The Texas Rangers hosted the Baltimore Orioles for the first ever 1 game, AL Wild Card playoff game at the good ol’ temple in Arlington. So, here’s the deal…I’m not really sure where I want to take this recap because of all the feelings and emotions rolling through my alcohol feeling fingers. So, this will be all over the map and pretty much, PG.

On one hand,  I’m kind of thinking I should put as much effort into this recap as the Rangers offense displayed for tonight’s game, and the last few games. And on the other hand, maybe I should dominate it like Yu Darvish almost did tonight. Almost. I just don’t know where to take it, but it’s going to be all over the freaking place…

Here’s the recap…The Texas Rangers welcomed the Baltimore Orioles to the ball park for the first ever 1 game wild card playoff game. The Rangers sent Yu Darvish to the mound while the Orioles provided Joe Saunders as fish bait to the Rangers. Joe Freaking Saunders! JOE MOTHERF-ING SAUNDERS! The same guy who has been terrible in Arlington. TERRIBLE!

Oh, but wait…the Rangers can make anyone terrible turn to gold, and Saunders was GOLD while going 5.2 innings, allowing 6 hits, 1 earned run, and striking out 6. He would induce one too many double plays and eventually get the win. Meanwhile, the Rangers left their enthusiasm and offensive skills somewhere to be found at a later date.

I don’t really want to recite all the scoring, bullshit, missed 0pportunities, 1st pitch swings, post game biblical quotes, etc, so I’ll just say this…The final score was Baltimore 5, Rangers 1. The Orioles move on and the Rangers set up tee times, and Darvish gets the loss and Saunders gets the win…nice work Buck!

Here is what I did like about the game tonight…Yu Darvish was great even though he did get the loss. He pitched 6.2 innings, which in my opinion, was not enough time on the mound. The old school brother pulled him a little too early. But during his time on the bump, Darvish gave up 2 earned runs while striking out 7.

I also liked that the weather was beautiful tonight at the ballpark and the beer was cold.

And last but not least, expect this team to look completely different next season. I know that’s common sense, but it should be noted.

Go Rangers! 2013!

I don’t really have much to say this morning except that I’m crazy excited about the game tonight. Yu Darvish vs Joe Saunders. In Arlington. For a trip to the ALDS to take on the Yankees. WOO!

So in honor of tonight’s Wild Card Playoff game, I leave you with this, my favorite GIF of the week…

Instead of being all doom and gloom, I’ve decided that I (and probably many other Rangers fans) need to change my attitude.

1.  The Rangers are going to the playoffs for the THIRD YEAR IN A ROW.

2.  The Rangers finished the 2012 season with 93 wins, tied for the 3rd best record in the AL.

3.  They are facing the Baltimore Orioles in the Wild Card game.  This year, the Rangers have gone 5-2 against the O’s and have outscored them 56-24.

4.  Yu Darvish will be taking the mound for the Rangers.  If you have been paying any attention, you know that Darvish has been one of our best starters this year.  An overall ERA of 3.90, a winning percentage of .640 and those 221 strike outs should excite you.

5.  The O’s, on the other hand, will be sending out either Steve Johnson or Joe Saunders.  The Rangers have had a lot of success against Joe Saunders.  He also has a career ERA of 6.48 against the Rangers and a 9.38 ERA in Arlington.  The Rangers have only seen Steve Johnson once in a relief appearance.  The rookie Johnson has gone 4-0 in 2012 with a 2.11 ERA with only 4 starts.  (And the 90210 fan in me will collective just refer to them as Steve Sanders because yeah…)

6.  The boys will be coming home to Arlington for the game on Friday.  Hi, home field advantage.

Friday, Oct. 5, 2012. 7:30pm CT.  It’s on.

I visited the Temple today for a nooner and definitely left without being satisfied. Joe Nathan came into the game with a lead and blew it and I went home all pissed off. That was game 1 against the Angels, but that’s not what this recap is about. See Dave England for that.

In game 2, Joe Nathan got a red0 and I was finally satisfied. With a 1 run lead heading into the 9th, Nathan took the ball and shoved it up Anaheim’s anus. I couldn’t really use Angels in that sentence…that would have been awkward. Mike Napoli thanked the Angels front office once again for the trade and slammed 2 shots into the bleachers as the Rangers finished off the Angels by a score of 8 to 7.

Derek Holland started the night cap off with a helluva 1st inning. Helluva = 4 runs given up in the 1st. But the Rangers would battle back through 5 innings and take a 8 -4 lead heading into the 7th inning. During the Rangers offensive outburst, Angel slayer Mike Napoli would lead the way after David Murphy and Josh Hamilton primed everything up for him.

