Quite a night for the Rangers pitching corps.
Tommy Hunter became the 7th rookie pitcher to debut for the Rangers. He got a bit roughed up, but I liked what he was throwing out there. He'll be fine with a little more time.
C.J. Wilson came into a tied game in the 9th and gave up two runs. This has become characteristic of C.J. as of late, and while many think he should be demoted from the closer role, I'm not ready to give up on him yet. He's going to go through bad streaks and take some lumps. That's part of LEARNING the role. And I bet no one's harder on C.J. about these outings than C.J. himself.
Of course, I still think much of our pitching problem rests on the shoulders of the coaches...but now they're gone. After the game, Texas fired bullpen coach Dom Chiti and pitching coach Mark Connor. I could not be more surprised. I'm also a bit relieved. I do not honestly believe our pitchers are as bad as their numbers imply. And at one time this season, we had NINE pitchers on the disabled list. Someone has to be accountable for that. Andy Hawkins and Jim Colborn are the replacements. I've been impressed with Hawkins' work in OKC (particularly with how he handled Kam last year) but I'm unfamiliar with Colborn. Still, I'm anxious for a change. Anything has to be better than what we've been doing.
Moving on, August is off to a fine start. July ended a bit shaky and with quite a bit of disappointment. But it's a new month, and the Rangers aren't completely out of the playoff race. They're somewhat in the wild card, but I am afraid to let myself believe in that. There are still too many games to play and too many teams to pass. But it's nice that these games aren't completely meaningless.
Tonight's game, as I mentioned, was roller coaster. A lot of them have been lately.
The first inning was definitely an omen of things to come -- pitchers' obstruction (when Davis pushed Hunter into the runner trying to get to first) and catcher's interference. I'm not sure there were any other weird plays we could have seen. There was another error later on, and the Rangers dug themselves into a 6-0 hole in four innings.
Bottom four, Catalanotto hits an unlikely double to left. Young grounds out. But have no fear, Josh Hamilton is here. He jacks a two-run shot to center field (and the kid who retrieves the ball ends up on SportsCenter). That's all they would get that inning, but the rally began percolating again in the fifth. With one out, Vazquez and Kinsler each singled and then Catalanotto pushed Vaz around with a single of his own. Young doubled to score Kinsler, but Cat got stuck at third. Ham struck out and the Blue Jays intentionally walked Byrd to get to Murphy. Mistake. Murphy singled to center, bringing Cat and Young across the plate. But then Byrd killed the rally by getting caught in a rundown between second and third.
The game was deadlocked at 6 runs a piece until the 9th. C.J. Wilson enters the game and Blue Jays' Alex Rios immediately singles to third, and Vazquez got hurt on the play. Overbay flies out, but then Lind triples and Rios scores the go-ahead run. Mench gets a sac hit and then Barajas flies out.
Good thing the Rangers have the best offense in baseball. C.J. needed them to bail him out. Kins quickly grounds out, but then Salty (pinch hitting for Cat) walks and Young singles. Boggs doubles to left center and Salty scores, but Young has to hold at third. AGAIN, the Blue Jays walk Byrd to get to Murphy. You'd think they learned their lesson. But no. Murph sneaks one by the third baseman and gets the walk-off win.
KISS: Murphy, Murphy, Murphy. 4th outfielder or not, I'm just glad he's in a Rangers uni. The rookie was 3-4 tonight with 4 RBI. He now has 71 RBI on the season. If THAT'S what we get from our 4th outfielder, I'll take it.
MISS: C.J. Wilson. He gave up two runs and still got the win. Something is just not right in C.J.'s head. I have no doubt he'll get it together, but it needs to be sooner rather than later. I think I'm in the minority of people who want him to finish this season as our closer.
Tommy Hunter became the 7th rookie pitcher to debut for the Rangers. He got a bit roughed up, but I liked what he was throwing out there. He'll be fine with a little more time.
C.J. Wilson came into a tied game in the 9th and gave up two runs. This has become characteristic of C.J. as of late, and while many think he should be demoted from the closer role, I'm not ready to give up on him yet. He's going to go through bad streaks and take some lumps. That's part of LEARNING the role. And I bet no one's harder on C.J. about these outings than C.J. himself.
