Tag Archives: Adrian Beltre

Winning Streak Crashes Down

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8 was not meant to be today as the Rangers lost to the Cleveland Indians 12-3 today to finish the road trip 7-2 and to take their record to 23-24. Not a lot can be said about this game other than Colby was off of his game today. He was missing his spots, his slider was flat, and the Indians took advantage with the 8 run third inning that saw Carlos Santana put an exclamation point on the inning with a 3-run home run that made the score 10-0. Probably before that the game was practically over, but that really sealed it. Anthony Bass came on and pitched 4.1 innings and newly-recalled Jon Edwards pitched 1.0 inning. So the winning streak ends, the question will be can they take this momentum that was gathered on this trip and take it home and play well there.Their home record this year is an abysmal 6-13. They are tied with Oakland with the fewest home victories in all of MLB. In the past they have been able to establish a clear home field advantage at Globe Life Park. The test will come with these next two series, because they have seemingly hit their stride these last 9 games and with a struggling Boston Red Sox team and a middle of the road Chicago White Sox team coming to town they need to take care of business and start winning some of these home series. If they do that then they will not only get back to .500, but put some distance between themselves and .500 and start to creep closer to the Astros. May was about righting the ship. They solved their offensive issues and solved the issues they had with the bullpen. June will be about if they can maintain this level of play? If they can I expect them to be within shouting distance of the Astros come the All Star Break. I am not going to go on and on about this game. They lost 12-3, they deserved to lose 12-3, and now they come home.

Other Game Notes 

  • Delino Deshields Jr. made his debut at second after this game got out of hand. Word around the beat writers and other people that follow the team is that he had been working at second these last few weeks and it was only a matter of time before he got in a game at second. It was not a surprise that Jeff Banister would use this an opportunity to play him there. It will be interesting to see if this is a temporary thing or something that he might use to get Deshields in the lineup more. Martin is struggling offensively, but is a great defender in center and has a strong enough arm to keep runners honest on the bases. Making Deshields the starting second baseman would allow him and Martin to both be in the lineup. I could imagine Deshields would lead off and Martin could hit 9th and give them a speed presence at the top and bottom of the lineup. It is something to watch for though over these next few weeks as Banister and the coaching staff try to maximize the talent they have on this team.
  • Josh Hamilton did get his first hit in his second tour of duty with the team with a single in the 7th with a liner to the left fielder and he was thrown out trying to extend it into a double. The timing is getting better with every game. He is starting to make better contact every at-bat and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him have a good game at some point during this home stand. It is starting to come around. He did strike out one time, but he made solid contact in the other three at-bats. Anything that he can contribute though will just make this team that much better. The good thing is that the Rangers are not counting on him to be the Josh Hamilton from 2008-2012. They just want him to be a presence in the number 5 spot and provide protection for Fielder and Beltre and drive in runs when given the opportunity.
  • Mitch Moreland extended his hitting streak to 11 games. Elvis Andrus did not get a hit for the first time in 28 games in his career in Cleveland. Prince Fielder’s streak of multiple hit games also came to an end at 5 games. He still did get a hit though.
  • Finally, it was an extremely successful trip. To go into Boston, New York, and Cleveland and win 7 of 9 is huge. I was thinking before the trip that 4-5 was more likely. I thought they might have a chance to get two in Boston, 1 in New York, and 1 in Cleveland. They surpassed my wildest imaginations. Now they need to come home and go at least 5-2. Banister is going to be preaching that if he hasn’t already that they need to protect their home field. He was on MLB Network’s High Heat yesterday and said as much that they need to put their foot in the ground at home and protect their home field. I will be surprised if they don’t get back home and play with a little bit of an edge during this home stand.
  • The home stand starts tomorrow against the Boston Red Sox at 7:05. It will be Nick Martinez going up against Eduardo Rodriguez. Rodriguez will be called up from the minors and will be making his MLB debut tomorrow. Sometimes in these situations it favors the pitchers because there is no solid scouting report and the hitters have not faced this pitcher. Hopefully the offense can take advantage of any nervousness that Rodriguez may be feeling in his first start. Whatever happens though will happen tomorrow night in Arlington. Go Rangers!!!!!!!

