Rangers Stop Losing Streak Behind Martinez and Resurgent Offense

Posted on April 15, 2015 by colonelsportsnation

Nick Martinez collects his second win of the season in win against the Angels

The Rangers ended their first losing streak of the season with an 8-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and improved their record to 4-5. Nick Martinez picked up his second win of the season as he continued his strong start with 7 innings of 1 run baseball. Jeff Banister having changed up the lineup again saw his team score 8 runs and hit 2 home runs. I guess this says that he needs to be changing the lineup everyday. It was a good team win though. The pitching was solid, the offense was great, and the defense helped keep the Angels off the board in key situations. Jeff Banister could not ask for a better win in the given situation. Lets get to what actually happened in the game though.

It was Nick Martinez going up against Drew Rucinski, who was making his first major league start. Martinez got off to a tough start. He allowed Erick Aybar a sharp single into the right-field corner, but Choo came up firing and was able to throw Aybar out at second. Mike Trout followed with a double and Albert Pujols walked putting runners at first and second with 1 out. He was able to get out of it with a lineout from Matt Joyce and a ground out from Rangers nemesis David Freese. In the bottom of the first the new Rangers top of the order was able to produce a run. Roughned Odor walked, stole second, and Mitch Moreland singled up the middle to get him home. They functioned as the top two hitters should and I loved Moreland’s approach with two strikes in that at-bat. He shortened his stroke and was able to hit a sharp grounder up the middle. It was nice to see him thinking there about just getting a base hit, rather than continuing to try for the home run. It looked like the lead would be short-lived though in the bottom of the inning as the Angels once again put pressure on Martinez. They were able to load the bases with one-out and their fastest runner coming to the plate in Erick Aybar. I thought for sure it would be difficult to get a double play grounder, but sure enough they did. Aybar hit it sharp enough at Odor that he was able to turn it quick enough to get Aybar out at first. Through two innings Martinez was up to 38 pitches. As I am watching this I am thinking that he may only be able to make it through 5 innings. From there though he was able to calm down. It helped that the bats woke up in the bottom of the second inning.

The Rangers were able to put 3 more runs on the board all with two outs in the inning. They finally got a break to go their way when Mike Trout and Matt Joyce were converging on a drive to left center off the bat of Robinson Chirinos when neither one of them were able to catch it even though both were in position to catch it. That allowed two runs to score and allowed the Ranger players to be able to take a deep breath and just relax from that point forward. Odor followed up Chirinos’ double with one of his own that landed right in front of a dive from Mike Trout. That allowed the Rangers to be able to put 3 on the board that inning and extend the lead to 4-0. It was certainly an inning the team really needed and it allowed Martinez to settle in and pitch his game.

After the big second inning, Martinez retired 12 of the next 14 hitters from the third through the sixth inning and the score expanded from 4-0 to 8-0. The Angels didn’t even really pose another threat till the 7th inning. That is when the first two runners reached due to a single and throwing error from Adrian Beltre. After that though he was able to get out of the inning with only one run allowed. There could have been more, but Carlos Peguero was able to track down and catch Mike Trout’s drive to the wall. All in all Nick Martinez threw 7 innings. allowing 1 run, but 0 earned runs, 5 hits. 3 BB’s, 1 K. That makes it 14 innings he has thrown so far without giving up a single earned run. His ERA is still 0.00. He showed a lot of poise and maturity out there being able to get out of those first and second inning jams. Right now I feel decently confident about 3/5 of the rotation. I feel like Martinez is poised to be a really solid member of this rotation. He will have his bad starts from time to time, but he is continuing that success he had down the stretch of last season. The Rangers are going to need that if they have any dreams of competing. If they can get solid starts from Martinez every fifth day that will go a long way toward keeping that dream alive.

