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Make that 4 in a Row for the Rangers

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The Texas Rangers won their 4th game in a row last night 5-4 over the Tampa Bay Rays and secured a winning road trip. These past few games the Rangers have started to appear like the team that we all thought they would be. A good offensive team, with good starting pitching, and a decent bullpen. This week they have had all of those things. Ross Detweiler, Wandy Rodriguez, and Colby Lewis all combined to hold the Astros to 3 runs over 23 innings. Last night it was Nick Martinez who helped pitch the Rangers to a win. He wasn’t as dominant as the other three. He actually had to be taken out with 2 outs in the 5th inning. He had already given up 3 runs in the inning and had thrown 35 pitches and so manager Jeff Banister decided to go to the bullpen to help pick him up in that situation. The bullpen was able to come in and shut the door and help the Rangers get the victory. The Rangers now sit at 12-16 and sit just a 0.5 game out of second place. The climb to get back to .500 continues. It may not happen this quickly but they are starting to trend back in the right direction and reinforcements to the lineup are on the way.

It was a good win last night. The offense took advantage of their opportunities early and the bullpen was able to hold on late. The offense really made Chris Archer work last night. Archer prior to this start had been one of the hottest starting pitchers in the AL. He had a sub 2.00 ERA and lead the league in strikeouts, but last night the Rangers really made him work. They did a good job laying off the slider that was off the plate, especially Delino Deshields Jr. He had a great at-bat in the second inning when he drew a bases loaded walk that gave the Rangers their first run of the game. It was an 8 pitch at-bat that Archer really tried to get him to chase and Deshields refused and worked the walk. Choo followed that up with another walk to make it 2-0. Then Elvis Andrus lined a single up the middle to score Roughned Odor and Shin Soo Choo. It was a hit that in April the team couldn’t seemingly get. They would make the pitcher work, but then couldn’t follow through with a big base hit that plated multiple runners. Last night they did though. Prince Fielder also got a RBI single in the 4th following a Deshields walk that led off the inning. That made it 5-0 and would be enough for the win. The Rays made it interesting late with a Kevin Kiermaier home run to make it 5-4, but Feliz came on in the 9th and was able to lockdown the win. Still a long way to go in this season, but it is clear since the calendar turned to May the team has had a renewed energy and spirit about themselves. The body language has been better and they are looking like they are having more fun with the game. It seemed like at least to me in April that everyone was feeling pressure to deliver and when they didn’t everybody would just be feeling really down. No more though, the team is loose, they are having fun, and they are collecting wins along the way.

Other Game Notes

  • I said earlier reinforcements are on the way. It appears Mitch Moreland and Josh Hamilton will both be playing for Round Rock this weekend as they both try to make their way back to the big league team. Moreland if he shows he is healthy at the plate and in the field could be back as soon as early next week. I imagine with Hamilton the team will take their time with him, let him get back into game shape. It could be probably a week to 10 days for him, unless there is an injury that necessitates a roster move being made. It will be interesting to see who the Rangers decided to drop to make room for these guys. Carlos Peguero has been playing much better on this trip. He is 5-9 in the last 3 games, with 3 home runs and 5 RBI’s. I would have said him before, but not now. Deshields Jr. has been showing the patience that the team wishes Leonys Martin had. He has also been stealing bases and getting a couple of hits. It would be hard to drop him off the team. Kyle Blanks with the way he is hitting and being right-handed will not be sent back. It looks like it will probably Jake Smolinksi that will get sent down when Moreland is ready. I don’t know who when Hamilton is ready though. Stay tuned to that.
  • Nick Martinez was very sharp for 4 innings. He was doing what he normally does. He was pitching inside, pitching to contact, and allowing his defense to make the plays behind him. Then it all came unraveled in the 5th. He started to try to get the hitters to chase and was missing the plate. The hitters were being patient and they were taking advantage when he would fall behind in the count. It led to 4 base hits, 3 runs, and a walk. After 35 pitches in the inning Banister decided he had seen enough and brought Alex Claudio in to face James Loney, and he got him to ground out to end the inning. It is definitely a growing moment for Martinez. We sometimes forget that this is just his second season and he is going to have moments like that. The good thing though is that the team won and improved to 6-0 in starts made by Martinez. Hopefully he can learn from that and be better in his next appearance.
  • Tonight the Rangers go for win number 5. It will be Yovanni Gallardo on the mound going up against Nathan Karns. Gallardo has pitched well this season, but has not recorded a win since April 17th. He has mainly been let down by his defense in his last 3 starts. The Rangers committed multiple errors in each of those games. He is a pitcher that tends to get lots of ground balls and if the defense is leaky it can look like he pitched a lot worse than he actually did. If the defense can continue the solid play that we have seen in these last 4 games he should pitch pretty well. We shall see though. Game time is at 6:10 tonight. Go Rangers!!!!!!!

Rangers Win First Series of the Season

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Don’t look now but the Texas Rangers have won 2 in a row and 3 of the last 4. They won last night 7-1 against the AL West leading Houston Astros and are now on their first winning streak of the season. Prior to last night they had been 0-8 following a win. That all changed behind a dominant outing from Wandy Rodriguez and a solid offensive night. This win also marks the first series that the Rangers have won all season. They will be trying for their first sweep of the season tonight. The win improves their record to 10-16 on the season and they are now 7.5 in the division and just 0.5 game back from Seattle. It was a good night all around for the team as they played focused and hard. That came after their gritty come from behind 2-1 win on Monday night. Right now this stretch starting on Saturday Night with that 8-7 extra innings win against the A’s is their best stretch that they have had all season long. The offense has been more consistent, the starting pitching has been outstanding, and aside from a hiccup on Sunday the defense has been good. Does this mean that this team can compete this season? That will be determined by the team’s play over the course of the next few days, weeks, and months.