Josh doubled to start the scoring off and Murphy homered to continue it, and then Nap Nap Big Weiner started the slaying…solo HR to left in the 2nd, 3 run dinger in the 3rd, and finally, a 2 run double to center. All of that offense would be enough, but not without drama.

With Angel runners on base and Howie Kendrix at the plate in the 7th, Holland sent a meat pie over the plate and Kendrix sent it out for a 3-run bomb to cut the lead to 1. That would finish Holland’s night. Heading into the 9th still up by 1, Joe Nathan put his big boy pants on and sent the Angels to the showers with their wings tucked between their legs.

Ball game. Rangers 8, Angels 7. And with that victory, the Rangers are headed to the playoffs.

T’s Game Notes / Observations:

• Derek Holland finished the game with 6.2 innings pitched, 5 strike outs, and the win…his 12th of the year.
• Great work by Koji Uehara tonight…that’s big time.
• Adrian Beltre left the game in the top of the 7th after reaching for a liner to his left and was replaced by Mike Olt.
• The Rangers head to Oakland with a 2 game lead.
• The Baltimore Orioles are celebrating.
• The New York Yankees are celebrating.

Adrian Beltre. Good at baseball. (Image via Keith Allison.)

5 years to the day after putting up 30 runs on the Orioles, the Rangers put on another offensive show, led by Mr. Beltre.  OK, so they didn’t score 30 runs, but 12 is still a lot, guys.

Adrian Beltre was in the zone tonight.  In the first and second innings, he showed off his defensive prowess, making a couple of nifty plays at 3rd.  He then followed up with a line-drive home run to dead center in the bottom of the 2nd to put the Rangers up 1-0.

The Rangers would quickly lose their lead in the 3rd, but not to worry, they have Beltre (and Moreland and Murphy).

With things all tied up 1-1 in the bottom of the 4th, things got fun.  To start the inning, the Rangers had 5 straight hits, including ANOTHER Beltre home run and a David Murphy double.  Then after a Soto walk, Moreland knocked his first (official) grand slam of his career.  Then a few batters later, Beltre would hit his 2nd home run of the inning, his 3rd of the night.  IN THE 4TH INNING.  10-1 Rangers.

But the offense wasn’t done yet.  2 back-to-back singles in the 5th would set things up nicely for Moreland who hit a sac fly to give the Rangers another run.  A Soto double in the 7th tacked on another.

Derek Holland, who sported the stirrups in tonight’s start, went 7 innings, allowing 5 hits, 3 runs, walking 2 and striking out 5.  All in all, a pretty good outing from the Dutch Oven.

FINAL: Rangers 12, Orioles 3

(Image via Keith Allison.)

With the game tied, 1-1 heading into the 5th, it looked like Scott Feldman had a pretty good shot at getting his 7th win of the season.  Unfortunately, with 1 out, things began to unravel.

A triple (on a play that probably could have been made by Gentry if Gentry ever played…) to center field would give the Orioles a 2-1 lead with only 1 out.  The O’s would go on to score 3 more runs that inning on a double and a 2-run home run.  Feldman, who was actually pretty solid until seeing the O’s the 3rd time through, lasted 5 innings, giving up 5 runs (4 earned), striking out 4 and walking only 1.

The Rangers mounted a glimmer of a comeback in the 7th, on a Geovany Soto 2-run home run, but it wouldn’t be enough.

Hopefully, the boys can bounce back in today’s rubber match between Derek Holland and former Rangers Tommy Hunter.  Game starts at 7:05pm CT.

FINAL: Rangers 3, Orioles 5

See how easy that is boys? Wow. Everything fell into place tonight. The Rangers finally came back home after their horrid road trip to take on the Baltimore Orioles (or as I like to call them the Fighting Showalters).

Yep, the Fighting Showalters. Remember when the Orioles sucked worse than the Mariners? It wasn’t that long ago. Buck Showalter has turned them around, however. They still aren’t the best in the league, but they are definitely a force to be reckoned with.

BUT…fresh off their 11-2 win against the Blue Jays the Rangers were hot, and came home with the bats still blazing. Thank God too, because I was getting really tired of writing about losing games. Ryan Dempster took the mound tonight for his fourth start in a Rangers uniform.

Dempster looked fantastic tonight. By far the best game he’s thrown in a Rangers uniform. He gave up a run in the top of the first due to some really weird plays by Nelson Cruz but the offense showed up and gave him some help tonight.

The Rangers were all over the place tonight…but in a really good way. Runners on? Base hit. Runners on for the Orioles? Fantastic plays by the defense. It’s amazing what happens when you play small ball.

