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.

Angels 5, Rangers 4

In a moment more ominous than any moment in which Robert Mitchum appears on screen in The night of the Hunter, the Angels Torii Hunter hit a two out double in the top of the ninth off Joe Nathan. The night of the hunter is “culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant.” In the same way Rangers wasted a start by Yu Darvish in the first game of what is a crucial double header.

The Rangers jumped on top 2-0 on a Nelson Cruz home run in the second and through three innings were up 4-1 with help from a wind blown pop up double by Hamilton. The Angels rallied with single runs in the sixth and seventh. The one in the seventh coming off the best player in baseball this year, Mike Trout. It was the first HR allowed by Darvish since August 17th. Trout is only the third player to have 30 HR and 48 steals in a season. Eric Davis of the Reds in 1987, had 37 home runs and 50 steals and Barry Bonds in 1990 had 33 home runs and 52 steals.

Before the game Mike Adams was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome and will rest the next 7-10 days. It is likely he won’t pitch again this season. This seems to be a thing with Ranger players, the most recent to be diagnosed is Matt Harrison but Hank Blaylock and Kenny Rogers have as well, going back a little further.

On Deck Game Two 6:05PM

Wow…I can tell you right now. I will be a wreck for at least the next month. Post season is an extremely emotional time for me and we’re not even there yet!  It’s time to break out the lucky sweatshirt…That was one hell of a game.

What I can say is that it’s definitely going to be an interesting week with the A’s and Angels in town. We’ve got a Pennant Race people! I’m not sure what Billy Beane put in the  A’s Cheerios after the All Star Break but they will not lose. They have pitched well, hit well, beat some of the best teams in the game repeatedly and it doesn’t look they are going to slow down anytime soon.

Hence the reason I was extremely worried going into this series. The Rangers were 4 games up at the beginning of the game tonight and that is not nearly enough distance for me to be comfortable. Holland took the mound for the Rangers against the young pitcher Straily.

Holland didn’t have great stuff tonight. He had trouble commanding his fastball and struggled to get ahead of batters. He worked from behind in the count for much of his outing, which is never a good thing. He lasted three innings, giving up 3 runs, 4 hits and 2 walks.

In the top of the 2nd, Holland hung one out over the plate and Donaldson made him pay when he jacked one out giving the A’s a 2-0 lead.

Mini Rant: As much as I love our announcers, it always seems like they speak at the worst times…”Derek Holland hasn’t given up a homerun to the A’s in the last 8…..CRUSH…Homerun A’s”. Tom Grieve, I love you, but I am also extremely superstitious…STOP IT.  

In the bottom of the 2nd the Rangers got a run on a bloop single by Moreland that scored Young…Whoo on the board. BUT, the A’s weren’t done… Cesepedes added another jack to the A’s board in the 3rd…Hamilton homered in the 5th…A’s scored in the 6th..Back and forth.

I was started to get really worried going into the 7th when the Rangers had 2 outs and Josh Hamilton at the plate. Why was I worried with Hamilton at the plate? I told you the end of the season is very emotional for me! The Rangers came through for me (they decided they didn’t want to give me a heart attack at the ripe old age of 29)…Hamilton walked and Beltre crushed one to center to tie up the game. (Atta boy Beltre! It’s about time someone stepped up!)

Nathan took care of the top of the 9th with a little help from Napoli…a strikeout/thrown out stealing double play was kind of awesome. In the bottom of the 9th Mitch led off with a single up the middle followed by a single by Kinsler and a sac bunt from Elvis. After an intentional walk to Hamilton Beltre came up to try and get the win…Boom single up the middle.

Adrian Beltre is my hero. Suck it A’s!

FINAL: Rangers 5, Athletics 4

END OF GAME NOTES:

• I still sing the ‘Pitcher Has a Big Butt’ Song when Oswalt pitches. It just makes me laugh.
• Koji looked good tonight. I wasn’t ready for that.
• Apparently everyone at the game tonight got tacos because Hamilton hit a home run. I like tacos. Someone bring me some.
• Seriously Beltre is my hero. The End.

No seriously, maybe I need to rant more about how the Rangers don’t hit enough with runners in scoring position?

OK, it’s not like they were raking or anything, but 10 hits with 2 home runs is better than no runs at all.  And Ryan Dempster was pretty great until the 7th when he gave up 2 home runs (in an attempt to give up that 3 run lead).  Thankfully, Robbie Ross came in to end the threat.  Matt Adams and Joe Nathan would close things out, reducing the Rangers magic number to 7.