Instead of talking about the future lets focus on last night. They played really well from the first pitch to the end. The offense delivered with men on base and Wandy Rodriguez was nearly unhittable against his former team. It started when the team put up 4 runs in the first inning. Shin Soo Choo leading off the 2nd game in a row started the game with an opposite field double, then Andrus got a bunt single and advanced Choo to 3rd. Prince Fielder who has been outstanding with runners on base improved his batting average in that spot with a double down the left field line to score both Choo and Andrus and up his team high RBI total to 13. Carlos Peguero followed that up later in the inning with a 2-run home run, his first of the season. Before Wandy made a single pitch he already had a 4-0 lead. That allowed him to pitch free and easy knowing that he had a little cushion. He did allow a first inning home run to Luis Valbuena and he got into trouble in the second inning. That was when he allowed a single to Marwin Gonzalez, a double to Jason Castro, and then walked Robbie Grossman. That allowed Jose Altuve, who is a master with a bat in his hands, to hit with the bases loaded and either potentially tie the game or give the Astros the lead. Altuve has been excelling in these situations this season. He has a .429 BA with runners in scoring position and has 16 RBI’s. The score was 4-1 at that point. There was two outs in the inning and on the second pitch he left it high and over the middle of the plate. Altuve swung and lined it down the left field line and it looked for a split second like it might hit off the wall, but it curved foul into the stands. Altuve was clearly frustrated because he knew he missed one. On the 5th pitch Wandy Rodriguez got Altuve to hit a soft bouncer right back to the mound. Rodriguez picked it up and instead of going home, decided to turn around and throw it to first and was able to get Altuve there and get out of the inning unscathed. After that it was smooth sailing for Rodriguez. He retired the last 19 hitters he faced and overall the Rangers retired the last 22 batters that went to the plate. The Rangers did add 3 more runs to the board. In the 3rd Adrian Beltre hit a double past the third baseman to score Elvis Andrus from second. Then Carlos Corporan followed later that inning with a sac fly to score Beltre to make it 6-1. Kyle Blanks finished up the scoring with his team leading 3rd home run of the season to make it 7-1. Good night offensively, great night pitching, and no errors on defense. All in all maybe one of their best performances of the season.

Other Game Notes

  • I have to say again Wandy Rodriguez was outstanding last night. He threw 8 outstanding innings. That marks back-t0-back great performances from Rodriguez and on Monday from Ross Detweiler. That is coming against a team that had been on a 10 game winning streak. Rodriguez last night mixed it up very well between his overhand curveball and he was locating his fastball very well. I don’t expect that every time out, but when it does happen it is a pleasant surprise.
  • Kyle Blanks has really changed this team since he came up last week for the injured Mitch Moreland. It is going to present an issue for Jeff Banister when Moreland is ready to play again. Blanks gives this team the type of power that they haven’t seen in the lineup since Nelson Cruz departed two seasons ago. He is a threat to go deep every single at-bat. He also has been getting base hits and gives them someone from the right side of the plate that is a threat. He needs to be in the lineup every day. It will be interesting to see if the Rangers try Moreland or Blanks in left field. Unfortunately, both have a history of foot problems, so that could limit their options. For now though, Blanks continues to be outstanding and continuing to give the lineup depth.
  • Shin Soo Choo is back to being a leadoff hitter. That is where he started and played most of last season. Now he is back there as manager Jeff Banister is trying to jump start his lineup. So far so good. Choo who recently had been in a slump has seemingly come out of it since being reinserted into the lineup Friday night against the A’s. Since that point he is 6-21 (.286) and has upped his overall average to .167 on the season. He is seemingly seeing the ball better, taking more pitches, and making more solid contact. It has been nice to see him start to get back, because with and Blanks the lineup from 1-6 starts to look very good.
  • George Springer did it again. The Rangers have played the Astros 5 times this season and in 3 of those games Springer has recorder a highlight worthy catch. This is the one from last night.

 

 

 

That followed up the one from Monday night. Which looked like this.

 

 

 

If you remember he had the catch in Arlington off the bat of Leonys Martin that would have been a game-winning grand slam, but he brought back and kept the game tied and the Astros ended up winning. This guy is just remarkable in right field. The fact that this is just his second year makes me sick that as Rangers fans we are going to have to see him for several more years making catches like the two above. He did have to leave the game though after the first catch. He looked a little doozy from the collision with the wall. I imagine that he will be sitting out tonight’s game just to be cautious. Great catch though.

  • The Rangers go for the series sweep tonight. It will be Colby Lewis going up against Samuel Deduno at 7:05 p.m. Go Rangers!!!!!!

Rangers Let One Get Away

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I had in my mind what all I was going to write about a 5-0 or 5-1 victory over the A’s. I was going to write about how the team seemingly played with more energy, more crispness, and more focus. They did not struggle with runners on base and were able to score runs. It was going to be a good win to get this series started. Then, the 8th inning happened and it quickly turned from a sure-fire win to an inexplicable loss. It was a nightmare inning and it was much like the 8th inning they had against Seattle when they had a 10-5 lead late and allowed 6 runs in the 8th to lose it. This time it was 5-0 and they allowed 7 runs to lose it. This loss drops their record to an AL Worst 7-15 and 8.5 GB in the  division. They are going the wrong direction and just cannot get themselves turned around. I wrote these two quotes 10 days apart. This first one was from April 20th after they lost that 5 run lead against the Mariners in Seattle:

“The saying is that good teams find ways to win games and bad teams find ways to lose games, well this was a game that the Rangers found a way to lose.” 

I had this quote just two days ago after they got swept against the Angels.

“their bullpen has been good except for games when they have been needed to close it out.”

I think it is finally time for us to admit that this team is not good. They will Josh Hamilton back in probably 3 weeks, Matt Harrison and Derek Holland back in likely June, and Martin Perez in July. It will be too late though because this team is likely to be 15-20 games under .500 by that point. I am not giving up hope, but this team is not giving me much reason for optimism. This time injuries I don’t think are playing a part. They just are not doing what it takes to win baseball games. I was mostly disappointed for the offense last night, because for the first time in about 2 weeks they actually looked like they were having fun, and to have it all fall apart due to the bullpen was terrible. The body language that they exhibited in that inning was definitely one of depression, because they knew that last night was a game that they really needed.

