Rangers and Joakim Soria agree on a two-year deal for $8 million with a club option for 2015. He missed the entire 2012 season after suffering an injury prior to the start of the season that required Tommy John surgery.

The former Kansas City Royals closer proved to be one of baseball’s most consistent and reliable relievers for the past several years. The right-handed reliever now 28, is expected to miss the start of the 2013 season, too, while he continues to rehab from the surgery. However, Soria could still prove to be a fantastic pick-up and perhaps even a bargain, depending on how well he can come back from Tommy John surgery.

(Image via Keith Allison.)

On a night when both the A’s and Angels were off, the Rangers had an opportunity to gain a little more ground in the AL West.  With the game tied 4-4 headed into the top of the 10th, Ian Kinsler led off the inning with a (nail biting) triple.  Then who else but Michael Young (trollin’ trollin’) would come through with a game winning single to put the Rangers up 5-4?  Joe Nathan came in to finish things off in the bottom of the 1oth.

Scott Feldman, tonight’s starter, had yet another shockingly decent outing, allowing only 3 runs on 6 hits over 6 1/3 innings.  Unfortunately, despite a solid start, Feldman was not eligible for the win after Michael Kirkman gave up the Rangers 4-3 lead in the bottom of the 7th.

Offensively, the Rangers made quite a bit of noise in the 4th on home runs by Josh Hamilton and Adrian Beltre (I know, you’re shocked).  They tacked on a 4th run in the 7th on a double by Geovany Soto.  But that was it until the 10th.

Since it wouldn’t be a Laura recap without a little “let’s question a Ron Washington bonehead decision” rant… Top of the 9th, tie ball game, 2 outs, man on 1st.  Wash (WITH AN EXTENDED BENCH THAT INCLUDES ANDRUS AND PROFAR) lets Gentry bat against a RHP.  Sigh.  It’s like he’s decided to do the opposite of what is logical nowadays.  Of course Gentry struck out.  Probably doesn’t help that Gentry never plays either…

FINAL: Rangers 5, Royals 4

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

Did anyone else start today thinking they needed a vacation to recover from the holiday? I sure did. I love holidays, don’t get me wrong…but the day after holidays is always BRUTAL. The work day seems twice as long, the motivation is lacking, and the Rangers made me wait until tonight to watch them play when I was so used to the day games from this weekend.

Apparently the Rangers had the same jet lag feeling I did today. Second game at Kauffman Stadium against the Royals with Harrison on the mound trying to finally get his 16th win….Wouldn’t happen. They looked awful. Well, it started off just fine, but after Elvis’ homerun in the first and and RBI from Moreland in the second the Rangers went on a downhill slide.

In the third inning Kinsler got picked off third…

Mini Rant: Ian, let me start by saying I love you…you are my favorite player and have been since you started in the bigs. BUT I am getting really tired of trying to defend you to people. Please stop making stupid mistakes and go back to the basics of baseball. No more pops up or pickoffs please. Trust me you’ll thank me for the sound advice. It might save you from some Texas lynch mobs.

After the pickoff Kins decided he would start off the bottom of the third with an error putting Cain on first. A double later and the Royals were on the board. The Royals scored again on a soft sac fly to center, which Hamilton made a great throw on (Soto just couldn’t get the tag down in time)…lame.

Harrison didn’t look bad until the 5th inning. He couldn’t keep the ball down, it looked like he had no control and he paid for it. A two run bomb by Alex Gordon and a double later and Matt Harrison would take a seat on the bench. Poor guy is having a really hard time getting that 16th win.

The Royals got another homerun off Roy Oswalt in the 6th. Does anyone remember the ‘pitcher has a big butt chant’? I’m pretty sure they were talking about Oswalt (yes, I know he’s on my team…I just can’t help singing that chant everytime he comes out).

The Rangers threatened in the top of the ninth when they put runners on the corners with no outs. Young got a sac fly and the Rangers got a run out of it but unfortunately the Rangers couldn’t pull out of the holiday hangover to get the W tonight. Tomorrow we really need to get the win…I really don’t like how close the A’s are getting. Let’s do this boys!