7 is the Lucky Number for the Rangers

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The Rangers won again last night to make it 7 in a row with a 4-3 win against the Cleveland Indians. That gets their record to 23-23 and they are back where they started at the beginning of the season. This is not an accomplishment. It is hopefully a stepping stone to better things like leading the division or being involved in the wild card race. In the division they are 6.5 games back of the Houston Astros and tied for second with the Angels. In the wild card they are 3.5 games back of the Detroit Tigers for the second wild card. They still have 116 games left on the season and so a lot could happen between now and then. They are setting themselves up nicely with this winning streak to at least be involved in the race and as we enter into June that is all that the team could ask for is a chance.

Lets talk about last night though, because a lot had to happen for them to claim their 7th win in a row. It was Wandy Rodriguez making the start for the Rangers going up against Danny Salazar for the Indians. Rodriguez was coming off of a dominant performance against the Red Sox and Salazar has been up and down, but is leading the league with 12 k’s/9 innings. Rodriguez got off to a little bit of a rocky start as he allowed first inning solo home runs to Jason Kipnis to lead off the game and to Ryan Rayburn to stake the Indians to a 2-0 lead. He settled down after that and was able to get through the next two innings unscathed. The Rangers threatened in the 1st and 3rd but couldn’t push anything across. The Indians came back with a leadoff double in the 4th off the bat of Ryan Raburn and were able to score him with a sac fly to make it 3-0. At that point the offense was struggling and it looked like it just might not be their night. Then in the 5th things started to turn around. Leonys Martin worked a one-out walk and then on a 1-2 count Salazar plunked Shin Soo Choo to bring up Prince Fielder as the tying run. Fielder had already lined it to the opposite field for singles in his first two at-bats off of Salazar’s fastball. Tom Grieve called this in the broadcast booth that Salazar might try to throw his changeup to Fielder and that Fielder might have a chance to hit a home run. That is exactly what happened. Click on the video to watch Fielder tie this game with his 10th home run of the season

 

 

All of a sudden we have a brand-new game, but the Rangers still needed to get through 5 innings. Wandy came back out for the 5th and nearly gave away any momentum the Rangers had gained from that Fielder home run. He proceeded to walk the bases loaded in the 5th with one out and Michael Brantley coming to the plate. Brantley could have blown the game wide open with a base hit, but Wandy buckled down, got his control back, and was able to strike out Brantley. Ryan Raburn was next and he was 2-2 with a home run and a double at that point. Rodriguez got him that time though by getting him to pop out. Somehow Wandy navigated that mine field that he had set up and did not give up any runs. The score remained 3-3. Wandy got into trouble again the 6th when he gave up a leadoff double to Nick Swisher and then walked Yan Gomes. Banister decided to leave him in there to face lefty Brandon Moss. Rodriguez made sure that was a good decision by striking out Moss. Then Tanner Scheppers was brought into the game to get out of the inning and that is exactly what happened. Scheppers got Mike Aviles to line out and Jose Ramirez to ground out. The final three innings was a bullpen game for both sides as Salazar and Rodriguez were both taken out in the 6th inning. The only difference was between the performance of both bullpens was the at-bat between lefty Nick Hagadone and Mitch Moreland in the 8th inning. Josh Hamilton had just lined out sharply to Carlos Santana at first. Mitch Moreland though took a similar pitch that was given to Hamilton and did this to it.