If we just take a look at the first 7 innings, there were several bright spots. Colby Lewis was really dealing last night. He was locating all of his pitches on the inside and outside corners. His curveball had lots of bite, and he was able to get plenty of strikeouts. He ended up with 8 on the night. He was absolutely dominant in 6 innings and really deserved a win for his effort last night. The offense too. Kyle Blanks hit an absolute no doubt home run down the left field line in the 2nd inning, the only question was would it stay fair. It did and it was his first home run in a Texas Rangers uniform. Prince Fielder also hit a home run to straight away center in the 4th, his second of the season to make it 2-0. Then they were able to manufacture one more run that inning. Adrian Beltre singled following the home run and was eventually sacrificed home off the bat of Jake Smolinksi to make it 3-0. They added two more runs in the 7th. Roughned Odor tripled to lead off the inning and then Leonys Martin hit a sac fly to get him home. Prince Fielder doubled down the left field line, was pinch ran for by Delino Deshields Jr, and then Adrian Beltre singled through the hole on the right side of the infield to score Deshields to make it 5-0. At that point as fans we are thinking with Tolleson, Kela, and Feliz all still in the bullpen the Rangers should be able to get 5 outs and close this game out.

Shawn Tolleson started the dumpster fire of an inning by allowing a leadoff home run to Mark Canha. That was a bad sign that maybe he didn’t have it. He then followed that with a single to Eric Sogard, he got Sam Fuld to ground out, but then walked Marcus Semien. It was clear by that point that he was not locating his pitches well. He then got Billy Butler to strike out. His pitch count was at around 26 by this point, so Banister decided to remove him in favor of Roman Mendez. Mendez has been good, especially good with runners on base, but he sometimes struggles with control. If Tolleson and Keone Kela are your 7th and 8th inning pitchers, then I don’t quite understand why didn’t Banister decide to go with Kela in this situation. The A’s are a team that is going to take advantage of Mendez’s control problems and they did. When he came in the score was 5-2. He proceeded to walk the first hitter to load the bases. Then he gave up a single to Josh Reddick that scored Stephen Vogt and Marcus Semien. Banister then decided to go with Feliz to try to end this rally. Yeah that did not happen. The next two batters hit a double and a single to make the score 7-5. The only reason that inning ended was a caught stealing that was upheld on review. Kela may not have made things better, but he needs to be in those type of situations. They are not going to win a lot of games, but if they can develop Kela as a potential closer option for the future, they need to do it. That involves putting the rookie in high-pressure situations to see how he responds. He ended up pitching the 9th and went 3 up and 3 down. It was a terrible inning that cost them the game.

Other Game Notes

  • Shin Soo Choo was back in the lineup after getting two games off so that he could put some extra time in the cage with Dave Magadan. He responded by ending his 0-21 stretch by getting a double in the 4th inning. That was his only hit of the game, but as we have seen throughout Choo’s career, his hits come in bunches. Normally when a cold stretch ends a long hot streak begins. Hopefully that is the case.
  • Defense was much better tonight. 0 errors. That was a big problem in the Angels series, but the infield played much better tonight.
  • Elvis Andrus extended his hitting streak to a team high 7 games with his double in the 5th inning. His batting average during these 7 games is .321. That is the Elvis that the team needs offensively. The double showed the kind of spark plug he can be. He hit a line drive down the left field line and was sprinting out of the box and was able to extend what normally would be a single for most players into a hustling double. They need more of that.
  • This season is going to be a test on Jeff Banister and his #nevereverquit attitude. This team is going nowhere fast and reinforcements are still weeks away from coming. Can he get this team to forget what happened last night and move on to the game tonight? The team has talked about how they do not want to see what happened last year happen this year, but right now they are in a tailspin. They need a win tonight to stop the losing streak, because getting a win Sunday against Sonny Gray is not an easy task.
  • They have the right guy on the mound hopefully to help them get a win. Nick Martinez will be going for the Rangers tonight against Drew Pomeranz. Martinez has a 2-0 record with a 0.35 ERA. He has only allowed one earned run in 26 innings. He has been able to stay within himself and never let the situation get too big. The team is 4-0 in his starts this season. His previous 3 starts the team was on a 2 game losing streak, a 3 game losing streak, and coming into this game they are on a 4 game losing streak. Each time he has been able to end the losing streak. Hopefully he can tonight. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m. Lets Go Rangers!!!!!!!!

 

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Last night was the same as the other two games in this series. They got good enough pitching from Wandy Rodriguez and the bullpen, but the offense and defense were terrible once again. It has become a theme for this first month of the season. One that I am afraid will come to define this team if it continues. Last night they lost 4-2 to drop their overall record to 7-14 and their home record to 2-7. They are last place in the division and sinking fast. With they way that they have performed it should be no surprise that they only have won 7 games. Their infield defense leads the league in errors, their team BA is worst in the league by .013 points, and their bullpen has been good except for games when they have been needed to close it out. I will give credit to Jeff Banister, he is trying everything he can to change it. He has used I believe about 19 different lineups and has been more urgent in his bullpen usage, but to this point nothing has worked. Every game looks and feels the same. They get runners on base but cannot get enough hits to get them home. Prince Fielder will get on base with a single, but in the process kills the rally because he cannot go more than one base at a time. The Rangers will come close to a big home run but the ball will die on the warning track. Every game the same things happen. This could be just one of those transition seasons where the best players are all in the minor leagues, but are not ready to be promoted yet. Players like Joey Gallo, Jorge Alfaro, Nick Williams, and Lewis Brinson. They will be ready next season, but for this season they don’t want to waste their service time on a team that will likely finish last regardless of what those players would do. I know this is late anyways. That is all I will say about last night’s game. Hopefully May will look a lot better than April. At least we have a Josh Hamilton return to the Rangers to look forward to. No game today, they get back in action tomorrow night against the Oakland A’s at 7:05 p.m.

Rangers Offense is Offensive in Loss to Mariners

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It was another bad night for the offense. On the day that the Rangers and Angels finally completed the trade for Josh Hamilton the offense could generate only one run that came from an error off of a wild throw from shortstop Brad Miller. It continued a bad trend from their weekend series against the Angels when the Rangers just could not come up with that big hit that could blow the game wide open. I got the feeling that it just seems like they have the wrong people up at those opportune times, but then Prince Fielder struck out with Leonys Martin on second in the 8th. This loss dropped the Rangers to last place in the division by themselves at 7-12 and they are now 1-3 in this very important 9 game stretch. There is still time to rebound, but they must start winning tonight. 5 games under .500 is not impossible to rebound from, but 10 games under .500 pretty much ensures that is where you will finish the season. Right now, that is the direction the team is headed to. Still plenty of time to turn it around though, but it has to start now.