Of course, I still think much of our pitching problem rests on the shoulders of the coaches...but now they're gone. After the game, Texas fired bullpen coach Dom Chiti and pitching coach Mark Connor. I could not be more surprised. I'm also a bit relieved. I do not honestly believe our pitchers are as bad as their numbers imply. And at one time this season, we had NINE pitchers on the disabled list. Someone has to be accountable for that. Andy Hawkins and Jim Colborn are the replacements. I've been impressed with Hawkins' work in OKC (particularly with how he handled Kam last year) but I'm unfamiliar with Colborn. Still, I'm anxious for a change. Anything has to be better than what we've been doing.
Moving on, August is off to a fine start. July ended a bit shaky and with quite a bit of disappointment. But it's a new month, and the Rangers aren't completely out of the playoff race. They're somewhat in the wild card, but I am afraid to let myself believe in that. There are still too many games to play and too many teams to pass. But it's nice that these games aren't completely meaningless.
Tonight's game, as I mentioned, was roller coaster. A lot of them have been lately.
The first inning was definitely an omen of things to come -- pitchers' obstruction (when Davis pushed Hunter into the runner trying to get to first) and catcher's interference. I'm not sure there were any other weird plays we could have seen. There was another error later on, and the Rangers dug themselves into a 6-0 hole in four innings.Bottom four, Catalanotto hits an unlikely double to left. Young grounds out. But have no fear, Josh Hamilton is here. He jacks a two-run shot to center field (and the kid who retrieves the ball ends up on SportsCenter). That's all they would get that inning, but the rally began percolating again in the fifth. With one out, Vazquez and Kinsler each singled and then Catalanotto pushed Vaz around with a single of his own. Young doubled to score Kinsler, but Cat got stuck at third. Ham struck out and the Blue Jays intentionally walked Byrd to get to Murphy. Mistake. Murphy singled to center, bringing Cat and Young across the plate. But then Byrd killed the rally by getting caught in a rundown between second and third.
The game was deadlocked at 6 runs a piece until the 9th. C.J. Wilson enters the game and Blue Jays' Alex Rios immediately singles to third, and Vazquez got hurt on the play. Overbay flies out, but then Lind triples and Rios scores the go-ahead run. Mench gets a sac hit and then Barajas flies out.Good thing the Rangers have the best offense in baseball. C.J. needed them to bail him out. Kins quickly grounds out, but then Salty (pinch hitting for Cat) walks and Young singles. Boggs doubles to left center and Salty scores, but Young has to hold at third. AGAIN, the Blue Jays walk Byrd to get to Murphy. You'd think they learned their lesson. But no. Murph sneaks one by the third baseman and gets the walk-off win.
KISS: Murphy, Murphy, Murphy. 4th outfielder or not, I'm just glad he's in a Rangers uni. The rookie was 3-4 tonight with 4 RBI. He now has 71 RBI on the season. If THAT'S what we get from our 4th outfielder, I'll take it.
MISS: C.J. Wilson. He gave up two runs and still got the win. Something is just not right in C.J.'s head. I have no doubt he'll get it together, but it needs to be sooner rather than later. I think I'm in the minority of people who want him to finish this season as our closer.
1 comment:
Its been a while. I hope all is well with you! I had Phightin' Phils Phorum on MLBblogs and also was not thrilled with it so moved to a new format and decided to expand.
I have a network of blogs called My Team Rivals. We are looking to add a blog to our network about the Rangers. We already have a few A.L. teams and a Dallas Cowboys site. We would love to add you to our network. This is how it would work. We would rebuild your site, pay for your blog, get advertisers that you would earn money from, and increase the amount of traffic you get on your site.
What's the catch? You have to keep posting like you have been. You have complete control over what is written on the site and nothing changes other than the MyTeamRivals.com name would be on your site and you post on our very simple Typepad platform (like the old MLBlogs only easier).
Please check out our site and let me know what questions you may have and or if you are interested. I look forward to hearing from you.
Bill
http://www.myteamrivals.com
Bill@myteamrivals.com
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