 

 

That gave the Rangers a 4-3 lead and the combination of Ross Ohlendorf in the 8th and Shawn Tolleson in the 9th was able to put the game away for win number 7 in a row. Love how this team is playing and Prince Fielder is driving the bus, but don’t forget about Mitch Moreland. He is finally starting to realize his potential. After missing two weeks due to elbow surgery to remove loose bodies in there, he has picked right up where he left off in April. He is hitting for average and power. He takes a 10 game hitting streak into today’s game. Hitting number 6 in the lineup he is providing depth to the lineup and that is something this team didn’t have in April as Prince was hitting above .300 and everyone else was at below .200 batting averages. Win number 7 and the Rangers go for their longest winning streak since an 8 game streak in 2013 against the Indians in the finale of the 3 games series and the finale of the 9 game road-trip. Hopefully they still have the energy to get above .500 for the first time all season.

Other Game Notes

  • Just have to mention it again Prince Fielder is crazy, insanely, red-hot right now. He has 3 hits in each of the last 4 games and multiple hits in 5 straight games. It is hard to properly put into perspective what Fielder is doing right now other than it is fun to watch and I hope it lasts as long as possible. He is absolutely putting this offense on his back, but unlike April he is getting help. Choo is hitting over .300 this month, Beltre is hitting over .300 this month, Moreland is hitting, Blanks was hitting while Moreland was done, and Deshields is providing a solid presence at the top of the lineup. Fielder is the one who is driving this car though. They are a dangerous team right now for any pitcher to face and that is because of what Fielder is doing.
  • Josh Hamilton once again was 0-4, but only one strikeout. It is going to be important that he lay off that changeup down and in or down and away. If he can be patient and force pitchers to throw him strikes he will have better success. That has been his problem the last three seasons is that he too often would swing at those pitches and get himself out and pitchers know that. They know they don’t have to throw Josh Hamilton strikes to get him out. He will just wildly swing away at anything. If this season is going to be different he has recognize those pitches and not swing at them. He did have a couple of good at-bats though and made solid contact on that line drive in the 8th. It would have been a base-hit but it was hit right at where Santana was standing. He will be batting 5th again today so we will see how he does this afternoon.
  • Elvis Andrus backed up a good game offensively with another 3 hit night last night. That makes him 5-8 in this series. He has always loved playing in Cleveland and his numbers bear that out. He did make his 11th error though last night in the 9th and nearly cost the Rangers the game. It was a grounder that he was going to his left on and it looked to be an easy ground out that would have ended the game, but it got under his glove and went for an E-6. That makes 11 errors in 46 games and if not for Marcus Semien in Oakland and his 17 errors he would lead all AL shortstops in errors. He makes a great play behind the bag earlier in the game, but the frustrating thing is he will make errors on the simple groundballs. That has got to stop. This team needs him to be good on the hard plays and on the easy plays as well.
  • Today it will be Colby Lewis in the finale going up against Carlos Carrasco at 11:10 this morning. Rangers will be going for win number 8. Go Rangers!!!!!!!!!!

Rangers Win to Get One Game Closer to .500

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fielder red sox game 8

 

A lot has changed in the last three weeks since I last wrote about this team. They have stopped the roller coaster that they were on and have turned into a train. They just are steamrolling opponents during this 6 game winning streak and during this entire month of May. They won yesterday 10-8 in a back-and-forth affair with the Cleveland Indians. That means they have scored 10 runs or more in 3 of the last 4 wins and are doing all of this on the road. It simply is the best baseball this team has played since a 7 game winning streak at the end of the 2013 season forced a one-game playoff with the Tampa Bay Rays. Baseball as a fan and it looks like to the players is fun once again. This team looks like it is taking on the personality of their best players, Prince Fielder and Adrian Beltre. They are both professional guys, but they truly enjoy playing the game and that is visible on a nightly basis. That love for the game has spread to the entire clubhouse. They will lose games this season, but this team will not fall apart as long as Prince Fielder and Adrian Beltre are there. If they get to .500 tonight that would be great, but that is not the goal. They still have two thirds of the season left to catch the Houston Astros and try to win this division. That is the goal as we finish up the month of May and enter into the summer months.