The team also fell to 0-7 on the season following a win. Much like the other 6 games that followed a win, it was their defense that put them behind early. In the first inning alone Gallardo walked the first two hitters, but then was able to induce a ground ball of the bat of Robinson Cano that should have been a double play. Roughned Odor bobbled the ball and was only able to get one. That allowed Cruz to knock in a run. Then Kyle Seager grounded to Mitch Moreland who tried to start a double play by throwing to Elvis at second and then back to Gallardo at first, but Elvis threw it way wide and that allowed Cano to come home with the second run of the game. Before the Rangers could bat they were already down 2-0. That was pretty much it as the offense could only generate 1 run.

The offense had opportunities, especially late. They had runners in scoring position in the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings. In the 7th they had two runners on and then Robinson Chirinos skied out to center on the first pitch. In the 8th Martin was on second with no outs, but Jake Smolinksi popped out to foul territory, Prince Fielder struck out, and Adrian Beltre grounded out to the pitcher. In the 9th they had runners on 1st and second, but Chirinos once again lined out to center field to end the game. They just cannot string enough hits together right now to have long rallies and that is a major problem, one that I am sure not even having Josh Hamilton in the lineup will fix. It has to come from the players already on the team. They have enough talent in that lineup to be able to score more than 1 or 2 runs a game. They have shown that as well. They scored 10 runs in a win against Oakland, 10 runs in a loss against the Mariners, 7 runs in a win against the Diamondbacks, but right now they just are not hitting for power or hitting really much at all. I know that these guys are trying, it is pretty obvious that they are. It just is a matter that right now what they are doing is not working. I don’t know whether it is the game plan or just their approach at the plate, but whatever it is it needs to change in order for them to start scoring runs.

Other Game Notes

  • Elvis Andrus even though he committed another error was actually a bright spot at the plate. He started to hit well at the end of the road trip and that continued last night as he went 2-4 in the game. After hitting .163 through the first 12 games, he has hit .312 (10-32) over the last 7 games. He is starting to heat up and may soon be moved back to the number two spot to hopefully form the dynamic duo at the top of the lineup that the Rangers were envisioning when putting together this roster.
  • Yovanni Gallardo wasn’t mentioned in the recap, but he pitched well. He came out of the bullpen and walked the first two hitters, but should have only given one run in the first inning. His defense failed him and contributed to him allowing two runs in the inning. He bounced back from that though and retired the next 12 hitters though and was able to pitch through 6 innings and record a quality start. It just was not good enough to get the win and so his record dropped to 2-3 and that makes two straight losses after two straight wins. Hopefully if he can pitch like this in the future that the offense can score enough runs for him to win.
  • Shin Soo Choo continued his slump as he went 0-4 to continue his hitless streak to 0-19 and his slump to 2-38. He is in the longest hitless streak of his career and his batting average is among the lowest in the league at .096. Throughout his career he has been as Jeff Banister describes it a “professional hitter”. I went through his career dating back to his time with the Mariners and I could only find 3 examples of stretches like this. In 2008 he had an 0-14 stretch. In 2011 he went 0-16 in a stretch  to drop BA to .217, rebounded to get hits in 20 of next 22 games. Last season he had an 0-17 stretch, but rebounded to get hits in 10 of 11 games. Normally he doesn’t stay cold for long and when he rebounds he just racks up the hits. The Rangers have to keep playing him, not just because of the contract, but because of the hope that today will be the day that it ends. Once, it ends I believe he will get the stroke back and start lining singles and doubles into the gap. Until that point it will be hard to watch. It seems like doesn’t have a coherent strategy at the plate. For example in the 9th inning he came up and tried to bunt on the first pitch. The only thing a bunt would have accomplished is get them an out closer to losing the game. The pitch was a strike and he then ended up striking out on 3 pitches. It was pathetic to watch. I still have hope that he can turn it around, just based on his track record. Lets hope that is starts tonight.
  • Before the game the Rangers made a move with their bullpen in sending Tanner Scheppers down to Round Rock and promoting left-handed reliever Alex Claudio. This gives the team a left-hander in the bullpen for the first time all season. It also allows Scheppers to go down to the minors and work on his control in a more low pressure environment. Since coming up 10 days ago he has been very erratic. He had that appearance in Seattle where he walked the bases loaded. He also had an appearance over the weekend where he walked two batters and hit another batter and had to be relieved by Anthony Bass. It appears the Rangers just didn’t think he would be able to find his control in the major league games, but they don’t think he will be down for long and neither do I. If he can go down to Round Rock and do well for a week to 10 days, I would not be surprised if they brought him right back up in that period of time. Better to lose him for 10 days than not have him pitch well all season long.
  • Finally, the Josh Hamilton presser. After watching it and seeing the joy on Hamilton’s face I am glad that he is back. This is where he belongs and I hope the Ranger fans will show him the appreciation he deserves in his first game back sometime next month. I don’t know how good he will be, but I do know that he will give everything he has to this team. Will it be enough to make a difference in a playoff race, who knows? Any fan who doesn’t say that they are intrigued or excited about it is lying. This is the most interesting story revolving around this team for the next 5 months. It may impact the development of prospects like Ryan Rua in the short term, but if Rua plays well in the time he is given they will find a spot for him. It will be up to Rua to determine how much playing time he will get. I still believe it will be somewhat of a platoon between him and Hamilton. I am excited and I really do hope he plays well. I look forward to seeing him once again in a Texas Rangers uniform.
  • Tonight is game two of the series between the Mariners and the Rangers. It will be J.A. Happ of the Mariners going up against Ross Detweiler of the Rangers. A battle of young left-handers. The Rangers have struggled against left-handers so far this season and Ross Detweiler has struggled against everyone he has faced. The Rangers face an uphill battle tonight, but one they need to win especially with Felix Hernandez on the mound tomorrow night. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m. Lets Go Rangers!!!!!!

Texas Rangers Week 3 Roundup

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As I type this it has been made official that Josh Hamilton will be apart of the Texas Rangers. That will be the most interesting story once he is activated off the DL in mid-to late May. If you want to read all my thoughts on this trade I wrote about it on Friday night once it looked like this was going to happen. As far as this past week is concerned the team went 2-3. They split their series with the Arizona Diamondbacks and lost 2 of 3 to the Angels. They ended the week on a high note by coming back to win an extra innings affair with the Angels to finish the 8 game roadtrip 3-5. It was an inconsistent week. The offense for the most part struggled mightily with runners in scoring position. They only had 1 hit till Mitch Moreland’s single with two outs in the 9th that tied the game. It was glaring to watch this past weekend the team come up multiple times in key spots and only be able to score when the Angels made a mistake like a walk, hit-by-pitch, or a wild pitch. This is going to have to change if the team is going to win games moving forward. The Josh Hamilton trade may or may not help, but this offense needs to get better all around. It is up to the players to improve.