The Rangers got 3 in the bottom of the 5th led by Murphy (damn that kid is on fire) and Soto on a couple of singles knocking runs across the plate. They got another one in the 5th on a Cruz double (I guess that will make up for his awful defensive effort at the beginning of the game).

In the bottom of the 8th Michael Young led off with a double up the left center alley. Murphy singled, scoring Young (I’m so excited these two guys are hot right now…they are fun to watch).

The Rangers looked solid. They looked like they were playing like a team. They looked like they were actually having fun tonight. It’s been awhile since we’ve sen that. It’s good to have you back boys.

FINAL: Rangers 5, Orioles 1

It was probably best to watch that 2nd inning with your eyes covered, Rangers fans.

Tonight’s game featured Derek Holland against former Ranger Tommy “Big Game” Hunter.  All in all it was a pretty boring game.  (Seriously, how can I be bored during a game that the Rangers score 7 runs?)

The Good:

Josh Hamilton hit his 15th home run (a 2-run bomb) in the top of the first.  Elvis Andrus went 2-3 with 2 RBI and a pair of walks.  Andrus has now reached base safely in 28 straight games.  He’s now tied with Curtis Granderson for the longest such streak in the majors.  Mike Napoli went 2-4, including a run-scoring triple.

The Bad:

Holland.  Ok, he really wasn’t bad.  Just not sharp.  Hard to say what it was, but I never felt comfortable.  The lefty went 6 innings, gave up 4 hits, 3 runs (all unearned), walked 2 and struck out 5.

Adrian Beltre, Michael Young and David Murphy and the LOB.  Yeah, Beltre went 1-5 and left 3 runners on.  Young, who went 1-5, left 4 runners stranded while Murphy, who went 0-4, left 3 stranded.

The Ugly:

I’m not even going to talk about the 2nd inning.  3 errors.  3 runs scored.  All unearned.  Bleh.  The Orioles also joined in on the error fun with 2 of their own.  That’s 5 during the game.  FIVE.  Just ugly baseball all around.

The Funny:

Not sure if the Rangers were hazing rookie Robbie Ross or not, but the kid was warming up for an entire inning with the wrong jersey on.  I guess someone finally told him that the rest of the team was wearing blue because he was seen laughing while tucking in his (correct) jersey at the end of the 8th.  Haha.  Poor kid.

The Awesome:

7-3 Rangers.

<photo courtesy of Bo Nash>

Wow! Where to begin. Well, it’s the first game of the double header and it was a pretty day in Baltimore. And it was Colby Lewis at Wei-Yin Chen, or Texas at Baltimore…however you want to look at it.

So, uh…Colby Lewis had a hell of a line today. Let’s start like this…

• Not So Good - Colby allowed 3 home runs to start the game. It’s only the 4th time in history that has happened.
• Good - Colby retired the next 18 hitters…in order.
• Not So Good - Adam Jones led off the 6th with a home run and with a runner on, Wilson Betemit also homered.
• Good – Colby finished with 12 strikeouts.
• Not So Good - That’s 5 home runs Colby gave up for all you math majors.
• Summary for Colby – 7 innings pitched, 5 hits (or homers) allowed, 6 runs given up (all earned), 1 walk, and 12 strikeouts.
• Good – He’ll live to pitch another day.

Anyway, so the Orioles took the 1st game of the double header 6-5, but it was definitely interesting. After the mess, greatness, and mess again of Colby Lewis, the Rangers fought back in the 8th (1 run) and the 9th (3 runs) to pull within 1.

The 3 runs in the 9th came on a David Murphy home run with ducks, Nelson Cruz and Yorvit Torrealba, sitting on the pond. And after all that excitement, the young gun Jim Johnson closed out the remaining Rangers to earn the save.

Final Score: Rangers 5, Orioles 6.

<photo courtesy of Keith Allison>

T’s Observations / Game Notes

• The Rangers lead the series 2 games to 1. I’ll take that.
• It looked like Elvis Andrus may have bumped the umpire on the called strike 3 to end the game. Did anyone else see that?
• It was almost 4 home runs in a row for the Orioles. Adam Jones sent a deep shot damn near to the warning track in center.
• The 12 strikeouts was a career high for Mr. Lewis.
• My bud Evan Alford jinked the Rangers after he called to brag about Colby Lewis and how well he was pitching after the homers. Lewis is on Evan’s fantasy baseball team. He called back minutes later to apologize. Thanks dick.

Upcoming Game: Today at 6:05 pm…game numero dos.

The Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles were rained out tonight, but have no fear, the double header is near…as in tomorrow. Beginning at 3:05 pm, the games begin. We’ll see you tomorrow.

Go Rangers.

<photo courtesy of Jared Kelly>