Rangers Lose 5-8

Glass Half Empty / Afternoon Cloud:

McCarthy gave up 3 runs in the 5th, ruining what had been an excellent start to that point, leaving the game with a 5-4 lead instead of a 5-1 lead.

Jennings may not be the mid inning relief pitcher answer either, as he gave up 4 ER in 2 and 2/3 innings.

Rangers' offense had just 1 walk and 7 K's, not a good ratio.

Silver Lining:

Some batters that have been in early season slumps have come out of it a little, including Salty and Crash Davis.

Hammerin' Hank goes yard again. Again trade bait (for a pitcher)?

Thoughts / Observations / Sidenote(s):

Even with this bad outing by Jennings he still has an ERA under 5 and looks better than C.J. Wilson.

BOX SCORE

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Rangers Win 6-5!

Glass Half Empty / Afternoon Cloud:

C.J. Wilson tried to lose the game in the bottom of the 9th.

Rangers committed 2 errors.

Silver Lining:

Rangers jumped out to an early lead with offense up and down the lineup.

Hamilton had 2 hits, slump over?

Scooter Feldman gave them 5 IP with 1 ER.

Holland looked good in 3 IP with 1 ER.

Francisco saves the game. ERA for the season 0.00.

Thoughts / Observations / Sidenote(s):

How much more from C.J. Wilson do they need to see?

BOX SCORE

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Rangers Win 5-4! Young Hits 2 Run Game Winning Homer in 9th

Glass Half Empty / Afternoon Cloud:

Rangers' offense had just 3 hits after 6 innings, and 2 of those were from Salty.

Silver Lining:

Rangers' offense exploded beginning in the 7th.

Salty had 3 hits, slump over?

Hammerin' Hank went yard again. And again, is he setting himself up to be trade bait (for a pitcher I hope)?

Young showed he's the leader of this team, again, hitting the game winning homer in the top of 9.

Francisco got another save, ERA to date: 0.00. Again, by all indications he is a real-deal closer.

Thoughts / Observations / Sidenote(s):

Much like Rangers' slow starts in recent seasons, they seem to get off to slow starts in games and find themselves having to try to dig out of it late. This time they did. Usually they don't. 

Keep in mind the Rangers have played exactly 0 divisional games so far. I'm waiting to see where they're at after they've played at least one series against each of their divisional foes. Then, we'll have an idea of where they're at.

BOX SCORE

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Rangers Lose 2-7

Glass Half Empty / Afternoon Cloud:

Millwood looks non-Cy Young like.

Two errors.

The mighty Texas offense puts up 2 runs, both solo shots.

LOB: 7

Silver Lining:

Hamilton homers, coming out of slump?

Crash Davis homers, slump over?

Hammerin' Hank gets 2 hits, trade bait for a pitcher?

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Rangers Lose, 7-8 in 11th

Glass Half Empty / Afternoon Cloud:

Harrison gave up 5 earned in 4 innings pitched.

Feldman gave up 2 ER in 1 and 2/3's innings pitched.

C.J. Wilson was hot then cold. He got the last two outs of the 10th, then in the 11th he walks the lead off man that would eventually score the game losing run.

Rangers bullpen is so shaky and its bench so short that O'Day, picked up on waivers earlier today after the Mets released him, comes in wearing Gabbard's jersey to give up the game losing hit.

Silver Lining:

Rangers get more timely hitting, this time in the top of the 9th where they score 3 to tie the game 7-7 and force extra innings, helping overcome poor starting (Harrison) and long relief (Feldman) pitching.

Salty gets a hit and 2 RBI, maybe the beginning of the end of his early season slump.

In relief (after Harrison and Feldman) young pitcher Holland goes 2 and 1/3 innings for no runs, 3 hits, no walks and 2 strike outs. Good big league debut.

Michael Young hit the tying homer in the bottom of 9, showing he's still the leader of this ball club.

Thoughts / Observations / Sidenote(s):

The shaky staff hurts the Rangers, again, and they still almost win it. Holland hopefully will help.

Given how well Holland did, are there any more arms from the farm teams that can be called up to lend a hand in the bullpen?

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Rangers Win 5-4, Win Streak @ 2!