Other Game Notes

Robinson Chirinos had his first big game of the season. He caught a break in the second with that deep drive double to left center that landed between Trout and Joyce. The home run though was no joke. He drove that to deep left center field. It was a no doubter and gave him 5 rbi’s on the night. That was good for Robinson as he was in a 1-13 slump entering this game and had not had many quality plate appearances so far. He looked confident at the plate and the double in the second may be what he needed in order to get going. With it being a day game today I expect him to get the day off today and Carlos Corporan will be behind the plate.
Elvis Andrus has left the building. All Spring Training they talked about how Elvis had worked on changing his stance and tried to get stronger in order to be able to drive the ball into the gaps and into the outfield. In the past it looked like any hit he got was just a soft hit line drive. Last night he was driving the ball. He had two hits, but easily could have had 3 if not for Erick Aybar making a fantastic play with the infield drawn in. One of those two hits was a home run. It was Elvis’ first home run since May 21st of last year and snapped a string of 481 at-bats without a home run, the longest active drought in the major leagues. If he continues to get the bat behind the ball and driving it, the next drought will not be anywhere close to as long. The Rangers don’t need him to be a home run hitter though. They survived last season having Alex Rios hit 6th and only hit 4 home runs. What the Rangers need is for him to be getting on base, causing havoc on the bases, and helping to drive people in.
Prince Fielder strikes again with two more singles in his 4 at-bats, but he almost did hit a home run though. Jose Alvarez left one hanging in the fifth and Prince thought he had it, but he just got underneath it and flew out to right-fielder Collin Cowgill. He gets his average up to .405 though and for the first time this season, we did not see a massive shift from the Angels in his at-bats. Word is getting around that Prince is not pulling the ball anymore. That actually allowed him to get his second single when he hit it right back up the middle where the shortstop normally would have been.
And can we please calm down the talk on Carlos Peguero being like Nelson Cruz. Peguero has looked good so far, don’t get me wrong. I think he has been very solid and is filling in for Ryan Rua very nicely. He needs to do it longer than 5 games to be considered Nelson Cruz. Cruz even had to prove he could do it longer than 5 games. I remember back before he became the monster he is today that everytime the Rangers called him up he would hit two home runs in the first game he would play and then would go into a massive slump. Peguero is doing good, but lets calm down the Nellie Cruz talk until May or June. Lets see what he does over these next few weeks. For now I prefer the comparison to Kevin Kouzmanoff prior to his back injury from last season. A veteran who was given another shot and excelled until he got hurt.
It is an afternoon game today as it will be Anthony Ranaudo making his first start for the Rangers going up against the Angels Hector Santiago. Ranaudo was called up last night and Phil Klein was sent down after the game last night. Santiago will be looking to continue his success in Arlington from last season when he went 3-0 with a 2.22 ERA against the Rangers in their home ballpark. Ranaudo will be looking to make a good first impression on the Rangers coaches and management as he tries to keep in the rotation. Ranaudo will likely be given a short leash as Anthony Bass will be ready and waiting in the bullpen should Ranaudo falter. The game is today at 1:05 and will end this stretch of 10 straight days with games to open up the season. The Rangers get their first day off tomorrow before heading to Seattle to face the preseason division favorite Seattle Mariners. Go Rangers!!!!!!!!

Rangers Win in the 9th Again!

Posted on April 23, 2014 by colonelsportsnation

Josh Wilson scores go-ahead run

The Texas Rangers once again won with a dramatic 9th inning rally. This team has faced adversity by losing multiple players to injury, yet here we are on April 23rd and with a win today they will be in first place and have the best record in the AL. I can’t wait to see how well this team plays once they have their full compliment of players. This attitude of never quitting is the best attribute that Ron Washington imparts to his team. Washington is no Tony Larussa or Buck Showalter as far as a tactician, but his teams always play hard and never stop trying until the final out is recorded. Time and time again this season we have seen that. In actuality this team should not be 13-8. They still are missing 2/5 of their starting rotation, 2nd baseman Jurickson Profar, 3rd baseman Adrian Beltre, left fielder Shin Shoo Choo, and last night they lost back-up 3rd baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff. Despite all of that Ron Washington has them playing and believing that they can still win games. It is like those Real Texas Baseball commercials where Washington says, “We are going to win, because that is what we do”. It is a cheesy line, but the players have bought into that and are playing like that every night. The expectation now is to just win and they are doing just that.

