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

Let’s get this straight…I really hate West Coast games. It’s almost impossible for me to stay up late, watch the game, and be functional at work in the mornings. Even though the Rangers and Angels have always had a good rivalry and today was a huge game with Holland and CJ Wilson on the mound, the Angels just didn’t seem like they could get people in the seats.

I’m pretty sure there should be a rule. If you don’t have a certain number of fans at a game the other team can push the game up to accommodate their fans. Sounds like a good idea to me!

Anyways…the game. I’ve been doing a happy dance over that game last night. Why? Holland took on CJ Wilson. That was fun to watch. Holland looked great last night. It looks like he’s settling in to his post season awesomeness. He pitched 7, gave up 2 runs and 6 hits.

CJ on the other hand only went 2 and 2/3 innings. Excuse me….BWAHAHAHA. Sorry, I’m done. The Rangers loaded the bases in the first but couldn’t get anything out of it…You could tell though it was only a matter of time before they started to hit the ball.

In the top of the 3rd Elvis started us off with a triple and then after Young and Napoli doubles the Rangers were on the board 3-0. Bye, Bye CJ!!!

The Rangers added a couple more in the 8th off a Nelly double and a Geovany Soto bomb to make the score 6-2…That’s how you do it boys. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Pretty simple right?

FINAL: Rangers 6, Angels 2

END OF GAME NOTES:

• Hamilton was still out with the snot rocket problem…Young did a good job of filling the 3 hole though. 5 AB, 2 runs, 2 hits, and 1 RBI…Not bad Mikey, not bad.
• Can I tell you how happy I am Holland beat CJ? Happy dances all around!
• Oakland lost again to the Tigers last night! Whoohoo!

(Image via Keith Allison.)

Things you need to know about this game:

1.  Josh Hamilton can’t play baseball with sinus issues and is really good at snot rockets.

2.  The 4th inning was the worst.  The Angels scored 6 runs.  We saw 3 Rangers pitchers and 12 Angels batters.  We also saw Tanner Scheppers throw a wild pitch and while covering home was hit by Chris Iannetta as he crossed home plate.  Then, Mike Trout nearly cleated Scheppers head when sliding into home on the wild pitch while Scheppers was down in the home plate area.  Evidently Scheppers has a bruised knee and had to leave the game.

3.  I thought that after a while, I’d get used to the weird glove crap thing that Ryan Dempster does before each pitch. I haven’t.

4.  West Coast games still suck.  Seriously, anyone who stayed up after that horrendous 4th inning deserves an award.  Or at least a free cup of coffee.

5.  Mike Napoli still loves Angels pitching.  A home run, a single, …

6.  The A’s lost earlier in the day, so the Rangers magic number goes to 13.

7. Jered Weaver is now 9-0 against the Rangers when pitching at home.

8.  Vernon Wells fell over the left field wall while trying to catch an Ian Kinsler home run. And it was hilarious.

9.  I’m blaming Hamilton for the awful 4th. Surely if he and his sinuses had sucked it up, none of that awfulness would have occurred.

10.  Eff the Angels.

11.  Despite being only 3 games back in the Wild Card game AND playing their division rival, Angels fans still couldn’t attend the game.

FINAL: Rangers 3, Angels 11

Elvis to the rescue! (Image via Keith Allison.)

I’m speechless. I’m really not sure what to think about what just unfolded before my eyes.

CONFESSION: I didn’t turn on the game until the 5th and by that time the Rangers and tonight’s starter Yu Darvish were already behind 7-1.  So what did I do?  Switched over to the Olympics, of course.  At least there I knew I’d see a win (tape delay FTW).

As most everyone knows, this was a very important game for this team.  Having just lost 2 straight games to the Angels, the team was only up by 3 games in the AL West.  A loss could mean bad things.

So let’s recap what happened…

» Continue reading “Texas Rangers: Seriously, WHAT WAS THAT?!”

Wow. Well last night with Feldman must have been a fluke. That’s the only thing I can come up with. We couldn’t win back to back could we? Nope. Not with an inconsistent rotation. Where’s my red help button?

With Oswalt on the mound the Rangers took on the dreaded Angels….stupid Angels. The Rangers hung in there for awhile putting some runs on the board with the help of Josh Hamilton. Hamilton finally broke his slump (with a homerun and a double)!! But unfortunately it wouldn’t help the Rangers get the W.

It was a tug of war battle, back and forth, back and forth, and tied 3-3 until the top of the 6th inning when the Angels unloaded. It was ugly. NINE, yes 9, runs in the top of the 6th. Oh wait…and three more in the 7th. OUCH. Like Travis said, thank God the Olympics are on.

I would much rather watch Ryan Lochte in a pool than my Rangers getting their ass handed to them by the stupid Angels. My husband had the best response everytime his phone would dun-na-na at him with the score… ‘Shut up phone.’

My thoughts exactly. I’m not going to panick yet. Let’s do better tomorrow boys.

FINAL: Rangers 8 , Angels 15

End of Game Notes

• Seriously Jon Daniels…When are you going to get this rotation some consistent help?
• Even though I hate the Angels, what I can say, is that Mike Trout is a freaking STUD. Seriously. No ifs, ands or buts about that one.
• The Angels have Zach Greinke now…that’s just weird…
• We still have 9 games left to play the Angels head to head. That scares the crap out of me.
• Hamilton finally looked like he’s coming out of his slump. I really think putting him 5th in the lineup is taking some pressure off of him and he’s finally starting to swing the bat again. Hooray!
• Nelly bombed one in the bottom of the 7th that hit the glass wall in center field. It was a monster hit. (Did I mention he’s kinda my hero right now?) Too bad it couldn’t catch the boys up any. That put only 9 back. Oy ve. I stopped counting.
• Has anyone seen the US volleyball player named Destiny Hooker? Just throwing that out there.

photo courtesy of Keith Allison

Mike Napoli welcomed himself back to Los Angeles of Anaheim by sending 2 ding dongs into the stands. Yu Darvish, excited about the offensive support he received, pitched 7 strong innings, giving up 2 runs, and striking out 11. The Rangers would go on to take game 2 of the series by a final score of 9 to 2. Yu Darvish picked up his 11th win and the Rangers hold a 6 game lead.