FINAL: Rangers 3, Mariners 2

(Image via Keith Allison.)

For the first time in franchise history, the Texas Rangers have hit the 3 million in attendance mark.  I guess back-to-back World Series appearances and the unusually mild Texas summer help things, huh?  It’s too bad the Rangers couldn’t get a win.   

We didn’t get the Derek Holland we had last game, but this one was OK too.  I’ll take a 7 inning, 7 strike outs, 2 run outing.  And sadly, like his last outing, Holland didn’t get a win. 

The offense tonight was fueled by Beltre/Cruz/Young who were responsible for the 2 runs scored in the 4th and for the 2 runs that put the Rangers on top in the 8th, but 4 runs just weren’t enough. 

Joe Nathan was brought in to finish things off in the 9th, his 3rd straight appearance in as many games.  A home run to the first batter he faced didn’t start things off well.  A single followed by ANOTHER home run and the Rangers were down 5-4.  Elvis Andrus did his best to muster up a rally by tripling with 2 outs in the bottom 9th, but David Murphy failed to get him home.  This was Nathan’s first blown save since April 11th…hard to be too upset about that.

FINAL: Rangers 4, Indians 5

Injury Updates: Josh Hamilton, who received a shot in his knee earlier today, was held out of the lineup as a precaution.  Adrian Beltre, who injured his shoulder in last night’s game, was restricted to DH duties.  The Rangers aren’t acting like either injuries are overly serious, but you never know.  Mike Olt, who left the game last night, has been diagnosed with plantar fasciitis and will probably be out 10-14 days.

Michael, you’re just trollin’ us now… (Image via Keith Allison.)

In a game that I’m sure very few in the Dallas metroplex even paid attention to (thanks, Cowboys), the Rangers were able to pad their lead in the AL West, going up 5 games on the A’s.

The big story (again) was Adrian Beltre.  With a 3-run home run and a triple to go along with a couple of nifty plays at 3rd, Beltre continued on his recent tear.  Oh, and that’s 10 home runs in his last 14 games. No big deal.

The game overall wasn’t overly exciting.  The Rangers went up 3-0 in the 1st and just sort of held on for the remainder of the game, just keeping it close enough that you reconsidered changing the channels (you know, for those of us who probably weren’t going to watch the Cowboys in the first place).

Aside from Beltre, Young also hit a home run of his own, his 6th of the year.  We can argue all day why the hell he’s playing 2nd when you have a perfectly good middle infielder sitting the bench, but that would be a waste of time because we all know how Wash feels about rookies taking veterans spots…

Ryan Dempster, tonight’s starter, was pretty solid, keeping the Royals to only 2 runs on 4 hits over 6 innings.  The bullpen?  Sigh. Let’s just say they have to get their sh*t together before October.  Ogando allowed 2 runs in 1 inning.  Adams allowed 1 run in 1 inning.  Nathan allowed 1 run in 1 inning.  Guys, that won’t cut it.

FINAL: Rangers 7, Royals 6

Today was a good day. I got to leave work early…what? Yes, my boss decided to be nice and let us have a nice long weekend! Hooray Labor Day!!!

The Rangers traveled to Cleveland after a very long and successful homestand where Dempster would take on the Indians and Ubaldo Jimenez. Does anyone remember a couple of years ago when Ubaldo was a complete stud? Yeah, that didn’t happen tonight.

Seriously…What happened to that guy? Does Cleveland just suck the souls out of people? That’s my theory at least. The Rangers brought all the usual suspects out tonight and got RBIs in the first, third and sixth innings by Beltre, Murph, Young and Kinsler. Jimenez was pulled after 5 and 2/3 innings and gave him his 14th! loss of the season.

The Rangers tacked on another run in the 7th. The Indians tried making a comeback (but there was no cowbell for them…) in the 9th on a double and a homer off Uehara. Uehara was trying to make it interesting, I guess. Please don’t do that Koji. It makes me nervous.

Joe Nathan came in with one out in the ninth and closed it out to get his 28th save. Yes, I know, he shouldn’t have been in a save situation considering the lead they had going into the bottom of the 9th, but it’s cool nonetheless.

All right everybody…Have a great Labor Day weekend! We know our boys will!