Last nights game as mentioned above was another example of this attitude and belief that has permeated among the team. We are just going to fast forward to the 9th inning. The A’s had a 4-3 lead and closer Luke Gregorson on the mound. Mitch Moreland, who had been sitting due to a lefty on the mound, pinch-hit and led off with a double that got past Coco Crisp. It looks like if the Rangers execute they should be able to at least tie the game. Robinson Chirinos then bunts Moreland over to third. So, one out and Leonys Martin coming up to try to drive him in. All it would take is a deep fly ball or a base hit, but instead Martin bunts and Moreland gets a late break and is thrown out by a mile. Now there are two outs with Martin on first and little to no chance to win the game. After the game Washington revealed that there was some miscommunication and that Martin was not supposed to be bunting there. At the time it looked like it might cost them the game. Martin then stole second to give himself a chance at scoring with a base-hit. Josh Wilson was up at the plate trying to extend the game. Wilson had made an error earlier in the game at third that allowed the A’s to be able to score the go-ahead run. He was certainly looking for redemption from his mistake. He got it as he lined a ball to deep left field off of the wall and Martin scored to tie the game. Wilson got a double from it. Then, two pitches later Michael Choice singled up the middle to give the Rangers the lead. Incredibly the Rangers went from their final out and final strike to having the lead in a matter of minutes. It was a remarkable turnaround. Joakim Soria then came in to close it out and he was able to go 1-2-3 and the Rangers somehow won this game. With the win the Rangers improve to 13-8 and the A’s fall to 13-7. They also won their fourth straight series and continued their winning ways.

Notes from the Game

Nick Martinez started the game and pitched pretty well. He struggled and was very lucky to make it through the first two innings. The Rangers established him to an early 2-0 lead, but the A’s came back with 2 in the bottom of the first to tie it. Then in the second he walked two guys and had runners on second and third with only one out. It looked like he was just about to get pulled if he had walked another batter or allowed the two runners to score. He got Jed Lowrie to fly to medium center field and Leonys Martin then threw a laser to Robinson Chirinos and he tagged out John Jaso to end the inning. After that he settled down a bit and was able to get through 5 innings only allowing two more runs. He saved the bullpen for today by getting through 3 more innings. It was a successful start though and I imagine he will be back up at some point later on this season.
The Rangers lost 2 more players in this game. Kevin Kouzmanoff left in the fourth inning with what is being described as back tightness and Pedro Figureroa left after one pitch complaining about pain in his elbow. The Rangers have 2 wins in this series and 3 players lost to injury. Shin Shoo Choo will still be out today, but is expected to be back this weekend when the team travels to Seattle. There will be more news about Figueroa and Kouzmanoff later today.
In the 6th inning the Rangers were able to properly execute a wheel play. The A’s were threatening, but the Rangers were able to bait Eric Sogard into bunting to Josh Wilson. Wilson then turned around to fire it to Andrus who had run over to cover third and get the out and minimize the chance the A’s had at scoring.
The bullpen once again pitched very well. Aaron Poreda came in and pitched an inning, Shawn Tolleson came in and pitched an effective 1.2 innings, and then after Figueroa left with an injury Ogando came in and finished the 8th. Soria then was able to close it down. Washington has had to mix and match early on this season, but it doesn’t really seem to be affecting the bullpen. Everyone continues to pitch very well. The bullpen is becoming a strength of this team, much like it was last season.

Preview of Today’s Game

Today’s game will be an afternoon start at 2:35. It will be Martin Perez facing Sonny Gray. These two are among the best young pitchers in the entire AL. Perez has been outstanding early on this season. He has a 3-0 record and a 1.86 ERA. He also has thrown 17 consecutive scoreless innings. His last time out he threw his first complete game shutout against the Houston Astros. He will look to continue that success today against the A’s. In his career he is 2-3 with a 5.79 ERA against the A’s. He has made a lot of improvement since the last time he has played them. It will not be easy as the A’s will be looking to not get swept for the first time this season.

For the A’s it will be Sonny Gray. Gray has been as good if not better than Perez early on in the season. Gray is 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA. Gray was the A’s Opening Day starter and has won each time out. It will be Gray’s first start against the Rangers. It will be interesting to see how the Ranger hitters approach this matchup as they will have a scouting report, but not previous at-bats to call back on. I expect the first time through the order they will be feeling him out and the next two times they will have more success.

This will be a good test for both pitchers as they will be counted on to deliver in these types of situations throughout the year. The winner of this game will be in first place come tomorrow. Still a lot of baseball to be played, but if the Rangers continue to play hard and pitch well they will give themselves a shot to win late. That Michael Choice gets Game-Winning Hitis all you can ask for.

Rangers Strike First against the A’s

Posted on April 22, 2014 by colonelsportsnation

Darvish pitching against the A’s in game one of their series.