The Rangers offense finally decided to pulled their heads out of their asses and started hitting. Michael Young led things off in the 1st with an RBI single that scored Andrus. In the 2nd, the Rangers sent a few long ball gifts for the casual Angel fan. First it was Napoli, then Yorvit Torrealba, and finally, Adrian Beltre.

Mixed in the homer action was a Ian Kinsler double to score Craig Gentry.All of the 2nd inning action was enough to end Ervin Santana’s start as he was sent packing with 6 wonderful earned runs.

While still being inspired by his 2nd inning gift, Mike Napoli, the nice guy he is, sent another solo gift into the outfield stands.

The Rangers would add a couple more runs in the 8th off a Ian Kinsler homer, the Angels would score a couple for themselves, but the final score had the Rangers with more runs (9), which is greater than (2)…if my math is correct.

Alexi Ogando relieved Darvish in the 8th and sent the Angels hitters back to the dugout with no damage done. He would finish the 8th with 2 strikeouts. Joe Nathan cartwheeled into the 9th and finished the Angels off completely.

The Rangers and Angels finish their 3 game series tomorrow evening at 7:00 pm on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball.

Hits! Hits! Hits! (via Jay DeSimone)

That’s more like it!  7 runs on 14 hits.  So where were you hiding that offense these past few days?

Sunday’s game featured Matt Harrison against Dan Haren as the Rangers were trying to get out Anaheim with a win and a 4.5 game lead in the division.

Harrison cruised through 6 2/3 innings, really not getting into any trouble until the bottom of the 7th.  With 2 outs, Harrison allowed a single and a walk and was promptly replaced by Alexi Ogando.  Ogando would give up a hit to Trout and a walk to Callapso to load the bases for Albert Pujols.  And my heart stopped…

Thankfully, Ogando got Pujols to fly out to left field and all was good…  And I could start breathing again.

The Rangers scored their 7 runs over 5 innings.  In the 3rd, Napoli singled to left to leadoff the inning.  Moreland followed with a single of his own.  A sac fly by Kinsler moved Napoli to 3rd, and an Andrus double, scored Napoli.

In the 5th, Kinsler doubled to start the inning and eventually scored on a Young single, extending the Rangers’ lead to 2-0.  Then in the 6th, a Murphy double followed by a series of sacrifice hits and the Rangers are up 3-1.  A 2-run BOOMSTICK in the 7th (ending the Rangers’ 3 game drought without a homer) would increase the lead to 5-2, and they would tack on 2 more runs in the 9th.

After Saturday’s loss, the team had a closed door meeting to talk about getting back to Rangers baseball.  Not really sure what was said in that meeting, but it must have worked.  Wash said after the game,

“Play the game with fun and play the game with agression.  That’s what we did.  It was just a good all-around game.”

Let’s just hope they can keep up their winning ways!

FINAL: Rangers 7, Angels 3

I hate effing up a good Colby Lewis start.

CONFESSION: I fell asleep.  I know, I’m terrible.  That’s just how this week has been.  Seems I may have made the right decision as I’m sure I would have broken my laptop throwing it at my TV in the bottom of the 7th, you know if it had even survived the 6th inning.

Colby Lewis took the hill for the Rangers in Friday’s game against the Angels’ Jerome Williams.  Honestly, Colby was pretty good, only giving up 4 hits, walking  1, striking out 5 and NO HOME RUNS.  Oh, and he lasted 6 and 2/3 innings.  So what went wrong?

Well, the Rangers had a 2-0 lead going into the 6th and Colby had only given up 1 hit.  Well, a double, triple and a sac fly later, the game was tied.  Then with 2 outs in the 7th, Colby gives up a single.  Then, a Kinsler error (shocking, I know) would let the next runner get on AND would fail to end the inning.  The next batter, Mike Trout, would then single, scoring both runnings.  The Rangers wouldn’t really do anything the next few innings giving viewers even the slightest hope of a comeback.

FINAL: Rangers 2, Angels 4

With the win, the Angels are now within 4.5 games of the Rangers.  Hopefully, our boys can bounce back today with Darvish taking on Wilson at 9:05pm CT.

(Photo courtesy of flickr.com user Kwong Yee Cheng.)

As every team has now played about a quarter of their schedule, things are starting to take shape.  Here’s a glance of what’s been happening with the Los Angeles Angels this season and their key players:

• Current record: 20-25, going 5-5 in their last 10 games
• Released Bobby Abreu
• Fired hitting coach Mickey Hatcher
• Torii Hunter is on the restricted list
• Pitcher Latroy Hawkins, catcher Chris Iannetta, OF Vernon Wells and Ryan Langerhans all on DL
• Called up top prospect Mike Trout
• Albert Pujols has started to heat up, hitting .275 over his last 10 games and knocking in 3 home runs. Still not at his normal Pujols-level, but worth noting.

Yeah, It’s been a rough 2ish months for the Angels.

A quick look at the team stats:

» Continue reading “Catching Up With The AL West: Los Angeles Angels”