The Ranger Reporter

Maybe the rainouts are all that bad because the Rangers went to Cleveland for two games with the Indians and dropped them both.  You wonder if the only thing stopping this from being a four game streak was that rainout with the Mariners.

Yesterday, the Rangers actually came from behind and scored a run in each of the final two innings to tie, only to lose it in the eleventh.  Ian Kinsler hit homerun number eight and he drove in three runs while Sammy Sosa contributed with three RBIs of his own.  Michael Young also had a nice game at the plate and he went three for six with two runs and RBI in the 8-7 loss.  Unfortunately, the pitching wasn’t as good.  Vincente Padilla was roughed up again and he gave up six runs in four innings and then it was Willie Eyre who took the loss.  Brandon McCarthy came out of the pen for two shutout innnings though.

Today’s game was even uglier because not only was the pitching not there, but the Rangers scored just four runs.  Kameron Loe was hammered for seven runs in 5 1/3 innings and two other relievers also gave up runs.  Sammy Sosa inched closer to homerun number 600 with two solo homeruns today.  Hank Blalock also had a nice game with two hits and two runs in the 9-4 loss.

Next up is a four game, wrap around series with the Blue Jays that will go through Monday.  Robinson Tejada gets the ball tomorrow and hopefully he can end this streak and get the Rangers out of the cellar.

I hate these little two game series because it lends itself to what happened this time around.  Monday’s game was played and then the rain came in and it ended up being a one game series.  Or just one game because I guess it’s not really a series.

Anyway, the Rangers lost 5-4.  They came back from four down to tie it but Kevin Millwood gave up a fifth run in the seventh and he dropped to 2-3 on the season.  The Rangers did get three shutout innings of relief from three different relievers and that was encouraging.

Hank Blalock hit a two run homer to account for half of the Rangers offense.  Sammy Sosa went two for four with a run and an RBI.

So at 8-11, the Rangers are tied with the Mariners and two games back of the A’s, just two games back.  A two game series in Cleveland against the Indians is next on the slate and a two game sweep would be nice.

The bad news is, the Rangers are 8-10 this year. The good news is, no team in the AL West is over .500 right now and 8-10 is good for just a game back of first place right now and the Rangers did it with two wins in the final games of their series against the A’s. 

We have to talk about Friday though and that was simply an ugly game.  Brandon McCarthy was hammered and he dropped to 1-3.  It made it even worse that two relievers gave up at least four runs a piece and when the dust settled, the Rangers took a 16-4 loss.  Michael Young doubled and drove in two runs while Kenny Lofton finished with three hits, a run and an RBI.

Then on Saturday, Kameron Loe made his first start of the season and he got it done.  He threw 5 1/3 shutout innings and he gave up just three hits and a walk with five strikeouts.  Matt Kata went two for three with a homerun three RBIs.  Nelson Cruz went three for three with two runs and an RBI in the 7-0 win.

Yesterday’s game was a mixed affair.  On the one hand the Rangers won.  The bad news is that Eric Gagne left the game with a hip injury.  Robinson Tejada threw a solid game and he gave up three runs on nine hits with six strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings.  Willie Eyre picked up the win and Akinori Otsuka picked up the save once he came in and reliever Gagne.  Hank Blalock went three for four with two RBIs and a run while Kenny Lofton went two for three with a run in the 4-3 win.

The Rangers can distance themselves from the last place Mariners in their two game series this week.  Kevin Millwood gets the start and he’ll be throwing against Cha Seung Baek, who’s making his season debut.

The Rangers have now lost four of their last games and two of those have come in the past two days as the Rangers dropped two of three to the White Sox.  Things started off well enough on Tuesday with an 8-1 win.  Robinson Tejada threw a very nice game and he gave up just one run on three hits and four walks in seven innings of work.  The win pushed his record to 2-1.  In the meantime, the Rangers hit three big homeruns to account for all eight of their runs.  Ian Kinlser and Sammy Sosa hit three run shots while Brad Wilkerson put the Rangers on the board with a two run shot in the fifth.

It went downhill from there.  Kevin Millwood was hit hard and the Rangers were the victims of Mark Buehrle’s no hitter on Wednesday.  Yesterday’s game was a tad closer and the Rangers had the game tied as late as the eighth inning but three runs off of Scott Feldman cost the Rangers the win.  Sammy Sosa hit homerun number four and Sosa was the only Ranger to finish with two hits.

So the bad news is, the Rangers are in last place, tied with the Angels of all teams.  The good news is, they’re only two games back and they play three this weekend against the first place Athletics.   Brandon McCarthy will throw tonight and it’d be nice if he could get us off to a good start in this series.

The standings right now are a bit backwards.  Seattle is in first and the Rangers are in last with a 5-7 record.  That’s not good considering a tough White Sox will be the Rangers next opponent.