Lets take a look at how they have been able to win these games during this 6 game winning streak. It begins with the scalding hot play of Prince Fielder. I will say I have been hyper-critical of the Prince Fielder-Ian Kinsler trade since the day it was made. I thought it was not a necessary trade, that they took on a bad contract for no reason, and that Prince did not have much left to offer them. I also thought that he would demand to play first base and would just be another guy who hits .250 with 20-25 home runs. He would hinder their defense and clog up the basepaths. For the most I was right to think that, because that is the player he had been throughout his career. That has changed this season though. He missed almost all of last season and that may have changed how he looked at his career. He came into this season with a renewed attitude and a better approach at the plate. In April teams kept playing him to pull and he would hit it the opposite way for singles and doubles. The power was not quite there, but he did not get frustrated or go back to exclusively pulling everything. He just kept hitting the ball wherever it was pitched. In May the power has arrived and he is still hitting it to all fields. That has led to him having a .392 batting average, 8 home runs, 25 rbi’s, and a 1.145 OPS. He has been obscenely hot this month. If not for Jason Kipnis of the Indians playing out of his mind as well, Fielder would clearly be having the best month in the AL. He has been impossible to pitch to. He is hitting line drives to the gaps and is coming through almost every time he is given an RBI chance. He is really driving this offense. He also has not demanded to play first base. He realizes that Mitch Moreland is better defensively than he is and is willing to play DH on a nightly basis in order to give the team a better chance at winning. That was a huge admission and cannot be understated how much that has helped this team.  Right now he is making me look pretty stupid for opposing that trade and I love it. He is playing at an MVP-type level right now and if he can keep it up the the team will continue to play well.

Another thing that has happened is that the reconstituted no-roles bullpen is actually working. Prior to this road trip everyone in the bullpen had their job to do. Neftali Feliz was the closer, Shawn Tolleson and Tanner Scheppers were the 8th inning guys, Keone Kela was the 7th inning guy, Alex Claudio was the left-handed specialist, Anthony Bass was the long-man, and Kyuji Fuzikawa was pitching in middle relief. Everyone had their job and for the most part everyone was failing at their job. They had 8 blown saves and cost the team a few wins. If they end up missing the playoffs, the performance of the bullpen in April and early May will be something that can be looked back on in regret. Jeff Banister and the organization had decided they had seen enough and decided to get rid of labels. Since that change at the start of this 9 game road-trip the bullpen has been great. Shawn Tolleson has saved 4 games on this trip and even Ross Ohlendorf has a save. Ohlendorf and Sam Freeman have both gotten critical outs in the 8th inning when normally Scheppers or Kela would have been brought in. Kela and Scheppers have pitched whenever the situations demands it, and not just in the 7th or 8th innings. They also have pitched more than just one inning. Banister has been pulling all the right strings and it has worked out wonderfully. Who knows if this will be a long-term solution or a short term fix, but I do know that it is working right now. That is all that matters. The bullpen is pitching with more confidence and Tolleson is nailing down games when given save situations. Tolleson is the de-facto closer, especially now that Feliz has went on the DL with an abscess removed from his right side. That is another major reason why they have been able to win 6 games in a row heading into tonight’s game against Cleveland.

The offense scoring more runs than anyone in MLB with 131 in just 24 games and the bullpen finally able to close things out is what has led them to this point and it is what will hopefully keep them playing well throughout this summer. The Astros have a feel of a team that is playing well right now, but they can be caught. They will not continue to play at this level. The Rangers just need to stay consistent and ready to pounce when the Astros do inevitably start to slip up. I have to say that baseball is fun to watch again and I love it. The players seem engaged on a nightly basis and are making the plays necessary to win. I would love to see this team get back in contention. With Derek Holland, Martin Perez, and Matt Harrison possibly due back this summer the rotation will get a lot better. They also have talent on the farm that could be ready to contribute at some point this year if needed. Guys like Luke Jackson in the bullpen, Roughned Odor possibly getting called back up at some point, and others that could help contribute to a winner. They are in good position to not only win in the long-term but they are setup to win now as well. I would love to see them surprise everybody and stay in the race all summer long and possibly even make the playoffs. Still a long way to go till then, but it is fun to imagine the possibilities with this team.