FINAL: Rangers 3, Royals 6

Happy Labor Day everybody! I love today. Celebrating working by not going to work. Awesome. I hope everyone had a great weekend at BBQs, pools, parties, games, etc!!!

The Rangers came to play today when Yu Darvish took the mound against Chen and the Kansas City Royals. Darvish looked awesome today. He pitched 7 innings, gave up 3 hits and 3 runs and struckout 6, but the coolest part was he had a perfecto game going into the 6th inning. He got the first 17 he faced out and was only broken up by a two out walk and a bloop single in the 6th.

Darvish was on today. He looked like he was more relaxed, throwing pitches he knew he was comfortable with, and cut down on his walks. It’s amazing what happens when you don’t give up 6 walks a game.

The Rangers had Darvish’s back and put up 8 runs with 5 bombs by Beltre, Cruz, Hamilton, Young and Soto. Home run happy team!!! That makes me happy.

In the top of the 9th inning it almost got a little dramatic when Royals pitcher, Louis Coleman, plunked Nelson Cruz in the back. He was obviously trying to send some kind of message, I’m just ot sure what that message was supposed to be.

Anyways, Nelly looked like he was ready to charge the mound when both benches were cleared and warned. The drama fizzled out when Michael Young hammered one to left center. That shut everyone up. It was great. The Royals couldn’t catch up to Joe Nathan however and the game would end with the Rangers on top by 4.

Have a great rest of the long weekend everyone!!!

FINAL: Rangers 8, Royals 4

END OF GAME NOTES

• I kind of missed Profar being in the lineup today. Kinsler went 0-5 and was less than impressive. Don’t get me wrong I love me some Kinsler, but with Profar at second that is one killer infield.
• Beltre is still eating his super Wheaties.
• Hamilton is either on fire or cold as ice. He’s either bombing home runs or striking out. There is no in between and it’s starting to get on my nerves. Let’s get some consistency in here people!
• David Murphy is still my hero. Dude is a stud.
• Matt Harrison hits the mound tomorrow to go for his 16th win.

It’s hard to know who to point the finger at after today’s loss to the Royals, but let’s try shall we?

Was it the starter’s Derek Holland’s fault for giving up 2 home runs (and 6 earned runs) in his 6 innings of work?

What about Elvis Andrus running through a stop sign in the 7th and being thrown out at the plate?

Or maybe the botched suicide squeeze with Olt at 3rd, Elvis batting AND NO MEN OUT?

Maybe it was Alberto Gonzalez’s error that prevented the double play in the 10th?

Possibly it was Mike Olt’s throwing error on a double play attempt that eventually led to the winning run to score in the 10th?

Honestly, it doesn’t matter.  Those are A LOT of stupid mistakes.

FINAL: Rangers 6, Royals 7

Game Notes:

• Mike Olt played 3rd for the first time since being called up.
• Ian Kinsler had the day off.
• Elvis Andrus left the game in the 8th with an injury, presumably from his slide at home in the 7th.
• Roy Oswalt pitched 2 perfect innings in relief, striking out 4.

Wow…It’s been a whirlwind of a week. The 4 game series with the Angels wore me out. BUT, we’ve won FOUR in a row and we’re sitting in a little bit more comfortable position in the pennant race than we were at the middle of the week.

The Rangers took on the Kansas Royals in KC again this evening and honestly I was shocked by how many Rangers fans were in the stands. Apparently a lot of people like the Rangers up there…who knew?

Scott Feldman took the mound again and again blew my mind. He pitched 7 and 2/3, gave up 6 hits, 2 runs, and struck out 4. I’m really not sure where this dude came from but he’s more than welcome to stay. He has a 2.10 ERA since July 1st. Pretty darn good if you ask me.

The Rangers struck first in the third inning when Josh Hamilton singled on a soft line drive to left field, scoring Kinsler and Andrus. The boys scored again in the 4th on a Mike Olt sac fly to right (which was his first Major League RBI!!!).