FINAL: Rangers 5, Indians 1

END OF GAME NOTES:

• Beltre has stayed red hot…I love it. Beltre, please keep eating your Wheaties. We need to keep this up until the end of October.
• Cruz got ejected tonight for slamming his bat down on the plate after he struckout for the third time. It looked like he was just frustrated with himself but the umpire apparently didn’t see it that way. I found it pretty hilarious. BUT, extremely out of character for the Cruz Missile.
• Elvis is on a crazy hit streak as well. Tonight in the 9th he singled up the middle to extend his streak to 16 games.
• The Rangers have won the last 11 of 15. Awesome.
• Starting tomorrow starts my favorite part of the year. The time where baseball and football are on at the same time. It’s like Christmas!!!

(Image via flickr.com user Mike LaChance.)

Rangers 1, Rays 0

The Starter And The Game

Yu Darvish had his second straight great outing, going seven innings, scattering six hits, walking only two and striking out ten. The only trouble he really got into was the top of the second when he walked Zobrist to start the inning and Luke Scott followed with a double, putting runners at second and third. Darvish then got Pena on a strikeout, Ryan Robert flew out to shallow center and Jose Lobaton grounded out. Darvish only allowed four base runners after that in the next five innings. Mike Adams threw back-to-back NASTY curve balls to strike out Evan Longoria, and then Mitch Moreland made a heck of a dive and glove save on the line for the last out of the eighth.

» Continue reading “Rangers Beat Luke Scott’s Facial Hair And The Rays”

I’ve decided that I have to go to every game for the rest of the season. I have been to three games in the last week and we win all of them. I didn’t go tonight, but I was there in spirit because of my sprained ankle I received at the last Rangers game.

Go me. But my spirit was apparently enough tonight. Holland took the mound tonight against the dreaded David Price (who’s having a great season). The Rangers weren’t scared though.

Holland gave up 2 in the top of the first after Elvis booted one (well maybe two, but we won’t count the first one)…but no worries people. The Rangers came back….and I mean back…on back to back Beltre and Cruz bombs. BOOM.

Back and forth, back and forth. The Rays were out to prove they had something against the Rangers. Not tonight my friends. The Rangers pulled it out 6-5 with Holland getting the win and Nathan, the save.

Sorry for the short post…It’s late….And the hydrocodone is starting to kick in. Peace, love and Rangers Baseball!

FINAL: Rangers 6, Rays 5

END OF GAME NOTES

• Whatever Beltre is eating, he needs to keep eating it…Spinach, beer, tacos, Freedom Fries, whatever….let’s keep the hitting alive.
• Nelly has still not convinced me in right field. He makes some major mistakes but finds a way to recover. It’s kinda freaking me out.
• Holland freaks out every once in awhile, but he looked pretty solid tonight. Just needs to find his rhythm  again and we’ll be solid.
• What the heck happened to Feldman? Bueller? Bueller?
• I love the fact Holland wore the stirrups again tonight. It’s way better than the Dutch Stache…just saying.

(Image via Keith Allison)

FINAL: Rangers 10, Yankees 6

The starter and the game 

This game was normal and Derek Holland was fantastic until the bottom of the sixth inning. Staked to a 4-0 lead, Holland gave up 5 runs, 4 earned, on 4 hits and a game tying home run to Andruw Jones. Washington’s mad[dening] genius lineup included Mike Olt making only his fourth start in the outfield and for the first time in the majors.

The ‘pen

Tanner Scheppers relieved Holland, pitching 2/3 of an inning, giving up 2 hits and and a run. Micheal Kirkman pitched an inning, walking one and striking out one. Mike Adams pitched the eighth, walking one and striking out two. Joe Nathan pitched the ninth only allowing a hit.

The bats

Everyone had a hit except Moreland, who drew two intentional walks. The team had 16 hits overall and 6 walks. David Murphy led the way with 3 hits and Andrus, Young, Hamilton, Beltre and Soto all had two each. Beltre and Gentry had three RBI each.

End of the bench notes

- Elvis had two hits today, making it four years in a row where he’s had two hits on the death date of Elvis Presley

- Pitcher wins don’t matter, but Tanner Scheppers got his first

On deck

RH Yu Darvish [12-8, 4.54 ERA, 99 ERA+, 1.46 WHIP] v Blue Jays LH J.A. Happ [8-10, 5.04 ERA, 81 ERA+, 1.44 WHIP]