A player that could change the entire look of the offense is Shin Soo Choo. He started to draw more walks this past weekend, which is a positive. Hopefully that means that he is seeing the ball better. If that is happening then it may mean he is not too far away from reverting back to the gap hitter that the Rangers thought they were hitting. It seems like he has come up in numerous spots and not been able to come through. I feel like the offense is a consistent Shin Soo Choo away from really exploding. Elvis Andrus went 4-12 over the weekend, which constitutes a little bit of hot streak for him. Mitch Moreland and Leonys Martin have been hitting well now for the last two weeks. Prince Fielder has been consistently good all season. Adrian Beltre is starting to warm up. If Choo can join these guys this offense can be good even before Hamilton gets here. Then Hamilton doesn’t have to be looked at as the savior of the team. He can just do his thing and be another contributor to the offense.

Top 5 Players of the Week

  1.  Leonys Martin. I have got to go with Martin. He may not have the highest batting average (BA) for the week or the highest of other categories, but he is helping to drive this team. Nearly every rally this past week was either started or involved at some point Martin. He came through with the go-ahead HR yesterday against the Angels. He stole 3 bases, drove in 4 runs, tied for most hits on the team for the week, tied for most total bases, and saw more pitches in his plate appearances than anyone on the team. He is starting to become what the Rangers need in their leadoff hitter. It has been great to see him take that next step. Manager Jeff Banister demoted him after a slow start in the first week and a half. Since being reinserted as leadoff hitter he has been more patient, he has used the bunt more, and he has been hitting well against both left-handers and right-handers. That is why he was my top player for the week.
  2. Mitch Moreland. It was a tossup in my mind between him and Martin. I guess what swayed me was the home run yesterday afternoon and the fact that Moreland only had pinch hitting appearances in Arizona. Moreland in only 13 at-bats had 5 hits, 2 doubles, 3 rbi’s, and a .438 OBP. He was outstanding over the weekend. Martin had the go-ahead hit, but it would not have got to that point unless Moreland has the game-tying hit with two outs in the 9th inning. It was the exact opposite of what the team had done all weekend. Instead of flying out or grounding out, Moreland hit a hard single through the infield. Moreland, finally healthy for the first time in a few years, is starting to figure it out. He is able to hit it to all fields now. It seemed prior to this season that he was strong. His home runs to right field were bombs, but he was just that a dead pull home-run hitter. That cannot be counted on consistently. That is why he would struggle with a low .200 BA. Banister feels like he can hit him wherever he needs him as well. He is providing consistent production and that is what this team really needs.
  3. Nick Martinez. He continues his hot start to the season. He went 1-0, but the team went 2-0 in his starts this past week. He finally gave up an earned run against the Diamondbacks on Tuesday. That was it though. He pitched 12 innings this week with only 1 earned run. Overall he has 26 innings with only 1 earned run and a 0.35 ERA. He has not been a dominant starter such as Yu Darvish, but he has been able to make the right pitch when needed. He has the ability to run his fastball in on right-handers and cause them to hit easy grounders or pop-ups. He will not pitch like this all season, but he will be good. He does not fold when the pressure is on, that is often times when he pitches his best. He gave up 3 base hits to Kole Calhoun yesterday, but was able to always get out of the jam. That was especially difficult with Mike Trout and Albert Pujols being the next two hitters in the lineup. Right now the team is also 4-0 in his starts compared to 3-11 in everyone else’s. It has been great to watch such a young pitcher make drastic improvements in such a short period of time. I am looking forward to seeing what else he can do this season.
  4. Adrian Beltre. Beltre went into Arizona in the middle of a drought. He was in the middle of a 4-33 slump. That changed though this week as time off and time in the cage helped to improve his batting average. He had a .316 BA, 1 home run, 1 RBI, 10 total bases, and played some stellar defense at 3rd. He started double plays off of line drives on both Saturday and Sunday. He also stole his first base of the season. He is starting to look the Adrian Beltre that we have come to know and love these past 4 seasons.
  5. Prince Fielder. I have had Fielder higher in past columns this season, and it is not that he has been bad, it is that other players are starting to play well too. Fielder had a week like any other. He hit .300, had his first home run of the season, 4 RBI’s, 10 total bases as well, and contributed, and had a .864 OPS. He was himself. Those numbers are very similar to what he has been doing. He is still hitting it to all fields and still providing consistent production from the number 3 hole.

A Look Ahead

  • This week they will face two 3 game series against the Seattle Mariners and Oakland A’s. Both of these teams are what many considered the preseason favorites to win the AL West. If the Rangers want to contend these are teams that they are going to have to beat to be real contenders in this division.
  • The pitching matchups in the Mariners series will be Yovanni Gallardo versus Taijuan Walker on Monday night, Ross Detweiler against J.A. Happ on Tuesday night, and Felix Hernandez against Wandy Rodriguez on Wednesday night. No easy matchups in this series. Hopefully Detweiler has used his time off to work on his fastball command. He was too often leaving it up and over the plate in his first 3 starts. He said after his last start that he had seen something on video that was causing his ball to stay up. The key will be keeping the ball down and getting ground balls.
  • The pitching matchups in the Angels series haven’t been determined yet. For the Rangers it will likely be Colby Lewis on Friday, Nick Martinez on Saturday, and Yovanni Gallardo on Sunday. The Rangers will have to get hits with runners in scoring position and be able to pitch well if they want to play well in this series.
  • The homestand starts with the Rangers looking for their first winning streak of the season. I know it sounds incredible that in 18 games they have yet to win two in a row, but it is true. They are 0-6 following a win this season. Hopefully that can change tonight with a win against the Angels.
  • The standings in the AL West look like this
  1. Houston 11-7  0 GB
  2. LA Angels 9-10 2.5 GB
  3. Oakland 8-12  4.0 GB
  4. Seattle  7-11 4.0 GB
  5. Texas   7-11  4.0 GB

Finally the GIF Of the week

 

 

 

The Triple M Boys and the Rangers head home with a W.