Things got off well enough on Friday with a nice start by Kevin Millwood.  He improved to 2-1 and he gave up just one run on seven hits and two walks with two strikeouts in six innings of work.  Matt Kata and Ian Kinsler both went yard in the win with Kata going three for four with two runs.

Then the pitching got pretty bad.  Vicente Padilla dropped to 0-3 on Saturday with another poor outing.  He gave up six runs on six hits and three walks with strikeout in six innings of work.  Brad Wilkerson hit his first homerun of the season and Sammy Sosa hit his second in the 8-3 loss.

Then it got even worse on Sunday.  Brandon McCarthy was shelled in his start and Bruce Chen and Kameron Loe also got hit hard in a 14-6 loss.  Sosa drove in two more runs and Ian Kinsler had two hits, a walk and three runs in the blowout loss.

Robinson Tejada gets the start in the series opener tomorrow.  It sure would be nice to get some solid pitching and maybe ring up a series win here.  The White Sox are a solid team but they haven’t been playing great either.

The Rangers really got their hitters going in their three game series against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.  While they lost the series finale, they racked up 25 runs in the three games.

On Monday, Brandon McCarthy picked up his first Ranger win.  He gave up two runs on five hits and two walks with five strikeouts in six innings.  Ian Kinsler had four hits and two RBIs while Hank Blalock went two for four with an RBI and two runs in the 8-4 win.

The Rangers got even more offense on Tuesday.  Kenny Lofton, Ian Kinsler and Frank Catalanotto all went yard.  Lofton had three RBIs and three runs while Cataloanotto drove in four runs in a 12-9 win.  The pitching wasn’t as good and Jamey Wright didn’t even last through the third inning.  Scott Feldman ended up with the win after he threw 2 1/3 shutout innings.

Unfortunately, the Rangers couldn’t finish up the sweep.  Robinson Tejada was shelled for six runs in the first three innings and while the Rangers eventually made it a one run game, that was the closest they got.  Michael Young pretty much put the team on his back in this one.  He homered twice and drove in four.

The Rangers are now just a game below .500 and they’re just two games back of the Angels.  Texas gets the day off today but then they travel to Seattle for a three game series.  Fortunately, Felix Hernandez threw yesterday so we won’t be seeing him.  Kevin Millwood gets the start tomorrow.

The Rangers actually put together a winning streak over the weekend as they took two of three against the Red Sox.  Robinson Tejada threw seven shutout innings on Friday to get the Rangers their first win of the season.  Sammy Sosa and Gerald Laird both singled home runs in the 2-0 win.

On Satursday, the Rangers got the offense going.  Nelson Cruz drove in three runs and Sammy Sosa hit his first homerun of the season.  Kevin Millwood was solid enough and he gave up three runs in six innings in the 8-4 win.

The Rangers almost pulled off a sweep but Curt Schilling and Jon Papelbon were a bit too much.  Nelson Cruz hit into a fielders choice to narrow the Red Sox lead to 3-2 but that was far as the Rangers got.  Frank Catalanotto hit a solo homerun and Vicente Padilla took the loss.

The Rangers host the Devil Rays, who actually have a slightly better record then the Rangers do.  Hopefully the Rangers can get it going though against the perennial door mat.

A season opening sweep definitely isn’t a good thing and the Rangers’ bats never got it going.  This afternoon, they picked up only six hits and while they scored three, that wasn’t even enough to match what the Angels put up in the first inning.

Michael Young was the only Ranger with two hits. He drove in a run and scored.  Brandon McCarthy took the loss and he gave up five runs (three earned) in ten hits and a walk in six innings of work. 

The Rangers head home and have tomorrow off before they play three against the Red Sox.  Hopefully Friday the Rangers can pick up that first win.

I’m not sure if the Angels are this good or whether the Rangers are already in a bit of a slump.  Regardless, Vincent Padilla was hammered and Kelvim Escobar and four relievers held the Rangers offense to four hits.  Padilla gave up six runs on nine hits and three walks in 4 2/3 innings en route to the loss.

Ian Kinsler hit his second homerun of the season and he finished the game with two runs.  Hank Blalock walked and scored a run while Kenny Lofton had one RBI.

Brandon McCarthy makes his Ranger debut this afternoon and it’ll be his job to make sure the Rangers don’t get swept.  Then it’s back to Texas to take on the Red Sox.

Kevin Millwood wasn’t too great last night.  He gave up three runs on five hits and two walks with five strikeouts in only five innings of work.  In the meantime, John Lackey was shutting down the Rangers top notch offense and the end result was an opening day loss.

Hank Blalock was the only Ranger with two hits although he it was one that got away that mattered most.  In the third inning, he hit what might have been a line drive to single with two outs and the bases loaded but Gary Matthews, Jr. came back to haunt us made a nice sliding catch.

Vincente Padilla throws for the Rangers tonight.  It sure would be nice to even up this series now and not get off to a poor start.