Mini Love Decree: I love Mike Olt. He just looks like he’s a nice guy AND the guy can play some ball. Yes, he’s going to mess up. He’s young. It’ll take some time for him to adjust but he’ll get there. He has a great mechanics and can pull through. Plus his parents were at the game tonight and when he had his first RBI they were about the cutest people I’ve ever seen. So proud of their son.

The Royals got a couple runs in the bottom of the 5th but Olt got another RBI in the 6th to give us our final score. 4-2 Rangers. The bats on the Rangers are finally starting to look consistent again even if they’re not putting up 15 runs a game. Score more runs than the other team. That’s how you win games….right John Madden?

FINAL: Rangers 4, Royals 2

(Photo via Keith Allison)

Really?  3 in a row?  I don’t think I recognize this team anymore…

It was a pretty good game all-around for the Rangers.  Matt Harrison, despite getting in a little trouble in the 2nd and 7th innings, was pretty solid, going 6 2/3 innings with 8 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks and 3 punch outs, improving his record to 13-6.  After 2 fairly rough outings, it was nice to see Harry bounce back.

The offense also continued to show signs of life.  As a team, they were 2-6 with runners in scoring position and only left 3 men on base…not spectacular, but a lot better than they’ve been over the past few weeks.

The Rangers were up 2-1 heading into the 7th, but as we all know, no lead is safe so it would definitely be nice to get a couple more runs as a cushion.  Michael Young would lead off the inning with single to short.  Geovany Soto would then walk.  And in a very un-Wash-like move, Wash let Mitch Moreland, who is just a .231 hitting against lefties, bat against LHP Jose Mijares.  And just like that, Wash’s gut was proved right yet again as Moreland blasted a home run to right center, giving the Rangers a 5-1 lead.

The Royals would go on to score another 2 runs, but it wasn’t enough.

FINAL: Rangers 5, Royals 3

After the game

• Since returning from the DL on July 30, Moreland is .438.  Friday’s home run was his first since June 15.
• Ogando game in to pitch in the 9th, striking out 2 and earning his 2nd save of the year.
• Earlier on Friday, Hamilton’s big secret was finally revealed:  He’s addicted to chewing tobacco.  From what I’m told, quitting snuff is actually quite a bit harder than cigarettes and can be pretty hard on the body.  I’m not really sure why Hamilton chose to quit in the middle of a pennant race, but I wish him luck in his endeavor.

Who are these guys? I want my Rangers back...

Well, it was the 2nd night in a row that the Rangers couldn’t really score against the Royals.  It’s like they thought they had a few days off after that hyped Angels series.  Sigh.

After last night’s bullpen game, Wash and the Rangers were somewhat forced to keep starter Colby Lewis in through 6…despite the outcome.  And that certainly didn’t work out in the Rangers favor.

Lewis was definitely not himself yet again tonight.  Seriously, 3 bad starts in a row.  I want good Colby back.

Lewis started out the game quite shaky, giving up 6 runs in his first 3 innings.  Thankfully, he as able to settle in for the next 3 innings, keeping the damage to only (??) 7 runs.  Colby’s line for the night:  5 2/3, 8, 7, 2, 2, 4, 1.  Blerg.

» Continue reading “These Aren’t Rangers. They Are Pod People.”

After an awesome night last night at the ballpark (I was on the jumbotron!), the Rangers couldn’t pull it out today.

Apparently we saved all of our bats for the Angels and completely forgot we still had other games to play this week. Ok, ok, they didn’t look that bad…I’m just a little dissapointed.

Scott Feldman got his second start of the year against Bruce Chen and the Royals. Feldman took the mound tonight in order to give Holland a couple more days of rest. Scotty didn’t look bad tonight.

He actually did a great job keeping the Rangers in the game and pitched 4 and 2/3 innings giving up 3 hits and 2 runs (neither of which were earned….thanks Beltre). You can’t make errors and not hit and expect to win boys. Wow. That was a Madden moment. Sorry about that.

Seriously though. What happened to all of those bats? Yes, we had 7 hits, but never when we needed them. The one run we scored was a Nelson Cruz bomb in the 4th inning. It’s the Royals guys, let’s pull it together.

FINAL: Rangers 1, Royals 3