The Texas Rangers went on the road and won a hard-fought game against the division leading Oakland A’s 4-3. It was a game that saw both starting pitchers bend, but not break. That was highlighted mostly by Yu Darvish. When Darvish is going well, he is able to easily get through 6 or 7 innings with double-digit strikeouts and few hits allowed. Tonight was not one of those nights. Heading into the game Darvish was 1-6 with a 4.30 ERA against the Oakland A’s. He also has not won at the Colliseum in his short career. So the question became how would he do last night? It wasn’t a sure thing that he would pitch well, and early on it looked like that trend might continue.

Darvish early on in the season has not gotten any run support and has not pitched with the lead in any of his prior 3 starts. That changed last night as Shin Shoo Choo led off the game with his second home run of the season to give the Rangers an early 1-0 lead. Yesterday, I had remarked that for the Rangers to win last night they had to score early, make Straily work, get to the bullpen early, and get timely hits. They did establish a lead early for Darvish, but he was only able to hold that lead till the bottom of the second inning. Brandon Moss led off the second inning with a home run. It was the fourth home run he has hit in his career against Darvish. The A’s would go on to add 2 more runs to the board on a Eric Sogard double and Coco Crisp single. Darvish early on was trying to establish the fastball and get ahead in the count and then work in his other pitches. He lacked his usual control though and so the A’s were just looking at those pitches or fouling them off making him work harder than he normally does. They were very methodically driving up his pitch count. Darvish said about that start, “Compared to last year, I think I’ve matured mentally to battle through these kinds of games”. That is certainly what he had to is battle. In Darvish’s previous starts he had been able to maintain control of his pitch count which has allowed him to go 7-8 innings in those starts. Last night that was not the case. This is where I credit Darvish and Chirinos for coming up with a different plan mid game. Yu doesn’t get a lot of credit for being as cerebral as he is. He is a very intelligent pitcher who just happens to throw hard. He knew that the A’s were sitting on his fastball and that he didn’t have the best control of it, so mid game he changed to more curveballs and off speed pitches. This midgame adjustment really saved the game. It caught the A’s off guard and allowed Darvish to get through the 6th inning. He had even told Wash, “I was going to get through six innings,”. In the 5th and 6th he was able to get more ground balls and facing his last hitter and his 115th pitch he struck out John Jaso. Washington said about Darvish, “He settled down and started making some pitches. He bent but didn’t break. He was good enough to keep us in the game.” When he left the game it was still 3-3.

His rebound from that 3 run second allowed the offense to be able to come back and tie the game. The main reason they were able to come back tonight was actually Prince Fielder tonight. Fielder has been hitting better lately, but tonight he actually looked very locked into the game. In his first at-bat he actually went opposite field. He drove a ball to deep left field for a double in the 4th. It is the first opposite field hit I can remember him getting this season. Kouzmanoff then followed with a single to the outfield that scored him and made it 3-2. Then in the 5th the Rangers were able to get a 2-0ut rally started when Elvis Andrus had a single to center. Rios then followed with a bloop single to right fielder Josh Reddick that moved Elvis to third. Fielder then finished it off with a hard-hit single to right field. The A’s decided not to shift there and that allowed one to sneak over the infield. That single tied the game at 3. The score would stay that way till the top of the 8th. Both team’s bullpens pitched really well. The A’s were able to call on Ryan Cook, Fernando Abad, Sean Doolittle, and Dan Otero. The Rangers called on Jason Frasor, Neal Cotts, Alexi Ogando, and Joakim Soria. The game remained scoreless through most of these pitchers. Then in 8th, Kevin Kouzmanoff led off with a double off the wall in right field off of Sean Doolittle. Doolittle is one the AL’s best left-handed relievers, but Kouzmanoff got the best of him last night. Then on 2 strikes Moreland was able to lay down a sac bunt that moved Kouzmanoff to 3rd. That caused Bob Melvin to bring the infield in for Donnie Murphy. Murphy proceeded to hit it right back up the middle against the drawn-in infield. That gave the Rangers a 4-3 lead. They would fail to score another run in the 9th with Choice at 3rd when Chirinos struck out. Soria came on in the 9th to try to close it out. He did just that, despite a throwing error by Elvis Andrus that put a run in scoring position. He kept the ball down, he kept calm and showed why he is their closer. This was probably his best save this early in the season. The Rangers with the win move to 12-8 and 1.5 games back and the A’s fall to 13-6.