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It was a nerve-wracking game through all 11 innings, but it was a nerve-wracking game that the Rangers came out on top of with a 5-4 victory. That improved their record to 7-11 and they finished the road trip 3-5. There was a lot that happened in this game, but the most important thing was that they finally got a hit with runners in scoring position. All weekend long they had been scoring in a variety of ways like wild pitches, walks, hit by pitch, sacrifice fly, and fielders choice groundout. The only hit they had with runners in scoring position was an infield single by Prince Fielder on Friday night that he barely beat out. That changed though in the most opportune moment. Mitch Moreland came through with two outs in the ninth with a single through the right side of the infield to score Delino Deshields Jr. It was a great series of at-bats in the 9th. The first two hitters had recorded outs, but then Prince Fielder singled, Adrian Beltre singled, and then Mitch Moreland tied the game with his single. The game remain tied till the 11th when Leonys Martin hit a home run that landed in the front row of seats in right field to make the score 4-3. Then another two out rally happened. It started with a walk by Adam Rosales, who had come on to pinch run for Adrian Beltre, and then Mitch Moreland hit another single. Elvis Andrus was then able to reach on an error by Erick Aybar and that allowed Adam Rosales to score. Feliz who had come on in the 10th, stayed out for the 11th and allowed 1 run, but was able to close it out 5-4.

It was a great win in a season that has not had many of them, but it exhibited the quality that manager Jeff Banister is trying to impart on this team and that is never ever quit. Yesterday, the Rangers never quit. Even when the Angels had come back to not only tie it, but go ahead in the 8th, the Rangers never quit. They kept playing till the 27th out. Hopefully, a win like this can spur a good stretch on this upcoming homestand. They definitely need it. A 4-2 homestand would get them closer to being back at .500. A 5-1 homestand would put them right at .500. Lets hope they can take this momentum into this important series against the Mariners.

Finally, Nick Martinez will get lost in the shuffle of the comeback, but he pitched well once again. He maneuvered his way through different jams, and did not allow a run. Make that 26 innings and only 1 earned run. He has not allowed an earned run in 3 of his 4 starts.  It has been remarkable to see him pitch this way. Martinez may not have got the win, but the team improved to 4-0 in the games he pitches and 3-11 when anyone else pitches. He is keeping this team afloat with every appearance that he makes. He has been not only their best pitcher, but one of the best pitchers in the AL in the first month of the season. Hopefully for this team’s sake he can continue it, because reinforcements are not on their way for probably another month or so.

Now the team comes home for a 6 game homestand that starts tonight against the Seattle Mariners and then with 3 this weekend against the Oakland A’s.

Freese beats Rangers Again

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I really hate David Freese. It seems he exists on this earth to not just be a baseball player, but to also beat the Texas Rangers on a consistent basis. It started with Game 6 of the 2011 World Series and continues to this day as he now plays third base for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Last night it was him hitting a 2-run home run in the bottom of the 7th to put the Angels on top 3-2, which is where they would stay.  On a day that the news broke that the Rangers were going to acquire Josh Hamilton,the offense clearly showed that they needed him as they only scored two runs and could only muster 3 hits. The pitching was good enough as Wandy Rodriguez went 5 innings in his first MLB start since last May. The bullpen made one bad pitch, that cost the game, but other than that was pretty solid. It was the offense that really struggled once again as they were only able to score two runs. It is going to have to be better than this. They have got some tough games coming up and they will need to score runs to survive this 9 game stretch.

Wandy Rodriguez started this game for the Rangers and was good. He got better as he got deeper into the game. He was in bend don’t break mode as he was in jams in 4 of the 5 innings he pitched, yet he didn’t break and ended up only giving up 1 run. It could have been much worse. I even was thinking it is a miracle he has not allowed more runs. He kept pitching and kept getting guys out at opportune times. I believe he has earned himself another start. If he can do this then the Rangers might have found a decent pitcher off the scrap pile. His overall numbers in his first start since last May were decent: 5 innings, 5 hits, 1 run, 1 earned run, 3 BB, and 5 K’s. He got deep enough in the game that Banister could line up his bullpen to finish the game out. Banister was going to go Scheppers, Kela, Tolleson, and Feliz to end it. Scheppers got through the 6th with no runs allowed. Then it was Keone Kela’s turn. He very nearly got out of it with no runs allowed either. He took a sharp line drive back at his head, but was able to avoid the ball and catch it was his glove. He then turned around and had Mike Trout doubled off 2nd, but he didn’t throw it as hard, he kinda looped it to 2nd and Trout was able to beat the throw there.That continued the inning and allowed David Freese to then hit a two run home run to left center to put the Angels on top 3-2. The Rangers did make a late rally in the 9th trying to tie the game. They put runners on 1st and 3rd with two outs and Elvis Andrus at the plate. Andrus had a great at-bat, constantly fouling off several pitches, and on the 8th pitch he grounded out to of course David Freese to end the game. That dropped the Rangers record to 6-10 and started another two game losing streak. They have not lost more than two in a row, but cannot win more than 1 in a row. Hopefully this means that they will win today.

Other Game Notes

  • Prince Fielder had another multiple hit game as he went 2-4. One of those hits was an infield single that helped them score their second run of the game. He ran as hard as I have seen him to run to barely beat out the throw allowing Carlos Corporan to score. The other was a line drive to left center that was nearly a double but Mike Trout cut it off before he could reach second.
  • Choo’s slide continues. He is now 2-30 on only has 1 hit on this entire road trip. There was talk about national sports writers when news started to come out about the Josh Hamilton that Choo would have been involved in a bad contract swap. Unfortunately for the Rangers he was not. I am afraid this contract as well as Elvis’ are going to hang around the Rangers neck like an anchor, weighing this entire team down. Hopefully Choo can get it figured out and get back to being the on-base machine he was prior to coming to Texas.
  • Today’s game matches up the top two pitchers on the staff from that 2011 World Series team, Colby Lewis and C.J. Wilson. Lewis struggled in his last start against the Mariners. He was constantly up in the zone and was lucky to have only given up 3 runs as he gave up 10 hits and had two walks. It could have been much worse. Hopefully he can pitch much better than that. Wilson was able to fan 8 Astros over 6.2 innings in his last start. Neither pitcher has pitched well against the opposition. Wilson is 1-2 with a 7.36 ERA against the Rangers in 8 starts. Colby Lewis is 2-7 with 5.77 ERA against the Angels since 2010. It should be interesting to see either one of these pitchers can have success tonight. Game time will be late again 8:05 CT tonight. GO Rangers!!!!!