They play again tonight at 6:10 against the Indians. It will be a resurgent Wandy Rodriguez going up against Danny Salazaar of the Indians. The Rangers will be trying to make it 7 in a row which would tie that winning streak from 2013. Go Rangers!!!!!!!!!

Three is Not Rangers Lucky Number

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The 4 game winning streak came to an end last night for the Rangers when they lost 8-2 in the second game of this 4 game series against Tampa Bay. There was a lot that happened in this game, but in my mind the result was determined based on the outcome of three pitches. I know that may seem incredible in a game that featured 304 pitches between the two teams, but if you change the result of these three pitches the outcome of the game might be different. Let’s take a look at each situation and see how it impacted the game.

The first pitch occurred in the second inning when David Dejesus came to the plate against Yovanni Gallardo. The score was 0-0 at the time. The Rangers have not trailed since the first game of the trip when they were behind 1-0 till the 8th inning on Monday against Dallas Keuchel. Then Dejesus took Gallardo deep on 2-1 count to put the Rangers behind 1-0. They already were facing a pitcher in Nathan Karns that they had not seen before and now they were behind. If he gets Dejesus there instead of leaving it over the plate then he doesn’t give up a run till the 6th inning and who knows what would have happened.

The second pitch happened in the 6th inning. It was thrown by Alex Claudio against Brando Guyer, but before we get to that lets setup what happened before it. Gallardo had been rolling along after the Dejesus home run until the 6th. He retired 11 of the next 13 hitters and had not given up any other hits. In the 6th though he ran into some trouble following a Elvis Andrus error. He followed that up by allowing a single to James Loney and an RBI single to Evan Longoria to make it 2-0. He was then removed for Alex Claudio. Claudio was brought in to face Dejesus, but he was replaced by right handed batter Brandon Guyer. Claudio proceeded to give up a long 3-run home run to Guyer on his first and only pitch of the game. That made it 5-0 and with the way the offense was struggling against Karns was going to make it near impossible to come back. If Claudio is able to make a better pitch there and get out of the inning the rally the Rangers would have made would have tied the game and possibly go ahead in the 8th inning. He didn’t and the comeback fell short in that inning.

The third pitch took place in the 8th inning. The score was 5-2 following a home run by Adam Rosales and a sac fly off the bat of Adrian Beltre that nearly tied the game. Then it came down to Carlos Peguero against Kevin Jepsen with the bases loaded. Peguero has been pretty solid on this trip, but after fouling off some tough pitches he was finally struck out by Jepsen with a 94 mph fastball on the outside part of the plate. A base hit there would have brought them closer and changed how Banister might have approached the bottom of the inning. He might have went with Kela or Tolleson there in order to keep the game close. Peguero struck out and he decided to keep Pimentel out there who struggled in the bottom of the inning and the Rays tacked on 3 more runs to put away any chance the Rangers had at coming back. Change the outcome of any one of those pitches into the Rangers favor and things might have been different. The fact is though that it happened to go in the Rays favor and so they won the game. That is how it goes sometimes. Game 3 of the series is tonight as the Rangers still try to work toward another series win.