Notes from the Game

Fielder did what I have been screaming for him to do all season and that is hit it opposite field. All season teams have been shifting on him and he just would continue to hit it right into the shift. If he shows he can do this, then he might not see such large shifts. His two hits though were huge. It looked like early on that this will be a 3-1 game that they lost, but Fielder’s opposite field double seemed to turn the tide. He did look way more invested than he has at times this season. He sometimes gives off an aloof feel, but tonight he looked locked in. That is the guy the Rangers need to be hitting 3 or 4 in the lineup.
I have never seen Darvish gut it out more than he did last night. In the past when he didn’t have it you could tell from his body language and then poor results would follow. Tonight he didn’t have it, but he kept battling and just found a way to make it through the 6th inning. That is what the best pitchers are able to do, is even when their stuff isn’t on they still find a way to get hitters out and last deep into the game. That is what Darvish did last night.
Kevin Kouzmanoff once again with two hits, including the rbi single to make it 3-2 and then the leadoff double in the 8th that helped to give the team the 4-3 lead. Kouzmanoff yesterday was named AL Player of the Week. That is quite the accomplishment for someone who wasn’t even expected to make the team this year. He has certainly earned himself a role and at-bats even when Adrian Beltre possibly comes back this weekend.
In the 9th inning Shin Shoo Choo turned his ankle trying to beat out an infield grounder. He was stretching out try to beat the throw and landed on the bag awkwardly. He will have an MRI today to see if there is any damage, but is likely out for the rest of the series. No word yet on who will move up to leadoff. The candidates are Elvis Andrus or Leonys Martin. Martin did hit some leadoff last year, but really struggled and so midway through the season Wash moved him back down the order. He has been hitting better this year, but Wash might not want to mess that up. I would not be surprise if he goes with Andrus-Choice 1-2 in the order. We will see later on today how Wash plans on handling this and how long Choo will be out for.
To me Joakim Soria really claimed the closers job last night. There has been this thought among Ranger fans that Neftali Feliz will be the closer at some point if he can regain his velocity and control. Unless Soria gets hurt the closer job is his. I know at some point he will struggle, but last night he was great. He showed he could come through in a hostile environment, 1 run lead, and the A’s best hitters at the plate. He is the closer, if Feliz does come up at some point maybe they can slide him in as the 7th or 8th inning guy.
Overall it was a great win. It is not September though yet. They still have 18 games left against the A’s. They will play 6 games total with this series and a series next week in Arlington. After these two series they will still have 13 left. It is nice to get a win though and show that even with all these injuries they are doing more than just surviving, they are playing good baseball.

Tonight’s Game Preview

Tonight it will be rookie Nick Martinez against Tommy Millone. Martinez who last pitched for the Rangers on April 5th against the Tampa Bay Rays will be brought up to pitch for Tanner Scheppers. Scheppers was placed on the DL last week due to an elbow issue. Martinez like last time will be brought in just for this one appearance. Last time out he pitched 6 innings and only gave up 3 runs. Hopefully he can do that again tonight. He had been pitching for AA Frisco and has made two starts with no decisions and has a 1.86 ERA. He will asked to try to continue that. Washington I am sure will have a short leash and will be ready to go to his pen at any moment. The A’s are going to try to make him work. They are going to make him throw strikes. To win he has to throw first pitch strikes, don’t nibble around the plate, and pitch to contact. If he does those three things he will have an opportunity to go deep into the game and give the Rangers a chance to win. On offense the Rangers have to survive the loss of Shin Shoo Choo. They still have to be patient at the plate and not be swinging at everything. Once again getting timely hits will be important. In order to beat the A’s the Rangers have to do the small things. They must get runners on, move them over, and drive them in. The A’s really require teams to be fundamentally sound. That is how they beat teams is by forcing them to make mistakes they normally would not make. Game once again is at 9:05 tonight.

Rangers Homestand Recap and Road Trip Preview

Posted on April 21, 2014 by colonelsportsnation

This gallery contains 1 photo.

The Rangers just concluded a very succesful 10 game homestand. They went 7-3 in the homestand and won all three series. They took 2 of 3 from the Houston Astros, 3 of 4 from the Seattle Mariners, and 2 … Continue reading →

Rangers win behind Robbie Ross Jr.

