played small ball with seven of their eight hits were singles and two sacrifice flies from Hamilton. Ranger starter Vicente Padilla struggled early in the outing, but settled down after four innings and was near perfect over the next four.

Sunday: W, 3-0 (23-14)

In the final game of the series both starter completed in a good, old fashion pitchers duel. Angel starter Jered Weaver pitched a complete game, allowing three earned runs on six hits and striking out seven. Weaver allowed only one hit through the six innings, but the Ranger bats got to him after that.

Murphy's sacrifice fly in the seventh scored Blalock. In the eighth the Rangers scored two more runs with RBI doubles from Kinsler and Marlon Byrd.

The highlight of the game however came in the seventh inning when Hamilton made a catch crashing into the right-center field wall that was best described by TV announcer Josh Lewin, "He is Superman!" Hamilton would leave the game at the end of the inning with what the organization is calling a strained groin.

The Rangers won all six games on the homestand against divisional opponents, they have won seven straight games, the team has won 13 of their last 15 games, currently lead the AL West by 4.5 games, and the pitching staff is boasting the best May ERA in all of baseball.

Things won't be getting any easier as the Rangers now travel to Detroit for three game series against the AL Central leading Tigers. At 20-16 they just came off a three-game sweep in which they obliterated the A's. After that the Rangers will travel to Houston and open up interleague play against the Astros.

With the sweeping of both the Mariners and Angels the Rangers have put 4.5 game between themselves and the second place Angels (18-18), 5.5 ahead of the Mariners (18-20), and 8.5 ahead of the Athletics (13-21).

Rangers "Walk-Off" With a Sweep Of The Mariners

Matthew Irby — Fri, 15 May 2009 10:23:45 -0400

Coming off the excitement from the night before when the Rangers defeated the Mariners in walk-off fashion. Hank "The Hammer" Blalock's two-RBI double off of closer Brandon Morrow in the bottom of the eleventh inning sent the Ballpark in Arlington into a state of pandemonium.

Wins like that don't happen every day, so there is no way it could happen again, right?

Texas and Seattle played a day game on Thursday, the Mariners looking to avoid the sweep and the Rangers attempting to improve their record against Seattle this season to 5-0.

Seattle sent their ace, King Felix, to the mound to face-off against Matt Harrison and his 19 scoreless inning streak.

Felix Hernandez started the year off 4-0 before losing last week to the Rangers and Kevin Millwood, the young phenom definitely was looking for some revenge for that outing.

Harrison was simply looking for zeros, the only two pitchers in baseball this season with longer scoreless streaks are Zack Grienke and Hernandez.

Hernandez who struggled in his first outing against the Rangers was on today, going seven scoreless innings, alllowing only four hits, none for extra bases, and striking out six.

Harrison keep his scoreless inning streak going for three more innings, until the fourth when the Mariners put two on him. His streak ended at 22 innings, tying Hernandez mark for the second longest of the season.

However, Matt would again complete what he had started, pitching another complete game (his second consecutive), allowing only five hits and striking out seven. Three of the five hits he allowed came in the fourth when the Mariners scored their two runs.

Another superb outing from Harrison, but going into the ninth he was on the hook for the loss, unless the bats could rescue him.

Again Seattle sent their closer Morrow to the mound looking for some redemption after the night before, and as fate would have it the first batter he faced was The Hammer.

Like the night before, Morrow used 96 and 97 mph fastballs and worked the count full, when The Hammer took the payoff pitch for a ride.

Hank's 10th home run of the season was a bomb eight rows up in the right field upper deck home run porch. Though it was only a solo home run and the Rangers still trailed 2-1, the feeling around the park and in the home dugout was of another rally.

Texas rallied from behind three times in the game the night before, won in walk-off fashion, and it seemed as though it was happening again.

To bring the team back down to Earth the next batter Nelson Cruz flied out to shallow center on the first pitch and Morrow was two outs away from avoiding disaster.

David Murphy batted next as the potential tying run, he would see only fastballs as well from Morrow. With the count 2-2, Murphy lined a double down the right field line and the stadium was hopping.