Josh Hamilton Apparently Comes back to the Rangers

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josh-hamilton

 

It hasn’t been made official yet, but from all indications it looks like 5 time All Star Josh Hamilton is coming back to the Texas Rangers. As soon as the stuff happened between Hamilton and the Angels before the season it really only made sense for Hamilton to come back to Texas. It was only a matter of time before the two sides made it happen. Arte Moreno pretty much drew a line in the sand with his many comments about Josh Hamilton after the independent arbitrator ruled that Hamilton could not be suspended. It was clear Moreno was just wanting a way to not have to pay his contract this season and to try to find a way out of it for the last two seasons. The arbitrator ruled that Hamilton had not violated the Joint Drug Prevention agreement and therefore could not be suspended. It looks like the long nightmare for the Angels is over and a possible redemption story for Josh Hamilton is allowed to commence. That is why this trade was made. According to many sources Hamilton is the only player being sent in this trade. The Rangers are picking up the last 3 years of the contract and covering 15 of the last 83 million according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports.The Angels will cover the other 68 million. It was thought this would be a way for the Rangers to get out of the Choo contract. It appears the Angels were not interested in trading bad contracts.  They were interested in only one thing and that is getting rid of Josh Hamilton. Now, don’t get me wrong I am not under any illusions about Hamilton’s skills anymore. It has been about 4 seasons since he was an elite outfielder. He has been steadily going downhill since. This is not about that though. It is about a man trying once again to overcome his demons and become a productive citizen and a productive baseball player. There are three things we need to examine here about this trade. We have talk about the baseball impact of this equation, when Josh Hamilton could possibly be available, and what we should theoretically expect from Josh Hamilton this season.

First lets take a look at where he would fit on this team. As far as I am concerned when he proves he is healthy and recovered from his shoulder injury he will come up and platoon with Ryan Rua in left field and hit some at DH. It does make their bench better as right now Smolinski, Peguero, and Deshields are their spare outfielders. It probably will mean Deshields or Peguero will no longer be on this team. Neither one has really done enough at this point to warrant staying on this team. I imagine when he does play Banister will hit him somewhere in the middle of the lineup like at 6 or 7. He still is a threat, but he is going to have to find a way to recover that bat speed that made him one of the most dangerous hitters in baseball from 2008-2012. I will be interested to see if put back into a familiar situation where he is comfortable if he can revert back to the Josh Hamilton of a few years ago.

The second thing is when will he be available. Right now I am thinking at the earliest he would not be available till likely early June. Hamilton is coming off shoulder surgery back on February 3rd and actually that surgery was done by Rangers doctor Keith Meister. It was said at the time he would be back in 6-8 weeks. It has now been 11 1/2 weeks. He did not have any spring training due to the ongoing issues with the Angels. I am sure the Rangers would like to get him a lot of at bats and a lot of time in the field to make sure he is ready. I would imagine they start him out at extended spring in Arizona and then get him into some games in a couple of weeks. From that point when they feel he is ready they will bring him up. I don’t expect him to be helping this team anytime soon. The Rangers are doing this to help them and help the team and he is no help to himself or the team if he is not 100% ready. They will take their time with him and not rush him.

The final thing is what should we expect theoretically from Josh Hamilton. To get an idea lets go back to his last full season which was 2013, his first with the Angels. That season he hit .250, with 21 home runs, 79 rbi’s, and 144 hits. He still has power, it just is a matter of bat speed. Pitchers in the last couple of seasons have just not thrown him anything in the strike zone. The scouting report says a breaking ball down and away will get him out everytime. He can’t reach it and can’t keep himself from swinging at it. His plate discipline will have to improve. He has got to find a way to make up for the loss of bat speed and that could come by not swinging at balls. If he does that and forces pitchers to have to pitch in the zone then he can get back to driving the baseball. If he does not improve his plate discipline he will still see garbage every plate appearance and nothing to hit and will continue to struggle. Marc Mclemore made a good point on the pregame show tonight,will his head be in the game. He has a lot going on in his life right now. A trade back to Texas, a divorce from his long time wife Katie, and having to recover from a damaging relapse. When he is between the white lines will he be able to just focus on the game? That will determine what kind of player he will be.

I really hope he does well. I admire Josh Hamilton not because he has been a great player and because of what he has done for the Rangers, but because he has been so open with his struggles. He is the face of addiction. All of us deal with one addiction or another. It may not be cocaine, alcohol, or heroin. We deal with some addiction that grabs a hold of us and turns us into a person that we don’t recognize. Josh struggles like the rest of us and I hope that he has gotten the help that he needed and I hope that now he can get back to focusing on baseball. I don’t expect to see 2010 Josh Hamilton, but I hope that the Rangers get a player that can help them win baseball games. The AL West is not great this year and if the Rangers can find a way to 85-88 wins they could win the division. I just don’t see anyone running away with it. It is there for the taking and hopefully Hamilton can help this team take a step towards that. This is what I consider a low risk high reward trade. If it doesn’t work out, then the Rangers will buy out the last two years and Josh will probably be done. Hopefully he has urgency to prove that he still has it. This will be the biggest story for this team this season and I can’t wait to see how it unfolds.

The Texas Rangers Fail to Go Streaking Once Again

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The Rangers have had 6 opportunities to start a winning streak this season and 4 opportunities to win series and have failed each time. Last night they lost 8-5 due to Yovanni Gallardo not being as sharp as he had been, a defense that faltered in helping Gallardo, and not being able to capitalize early on a wild Archie Bradley. Each of those reasons had the same importance in determining the result of the game last night. Lets talk about each of those reasons separately as we go about recapping the game from last night.