Other Game Notes

  •  Nathan Karns had the Rangers hitters confused all night. His stuff seemed pretty average but with the deception in his delivery the Rangers could not pick up the path of the ball in time. He had 9 strikeouts in his 7+ innings and several of them were looking or swinging at his straight fastball on the outside corner. I am sure if you asked several Ranger hitters they would say he pitched well but they still should have hit him better than they did. His fastball did not move at all yet they could not make contact or they would just look at it. I am sure if they face him again this season they will fare a lot better than they did last night.
  • Roughned Odor sat the bench again last night and this time was noteworthy because it came against a right-hander. It continues to seem likely when Moreland is eligible to come off the DL next week that Odor will be sent down. Word is that they are working Deshields jr at 2nd in order to play both him and Rosales at 2nd. That also allows them to keep Deshields and his speed on the team even when Moreland and Hamilton come up later this month.
  • Speaking of Deshields he played well last night in the loss. He followed up his 3 steal performance on Thursday with another stolen base last night. He also collected two hits. That was more hits than anyone else in the lineup had. He has played real solid in Martins absence. He is proving himself very valuable to this team and he will not get sent back to Houston or down the minors if he continues to play well.
  • The team plays again tonight a little earlier than last night. They play at 5:10 ct. Ross Detweiler will be trying to follow up his best start of the season with another good start and get the team back on track. He will be opposing Matt Andriese. Jake Odorizzi was scheduled to pitch but he is being replaced due to fly-like symptoms. Andriese will be making his 3rd start of the season. Should be interesting. 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!!!!!!!!

 

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.

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.

Rangers win behind the Prince and the Young Gun

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Fielder and Martin help the Rangers toward a big road win.

Fielder and Martin help the Rangers toward a big road win.

The Rangers bounced back to win last night in the first of the two game series against the Diamondbacks 7-1 behind another great effort from young gun Nick Martinez and power-hitting first baseman Prince Fielder. There was more to it than that, it was what can be called a team win. Leonys Martin and Elvis Andrus were good at the top of the lineup, Fielder was good in the middle of the lineup, and the pitching was very solid. After the disappointing loss on Sunday it was good to see the offense bounce back late and get 6 runs in the last two innings, and to see the bullpen be able to close it out. It was a good win overall and evens their record on the trip to 2-2 and 6-8 overall.

The actual game was quite interesting. Nick Martinez and Chase Anderson were involved in the pitchers duel part of the game and the bullpens were involved when the offense for the Rangers finally broke through. Martinez came in with a streak of 14 innings without an earned run. It was 5 innings shy of matching the Rangers record for most consecutive innings without an earned run to start a season. The streak came to an end at 15.1 innings as the Diamondbacks put together two softly hit singles through the infield and then an RBI groundout. That allowed the Diamondbacks to tie the game. That is where it stayed as both starters, Chase Anderson and Nick Martinez really settled in. Martinez was able to make it through 6 innings. It could have been longer, but an error by Roughned Odor extended the inning in the 6th and caused him to throw 12 more pitches. Those pitches were high stress as the bases were loaded in a tie game, but Martinez was able to get out of it with another ground out.  Martinez finished the game with 13 groundball outs. Chase Anderson though was able to match him and even do one better, he went 7 innings in his start. The Rangers could not really threaten Anderson in his 7 innings. The best they could do was the first inning when Leonys Martin led off with a double, went to third on a high chopper groundout by Andrus, and then Fielder laced a double to deep left center field to score the run. After that Anderson only gave up 1 more hit in his last 6 innings. He kept the Rangers off-balance with a good mixture of fastballs and changeups. The Rangers did make him work though and after 7 innings he was removed. The score was still tied 1-1.

In the 8th the Diamondbacks brought on former starting pitcher Daniel Hudson. Hudson who had to undergo Tommy John surgery in back-to-back years and is trying to reinvent himself as a late inning reliever was brought on to help keep the game tied. He immediately got in trouble though as Smolinski reached on a error with one out. Then he walked a patient Leonys Martin. Elvis who had been struggling to this point in the game, was able to chop the ball over the 3rd basemen’s head into left field and score the go-ahead run. Then Martin was able to score on a double steal of 3rd when the ball was thrown away into left field. Prince Fielder followed that up with this.

