Prince Fielder hits HR #2 Saturday night

The Rangers just concluded a very succesful 10 game homestand. They went 7-3 in the homestand and won all three series. They took 2 of 3 from the Houston Astros, 3 of 4 from the Seattle Mariners, and 2 of 3 from the Chicago White Sox. They did finish with a clunker yesterday in losing 16-2, but before that they had won 5 straight games. So before the Rangers head out to Oakland to start their series against the A’s we are going to take a look at the reasons why the Rangers were so succesful during this homestand.

• The pitching was superb. The outlier was certainly yesterdays 16-2 blowout, but prior to that the starting pitching had given up 5 runs or less in all of the games. Martin Perez really was the standout of these last 10 games. He went 8 innings against the Astros on Sunday and then followed that up with a complete game shutout of the White Sox on Friday night. He is really coming into his own this year and starting to look the part of a number two pitcher. This homestand also saw the succesful return of Colby Lewis. He went 5.1 on Monday giving up 4 runs, and then followed that up on Saturday by pitching 5.1 with only 1 run given up. He has been superb with his control and his ability to get hitters out. The economy of pitches and being able to last deeper into games will come with time. Robbie Ross Jr. had my favorite moment of the homestand when he was taken off the mound after pitching 7.2 innings and he was given a slap on the back by Wash and the entire infield, and then given a standing ovation from the fans. He had struggled in his previous start, but was very dominant in his 7.2 innings. He allowed no runs, struck out 2, and was untouchable for most of the night. He did not follow that up as well. He pitched into the 6th, gave up 4 earned runs, but he did strike out 8. After getting off to a tough start the first week, the rotation has been very solid. That is with Yu Darvish missing the first week, Colby missing the first two weeks, and Matt Harrison missing the first 3 weeks of the season. Despite all of that they have managed an 11-8 record.
• The hitting also rounded into form during this homestand. They have been led by the top of the order. Elvis continues to hit as he has collected a hit in every game during the homestand except for both Sunday games. He was thrown out against the Astros after arguing balls and strikes, and then yesterday was shut down by White Sox pitching. Early on in the season Elvis has been the team’s MVP. He is doing everything necessary to help the team win. He is hitting, stealing bases, and playing superb defense. He is giving the middle of the order opportunities to drive in runs. Rios, Fielder, and Kouzmanoff are cooperating in that category as they have driven in 25 runs between them. That is almost 1/3 of the team’s runs driven in by 3 players. That gives you an idea of how well Andrus and Shin Shoo Choo are doing of getting on base. Choo especially is doing a good job of getting on base. His OBP is .429, good for best on the team and 5th in the AL among players that have enough at-bats to qualify. He is doing exactly what he was brought here to do and that is to get on-base. He sets the tone for the rest of the lineup and everyone has followed his lead as the Rangers are now third in the AL in OBP at .343 as a team. These are no longer the free swinging Ranger teams we have seen in the past. This team is one that is not afraid to work the count, take a walk, or wait for the right pitch. They will be patient every at-bat of the game. The patient approach is helping them be able to stay in games and give them opportunities to score runs.
• The best example of this new approach working was Wednesday night against the Mariners. Felix Hernandez had pitched a great game and shut down the Rangers offense for 7 innings as he held them to one run. Going into the ninth the score was 2-1 with Fernando Rodney on the mound. He was quickly able to get the first two hitters out, but then Kouzmanoff kept the inning going with a groundball up the middle off of SS Brad Miller’s glove. Mitch Moreland then worked a 2 out walk on 6 pitches. Then, after an error on the shortstop to load the bases, Rodney was frazzled and he uncorked a wild pitch to the backstop that scored a run to tie the game. Finally, Leonys Martin had the walk-off single to give the Rangers a very unlikely victory. The most important at-bat though was Moreland’s though, because he put the pressure on Rodney and forced him to throw a strike. After his at-bat the crowd was back in the game and Rodney was unraveling out there. Moreland was able to show patience and maturity in his approach. I don’t know if two years ago or even last year if he would have been able to do that.
• Finally, I can’t really do a recap of this homestand without mentioning Kevin Kouzmanoff. He came up at the beginning of the homestand to replace an injured Adrian Beltre. The Rangers were not sure if Beltre would have to go on the DL or not, so they brought up Kouzmanoff to provide some depth. They immediately threw him out there as the number 5 hitter behind Prince Fielder. Teams then started to pitch around Fielder to get to Kouzmanoff. All he has done though is hit. Since coming up he is hitting .366, slugging .634, a 1.043 OPS, 2 home runs, 9 rbi’s, and 15 hits in just 41 at-bats. He has been outstanding. Up until yesterday he had got a hit in every game he played. That streak was ended yesterday. He has provided stability to the defense, and a threat to the offense. Teams will now have to think twice about intentionally walking Prince Fielder. He has been intentionally walked 8 times so far this season and many of those have come just in the last week with Kouzmanoff hitting behind him. It will be interesting to see what the A’s strategy is, because early on this season Kouzmanoff has been swinging the bat better than Fielder, so the A’s might take their chances with Fielder, rather than just putting him on. Adrian Beltre might be back later this week when the team heads to Seattle, but Kouzmanoff figures to be here to stay. I imagine his role will be right-handed DH and back-up 3rd baseman. Washington will want to get his bat in the lineup as well as try to keep Beltre healthy. So while Martin Perez was the story on the mound, Kouzmanoff was easily the top story in the lineup.

Rangers Road Trip Preview

• The Rangers behind a solid pitching staff and a resurgent offense was able to win 7 of the 10 games. Now they go on the road for 6 games against the Oakland A’s for 3 and the Seattle Mariners for 3. The A’s series is an early test for this Rangers team. The A’s are back-to-back AL West champions and early on are looking like the favorites to win the division again. It is the first of 19 games against these Oakland A’s. Nothing will be decided by these 3 games, but it is a chance for the team to see where they are at early on in the season. They will have Yu Darvish, Nick Martinez, and Martin Perez going in the series. For the A’s it will be Dan Straily, Tommy Millone, and Sonny Gray. It should be a great low scoring series. Darvish will look to shake his bad numbers against the A’s tonight. In his career he is 1-6 with a 4.30 ERA against the A’s. For the Rangers to win they need to continue showing patience at the plate and try to get to the A’s bullpen early. They also need to get on the board early. Establish an early lead for Darvish. In 3 starts he has yet to pitch with a lead. If they give Darvish an early lead that should give him added confidence and he might be able to carry it through. It will be a good game and if the Rangers can win it will be a good win. That game is tonight at 9:05.