Posted on April 15, 2014 by colonelsportsnation

Two words can sum up this game tonight and they are Robbie Ross. He was absolutely outstanding tonight. He made loads of improvement from his last start against the Red Sox to tonight. His performance was the reason the Rangers were able to bounce back from last night’s loss. Here are some quick thoughts I had on tonight’s game.

I have to start with Robbie Ross Jr. He was the man tonight. If you remember last week he had a one-on-one conversation with Ron Washington after he walked 4 hitters in the span of two innings. It was less encouraging and more scolding. Ross responded by pitching better after that. Tonight he carried that over into pitching 7.2 innings and walking no one. Wheras last week he lacked control, tonight he was in complete control. He controlled both sides of the plate and was able to work it inside and out. The Mariners just never looked comfortable up there. He just competed out there and the night was capped off when Wash went out to the mound not to scold, but to congratulate. It was quite the moment when Wash took him out of the game and Ross was surrounded by the entire infield getting congratulations. It was Robbie’s night and no one can take this away. Who know what the rest of the season will hold for Ross, but tonight he was phenomenal.
Prince Fielder hit his first home run of the season and his first home run for the Rangers. It was a no doubter that was hit 416 ft to deep right center field. It seemed to take a weight off of his very large shoulders. Hopefully this hit will get him going. The offense has been really lacking without his production. If Prince can start to hit and drive runs in, it will provide much needed balance to the lineup and it will help them survive this stretch without Adrian Beltre.
The offense as a whole seemed to be much looser. These last few nights you could see them tense up everytime someone got on base. It led to numerous double plays and lack of timely hitting. Tonight, after Prince’s home run everyone seemed to loosen up. The offense actually was led by 3rd baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff. He went 3-4 with 3 rbi’s and so far is hitting .450 in his limited time in the big leagues. He has done an admirable job filling in for Beltre. Tonight he and Fielder went back-to-back in the second inning. It was the first time the Rangers have went back-to-back in Arlington since April 30, 2013 when it was Nelson Cruz and Jeff Baker. Elvis continued to hit with two more hits tonight and Moreland added a couple of hits as well as a sac fly. Hopefully this marks the Rangers coming out of their slump.
Finally, the starting pitching continues to be outstanding. Scheppers had one bad inning on Saturday, but other than that everyone has been really good. It is going to be a hard call for Wash when Matt Harrison returns in about a week to determine who gets moved to the bullpen. After tonight I would say Scheppers but he was really good outside of one inning on Saturday. That could change if Ross struggles his next time out. Whatever happens though this will improve the depth of the bullpen or maintain the consistency of the rotation.

Tomorrow is a battle of Aces as Yu Darvish will take on Felix Hernandez at 7:05. It should be a pitchers duel so that means that it will be a high scoring affair. Can’t wait to see how this one turns out.

Game 9 Recap

Posted on April 9, 2014 by colonelsportsnation

The Rangers let one get away today. They had an 8th inning lead and a chance for a 3-3 road trip through two of the best teams in the AL and they let it get away from them. It wasn’t a game they played particularly well, but yet they had a 2-1 lead and Neal Cotts on the mound to try to get it to closer Joakim Soria. Just as quick as you snap your fingers it was gone. David Ortiz had sent one down the right field line and around Pesky’s Pole for a game-winning 3-run home run. Instead of 3-3 it became a 2-4 road trip. That still is not bad, it is exactly what I expected. I expected them to win the Yu Darvish and Martin Perez starts, seeing that they are the most experienced starters that they have right now. That is exactly what they did. They won 3-0 on Sunday and 10-7 last night. They sit at 4-5 and are now preparing for a 10 game homestand that starts on Friday against the Astros.

Instead of talking about big picture, lets discuss today’s game. It was Robbie Ross Jr. making his second start of the season going up against veteran Jake Peavy. Early on Robbie struggled with his control. He walked 4 hitters between the 2nd and 3rd innings. That brought out Ron Washington. It wasn’t to take him out of the game, but to give him a stern talking to. Nothing seems to bother Wash more than a pitcher who is not throwing strikes. It was just Wash and Ross out there, no catcher or other infielders. That got through to him as he did give up one run in that third inning, but then he calmly got David Ortiz to ground into a double play to end the inning. That was it as far as the scoring for the middle innings. Ross would only walk two more hitters and make it into the 6th inning. The score was still 1-0 when he was lifted. He did walk 6 hitters, struck out 4, but only gave up 2 hits. He still needs to work on his control, but only giving up one run allowed the Rangers to come back and have the lead late.