 

 

That was Fielder’s first home run of the season. It was a no-doubter. He got close to a home run with his lined double into the gap in left center in the first, but this one he got all of. That gave him another multiple hit game. It was his 9th game with multiple hits and 3 of the last 4 games he has multiple hits. He has been hitting it just has been of the single or double variety. It was nice to see another team not employ a shift on Fielder. As long as he continues to drive it to all fields the shift will not be on. It is up to him to not fall back into bad habits though. For now though, he is showing how great of a hitter he is, and not just a power hitter. He is carrying this offense on his broad shoulders. That home run made it 5-1 and they tacked on two more for good measure in the 9th and Scheppers was able to close out the 7-1 win for the Rangers.

Other Game Notes

  • Have to continue talking about Nick Martinez. Right now I would say he is the best pitcher the Rangers have. He is doing exactly what you would expect an ace to do and that is stop losing streaks. Each of his last two starts he has come in with the team on a two game losing streak and was able to pitch well enough to end it. He has made three starts so far this season and each of them have came after a loss. He has pitched well in every game he has started. Make that 20 innings pitched so far with only 1 earned run. He has been outstanding as last night he showed he could get groundball outs in bunches. Last night he showed that he can pitch well without getting run support. In his previous two starts he got 10 runs of support and 8 runs of support. Last night it was 1 in his 6 innings of work. He did what it took to keep it a tie game and give the Rangers offense a chance in the late innings. He just continues to impress and hopefully he can keep that up through these next two months without Derek Holland.
  • Leonys Martin has been really good on this trip. He is 8-17 for a .470 BA and he is showing patience at the plate as well. He saw 31 pitches last night in his 5 plate appearances. He worked a walk twice and even in one of his outs he still saw 6 pitches. He is clearly seeing the ball better and showing that he knows what it takes to be a leadoff hitter in this league. It not only takes the ability to hit, but also the ability to get on base. Last week he was removed from his leadoff responsibilities due to his lack of plate discipline. Manager Jeff Banister gave him two days off from the leadoff role and ever since then he has been more patient and has started to really hit. If he gets on base that is when things happen for this offense, because Prince is hitting very well with runners in scoring position. If Martin can continue to get on base that will give Prince someone to drive in.
  • A couple of player continue to struggle though, Shin Soo Choo and Adrian Beltre. Choo since returning from having back spasms in the home opener is 2-22 and with only 2 walks. Beltre is 4-33 since a multiple hit game against the Astros on April 11th. Combined they are 6-55 and the big problem is they hit back-to-back in the lineup often times. The offense would be a lot better if the team could get more consistent contributions from both of these guys. Fielder has done his part for this team. It is time for Beltre and Choo to snap out of it and start playing like the All Stars that they can be.
  • Nice to see the bullpen bounce back after a tough game against Seattle on Sunday. Kela, Tolleson, and Scheppers combined to throw the last 3 innings and did not give up any runs. There was also only 1 walk and that was by Keone Kela. Tolleson though came in with maybe the biggest out of the game. Kela had allowed a walk and single and had runners on 1st and 3rd with NL MVP candidate Paul Goldschmidt coming up. Banister decided to make a double switch at that point and go to Shawn Tolleson. Tolleson rewarded his faith by getting Goldschmidt to strike out on a 94 mph 4 seam fastball. At that point it was still a tie game. Good call by Banister to go with the more experienced Tolleson in that situation.  I also thought it was a good move by Banister to get Scheppers in a less high-pressure situation. Since coming back from the injury on Friday every situation has been high pressure for him and obviously it was too much for him on Sunday. In his one inning of work last night though he pitched his one inning with only 1 hit and got the strikeout to end the game. He was certainly in more control and that is the pitcher the Rangers are going to need in the 8th inning for them.
  • The Rangers will go for their first series win again tonight in the final game of this quick 2 game series. The Rangers have lost in their last 3 opportunities to win a series. They will be going for their first tonight. It will be a matchup of Opening Day starters Yovanni Gallardo and Archie Bradley. Gallardo will be going for his 3rd straight win and Bradley will be looking for his 2nd win of the season. First pitch is tonight at 8:40. Go Rangers!!!!!!!!!