It was Yovanni Gallardo going last night for the Rangers trying to get his 3rd win of the season. He had been great in his last start against the Mariners in getting 14 groundball outs. It was hoped that Gallardo could follow the same gameplan Nick Martinez executed the previous night. He was handed a 1-0 lead before they even got to the mound, but we will discuss that inning later in more depth. Gallardo just was not as good last night. He gave back that lead to the Diamondbacks by the end of the 1st inning as Arizona led 2-1. Arizona added to that lead again in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th. By the time he left the game in the 5th it was 5-1. Gallardo last night was not helped by his defense, but he didn’t have the same type of control last night either. His pitch count was extremely high as he left the game after 5 innings with 96 pitches. The comparison that I could think of last night was that Gallardo was the guy who broke up with the National League (NL) last season and was coming back to Arizona with a new girlfriend in the Texas Rangers. Gallardo who had been with this girlfriend for several years was basically saying it wasn’t your fault that I left, it was mine. Gallardo was also trying take away any awkwardness, but the nervousness was clearly noticeable as he was not on his game. He tried to help this girlfriend in Arizona feel better about themselves. That is what I thought was happening last night. Hopefully his next outing against a NL team will go better now that the awkwardness is out of the way.

He also was not helped by his defense. With it being in a NL park Prince Fielder was forced to play first base in order to get his bat in the lineup. It started in the first inning with an off-balance throwing error from Adrian Beltre on a throw to first base that likely would not have gotten the runner anyways. That error allowed the runner, Ender Inciarte, to score from first base and allowed the batter, A.J. Pollock, to advance to 3rd on the 2-base throwing error. Pollock then scored on a groundout by Paul Goldschmidt. The next error occurred in the 3rd inning when Roughned Odor made a bad throw to first base that Prince Fielder could not barehand. It was a throw that went to his bare hand instead of to the glove side of his body. That allowed Inciarte to reach first. He eventually came around to score on a groundout by Mark Trumbo. Then this next one wasn’t an error but it was a play that should have been made. It was a drive to center field off the bat of Mark Trumbo that Leonys Martin was able to get to, but he went into a slide in trying to catch it and in doing so the ball bounced off his glove. That would have been the 3rd out of the inning and kept the score at 4-1. He dropped it and Paul Goldschmidt was able to score from first base to make it 5-1. The game might have been completely different if not for a leaky defense. That is something the Rangers have to shore up. The defense is very inconsistent. They have the second most errors in the American League (AL) and the worst fielding percentage in the AL. It is something that has caused them to lose some games this year. That has to improve and it is worrisome that this is happening this early in the year when their bodies are supposed to be as fresh as they will be all season. Most of these errors are coming from the infield and so that has to change if they expect to win anything this season.

The offense also should have done more with what they were given. They loaded the bases in the first inning with two walks and a hit-by-pitch (HBP), but could only manage one run when Robinson Chirinos was able to work a 9 pitch walk to force in a run. They couldn’t score any more though. They forced Bradley to throw 37 pitches through the first inning, but yet he only threw 55 more pitches in the next 5 innings. They worked 5 walks and a HBP, but could only manage that one single run and only 2 hits against Bradley. They had him on the ropes in the first and second innings, but could not finish him off. It was as if they were playing Mortal Kombat and the guy was saying “Finish Him”, but the Rangers would let the guy recover and continue the fight. Then the guy just kept getting stronger to the point that the Rangers lost the fight. The Rangers got leadoff hitters on base in the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th innings, but could not take advantage of any of those opportunities. They have to be able to capitalize. It is all about when presented with chances the approach has to change at the plate and the batter has to do what it takes to either move the runner over and get him in. Too many times the Rangers grounded right into the teeth of the Arizona defense and right into a double play. Last night it was actually 4 double plays that they grounded into. Before last night they had only grounded into 4 double plays. Not being able to take advantage of Bradley’s wildness and getting into the Arizona bullpen earlier is the final reason why they lost last night.

They walk out of their only trip to Arizona this season with a split. The Rangers now have today off and will play again on Friday night in their first trip to Los Angeles to play the Angels in a 3 game series and the start of a key 9 game stretch. These next 9 games will see them play the Angels on the road and then Oakland and Seattle in 3 game series at home. The Rangers are tied right now with the Angels at 6-9, but they really need to start winning some series. Each series they lose they get further away from being at .500 and further away from the other teams in their division. It will be vital that they at least go 5-4 or 6-3 in these next 9 games. That way they can start to make up some ground and ensure that they can end April with a close to .500 record.

Other Game Notes

  • Some news was announced before the game. Wandy Rodriguez will replace Ross Detweiler in the rotation on Friday night against the Angels. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News says that Detweiler is not losing his spot in the rotation, just that the Rangers are going to be putting him on a throwing program to help him improve before his next start. I imagine Detweiler will get the start the next time the Rangers need their number 5 starter. Rodriguez has pitched the last 3 seasons for the Pittsburgh Pirates and last season went 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA in his 6 starts before being released at the end of May last season. He will be making his first major league start since then as he was not picked up after that. The Rangers clearly feel more comfortable with the veteran lefty making the start this time around than Detweiler, but they are not taking him out of the rotation. Ross Detweiler will make another start, it will just be a matter of when.
  • Choo continues to struggle. Evan Grant had a sobering stat about Choo in the last 365 days.

 

 

 

That is something that goes to show how bad that contract the Rangers are paying him really is. Choo can be very good, but at this point it looks like it is a bad fit and there are still 5 years                  plus the rest of this season left on the contract. This offense will get better once Choo starts hitting and getting on base at his normal .400 clip. He is a guy that lines balls all over the field and            is able to get on a base a variety of ways. That is the Choo this team needs. I really hope he snaps out of it and is able to get back to being the player he was before he signed that big contract.

  • One player who did have a good game is Adrian Beltre. Beltre had been in a slump this entire road trip, but he bounced back last night with 2 base hits in 3 plate appearances including his 397th home run of his career. He is another player this team needs in order to succeed. When he is playing well it gives the offense a whole new look.
  • The offense did score 5 runs, but 4 of them were in the 9th inning when the score was 8-1. It did get interesting for a split second though. Leonys Martin had a base hit to make it 8-5 and Elvis Andrus came up to the plate, with Fielder on deck as the potential tying run if Andrus could get on base. Andrus grounded out to end the game. That took away any hope the Rangers had of making a miraculous comeback.
  • Finally, today I am going to start making a video blog documenting the Rangers. It will be me stating my opinions on the team and the direction this team is headed. I will be posting it on my Youtube page. I will provide a link here once it is posted. I will be posting a video every week. It may not be on the same day every week, but I will try to stick to making a video every week.