They would have to come back late because early on Jake Peavy was spectacular. He was able to control the plate and keep the Rangers off-balance. He ended up striking out 8 and walking 4. The only one who was seemingly having good at-bats against Peavy was Choo. He led off the game with a double and then had two walks against Peavy. Everyone else struggled through 6 innings. In the 7th though things turned around when Mitch Moreland took a 89 mph fastball deep into the right-field bullpen to tie the game. Up to that point it looked like even though they were only down a run that it was not meant to be their day. Moreland changed all of that with one swing. Then it looked like a game that the Rangers could steal. In the 8th they did just that. Elvis led off with a double and was eventually brought home on a sac fly by Alex Rios. All of a sudden the Rangers had a 2-1 lead and were 6 outs away from a victory and a series win.

That leads to today’s questionable decision of the game. It occured in the bottom of the 8th after the Rangers had taken a 2-1 lead. Alexi Ogando had been in since the 6th inning and had pitched very well. It was his best appearance of the season. His fastball velocity was up and he was able to keep it down in the zone and his slider was very filthy. He was able to strike out 4 hitters in those 1.2 innings. Instead of bringing in Cotts to start the inning he let Ogando start the inning. He proceeded to walk Jackie Bradley Jr. At that point the Red Sox decided to pinch hit with A.J. Pierzynski. Washington then had a decision to make go with Ogando or come in with Neal Cotts. Cotts was warm and ready to go, yet Washington stuck with Ogando. He was clearly hoping that Ogando could finish out the inning and that he wouldn’t have to use Cotts. Ogando stayed in and Pierzynski blooped one right down the right field line to put two on and no outs. Ogando would get Pedroia to ground out.Then Cotts would come in to face Ortiz with two runners on and one out. David Ortiz then went yard to give the Red Sox a 4-2 lead and the game. I understand why you start the inning with Ogando, but why keep with him even after the Red Sox have pinch-hit with Pierzynski. It just goes back to the problem the Rangers have with the 8th inning. They don’t have one guy who is good enough to assume that role so it leads to confusion late in games about who to bring in. Today it cost them as David Ortiz just did David Ortiz things in helping the Red Sox win the game 4-2.

Notes from the Game

Shin Shoo Choo is an on-base machine. That is all he does is aim to get on base. Early on this season he has been hitting and walking a ton. Right now he is in the middle of a stretch that has seen him reach base in 8 of his past 10 plate appearances. He is quickly becoming one of my favorite players. I love seeing how he is able to work a pitcher and wait till he gets a pitch that he likes. He is also normally in the middle of any Rangers rally, whether he starts it or he keeps it going. I questioned whether he was worth the contract that they gave him, but after seeing him play I would say that he is.
-Alexi Ogando was filthy today. This is the Ogando that the Rangers wanted to win a rotation spot. He lacked control though all Spring. Today he was bringing it and in the 6th and 7th innings he was untouchable. He was able to locate his fastball on both corners and the slider was really biting. This Ogando can be a real asset in the bullpen as long as he can bring it on a consistent basis.
Adrian Beltre was sent back to Texas to be examined further, but he has not been put on the DL yet. Instead they did bring up Kevin Kouzmanoff to man 3rd and designated Seth Rosin for assignment. Now they have 10 days to either trade or send him back to the Philadephia Phillies. Hopefully the Rangers can find a way to keep him, because he had shown some potential to be a solid weapon down in the bullpen.

The Rangers will have tomorrow off and will be back on Friday at home to begin a 10 game homestand starting with the Houston Astros. It will be Yu Darvish going up against Scott Feldman at 7:05.

Game 8 Recap

Posted on April 9, 2014 by colonelsportsnation

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Last night the Rangers were trying to bounce back from a loss that saw them strand numerous players on base and score only one run against the Red Sox. The players knew that they had to have more timely hits … Continue reading →

Prediction on the Opening Day Roster

Posted on March 19, 2014 by colonelsportsnation

Today is March 19th. We are about 12 days away from opening day and about 10 days away from the Opening Day Roster being finalized. So far in this year’s camp there has a lot of competition and a lot … Continue reading →