Who goes into Yankee Stadium with a one run lead in the bottom of the ninth and retires A-Rod, Giambi and Posada?
Ah...that's right, it's C.J. WILSON.
My stomach was a bundle of nerves when the Rangers' closer made his way in from the bullpen. I'd already experienced the heartbreak of seeing Eddie Guardado making a premature exit due to an unknown injury. Poor Everyday Eddie. And I had been thrilled from the ELECTRIFYING performance of Jamey Wright. But I always get nervous for my favorites (I couldn't eat the whole day of Kameron Loe's first career start. True story, even if it's a sad one), so it's no surprise that I began biting my nails when C.J. came in.
C.J. showed no signs of similar feelings, though. In fact, this might have been the most confident I've seen him in a long time. He kept his cool out there and threw good pitches to some very good hitters. Maybe his weekend save and productive outing (Sunday) helped build his confidence. Either way, I screamed loudly with EACH OUT he notched in the 9th inning.
Honestly, this was a pretty great game all around. The offense wasn't overpowering, but the defense didn't make any mistakes and the pitchers kept the Yankees (save A-Rod) from crossing homeplate.
KISS: I think this has to be a collective award for all of tonight's pitchers -- Feldman, Francisco, Wright and Wilson. They held the Bronx Bombers to four hits (and only one was a bomb, really) and only gave them three free passes. They also struck out six. Nice to see Feldy finally get his first win, and it's good to see the bullpen holding their own as well.
MISS: Milton Bradley, who was 0 for 4 with 4 Ks. All that time off in interleague play was not good for Bradley. But he'll get back on track soon, I'm sure of it.
Two games over .500 feels good. Let's keep it rolling boys. I'd love to have a winning record as we head into the all-star break, but the road to that goal won't be easy with the Yankees, Orioles, Angels and White Sox in the way. We'll just have to take it one day and one game at a time.
My stimulus check arrived recently, and while most of it will be spent responsibly (eliminating debt), I decided to use a small portion of it to buy myself a birthday present. So, on my 28th birthday, I will be sitting seven rows from the field near the Rangers dugout in the HHH Metrodome in Minneapolis. (Yeah, I decided I'm going even if I have to sleep in my car in downtown Minneapolis and cyphon gas from other cars to get home. Not really. But I may have to make a few sacrfices to make it work.) I am so giddy, I can hardly stand it. :) Keep an eye out for my perennial Rangers-related birthday wish list :)
I'm looking forward to seeing my boys in person for the first (and probably only) time all season that weekend. I'm disappointed that gas prices and my job will hold me to two Rangers games this season, but I'll take what I can get. That's part of why I don't feel so bad splurging on a good seat.
P.S. Chris Davis is a lot of fun to watch. And look at. I might be developing a crush.
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1 comment:
Haha - good to hear you're going to get to go to Minnesota, Micah. And good to have you back blogging, of course.
CJ Wilson looked like the 2007 CJ last night - the one I thought would be a good, solid closer for us this year. Good to see him maybe finding his groove.
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