Glass Half Empty / Afternoon Cloud:

Rangers committed an error, only one in the game, in the 8th giving the Jays an extra out. 

Then C.J. Wilson comes into the game in relief, gives up a base knock that scores a run (making it 5-4 Rangers) and retires no batters. How much more of C.J. Wilson do they need to see? Whatever he had last year seems to have escaped him this year. 

Silver Lining:

Kinsler and Cruz both go yard. 

Jennings looked good in relief, new set up man since Wilson's not panning out? 

Francisco looks like the real deal as a bona fide closer. 

Thoughts / Observations / Sidenote(s):

I like Ron Washington so hopefully this kicks off a little streak of more winning than losing. The error committed in this game was by the rookie shortstop Elvis, that's forgivable.

Could this be monumental moment/game in The Rangers' season? I know it's early but consider the following:

1) The Rangers beat the best team and pitcher in the AL, at least as it stands now.

2) Francisco showed he can come in early, get the 4+ out save and get in and out of trouble in the process.

3) Washington apparently had C.J. Wilson on a short leash and when Wilson didn't have it Washington yanked him quickly (after one batter I think).

4) Josh Hamilton has not been hitting well, that won't last.

5) The post game celebration of the win. It's truly refreshing to see the youth, Kinsler, Cruz, Elvis, Salty, genuinely exuberant to have won a game. That can be contagious.

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Rangers' Owner's Financial Issues Date Back to Last Summer

Glass Half Empty / Afternoon Cloud:

Hicks Sports Group, the Tom Hicks company that owns the Stars and your Rangers, has apparently had issues with its creditors since last summer. The creditors have gone so far as to declare the ownership company in default. 

Silver Lining:

Hicks Sports Group, the Tom Hicks company that owns the Stars and your Rangers, has apparently had issues with its creditors since last summer. The creditors have gone so far as to declare the ownership company in default. Maybe Hicks will sell.

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Off Day; If Losing Ways Continue, Who'll Get the Axe, Daniels or Washington?

Who's more responsible for the Ranger's losing ways, Daniels or Washington?

Here are some of Daniels not-so-good trades:

1. Sorriano to Nationals for Wilkerson, Sledge and Galarraga (pitcher) : For some reason Showalter couldn't get Sorriano to move to the outfield.  Traded to Frank Robinson's Nationals all of a sudden Sorriano is playing the outfield after a battle of wills between Sorriano and Robinson. The Rangers later trade Galarraga to Detroit where he's now a starter.  

2. Chris Young and Sledge and Adrian Gonzalez to Padres for Eaton, Otsuka and catcher Billy Killian.

Also keep in mind that the rotation and bullpen were put together by Daniels.

Lastly, has anyone else noticed that since Nolan Ryan became president of  baseball operations we haven't heard much from Daniels? Is that a bad sign for Daniels?

As for Washington, he's managed a team that has led the bigs in errors and had the worst fielding percentage last year, not to mention that the Rangers had the worst ERA last year. Of course, is the worst ERA in the majors the manager's fault or the GM's? Or is it the players' fault on the team?

Needless to say, if the losing continues someone is getting a pink slip. I'd think it'd be Daniels before Washington, but that's just a guess.

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Rangers Win 6-5! Winning Streak Now Stands at 1!

Glass Half Empty / Afternoon Cloud:

The vaunted Rangers offense was held in check for most of the game, sitting at three hits until the later innings (if memory serves they only had 3 hits through 7 innings).

Padilla gives up 5 earned runs in 5 innings pitched.

Silver Lining:

Rangers finally get some timely hitting in the 8th and especially 9th, when Young hits a walk off homer. 

Guess what? Rangers commit no errors and actually capatilize on a KC error in the bottom of the 8th on the way to a 2 run inning and tying the ballgame.

Sidenote:

Rangers are calling up top pitching prospect Holland from triple AAA.

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Rangers Lose 0-2

Glass Half Empty / Afternoon Cloud:

Vaunted Ranger offense puts up the goose egg, wasting Millwood's great performance. 

Silver Lining:

Millwood pitches like an ace, again, albeit in a game the Rangers lose. 

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