Now the Rangers had the tying run in scoring position with only one out and Chris Davis coming to the plate.

Last night Davis set a new franchise record striking out in 21 consecutive games, so far in this contest he had yet to strikeout. Morrow again would only throw fastballs looking to get the free-swinging Davis to extend his streak.

But on the 2-1 pitch, Davis would later say he was looking for a fastball high in the strike zone, he got his pitch and "Crush" Davis blasted the ball to deep center field.

As soon as he hit it Davis flipped his bat and began his trot, a no doubt shot that won the game in walk-off fashion for the second time in less than 24 hours.

With the 3-2 victory the Rangers completed the sweep of the Mariners, improved their record to 20-14, and will now face the red-hot Angels.

The Angels are still only 1.5 games behind the Rangers as they took two of three games at home from the Red Sox.

The Rangers come into the series winning four straight and a 10-2 record over the past two weeks.

The Angels also enter the series having won nine of the last eleven games.

Both teams do have some potent offense but the real story line will likely come from the pitching match-ups. Friday Joe Saunders (5-1, 2.66) takes on Ranger ace Kevin Millwood (3-3, 2.92). Saturday John Lackey makes his first start of the season for the Halos against Vicente Padilla (2-2, 4.97), who is coming off back-to-back one-hitters. Finally in the series finale Jered Weaver (3-1, 2.45) will take the mound against Scott Feldman (2-0, 4.85).

This is a big series as both teams attempt to make statements about the upcoming race for the divisional title.

Rangers Walk-Off In 11th With Hank Blalock Two-Run Double

Matthew Irby — Thu, 14 May 2009 14:43:26 -0400

Leading the AL West over the Angels by 1.5 games and still unbeaten against the Mariners this year, the Rangers went into last night's game looking to continue their winning ways.

Texas sent Brandon McCarthy to the mound as he looked to redeem himself after getting blown-up in his last start in Oakland. Brandon also had a personal battle, he has yet to pitch seven complete innings in a Rangers uniform.

Wednesday night against the Mariners he was able accomplish both goals.

It took McCarthy 105 pitches to complete seven innings, he allowed only five hits, four earned runs, and struck out seven. The only problem for him was that three of the five hits left the yard and accounted for all four runs, Adrian Beltre (2nd inning), Kenji Johjima (4th), and Russell Branyan (6th).

Down 3-0 going into the bottom of the fourth the Rangers started their first rally of the game. With the bases loaded and only one out, Chris Davis single to right field moved everyone up 90 feet, unfortunately it was the only run of the inning.

However in the bottom of the fifth, a healthy Josh Hamilton drilled a line drive, two-run home run to the right field upper deck to tie the game at three. After a Seattle run in the top of the sixth Texas mounted their second rally of the game with a two-out RBI triple from Elvis Andrus, scoring Marlon Byrd from first.

The game then had four consecutive shutout innings, even though both teams had scoring opportunities in the ninth and tenth innings.

The eleventh inning started with Beltre reaching first on a throwing error by Michael Young, however instant replay would show that in fact first baseman Davis kept his foot on first and it should have been an out. But still it was a bang-bang, tough call for umpire John Hirschbeck.

After a Branyan sacrifice bunt, Wladimir Balentian drove a double down the right field line scoring Beltre.

Seattle sent out closer Brandon Morrow to shut the door in the bottom of the inning, however the Ranger bats weren't impressed. Texas started the inning off with a Young single, followed by him stealing second, and then Hamilton drawing a walk.

Andruw Jones then flew out to center field, but still the Rangers had the tying run at second and winning run at first. Hank Blalock then came to the plate looking to change his dismissal 0-5, two strikeout outing and become the hero.

On a 1-0 pitch he did just that, driving a 97-mph fastball to the right-center field gap scoring both Young and Hamilton with ease.

It was another huge win for the Rangers and the fans that stuck around for all 3 hours and 29 minutes of baseball. The win improved the Rangers record to 19-14, with the Angels win over the Red Sox the Rangers stayed 1.5 games ahead in the AL West.

The Rangers have not only won their last three games, but nine of their last eleven and boast a .750 winning percentage in the month of May, so far.