Recently in 2002 Game Recaps Category

This game definitely seemed like the Pudge show. I figured the fans would give Pudge some love here, and they did. Pudge got a standing ovation when he came to bat for the first time. He tipped his helmet to everyone, and then got to business. The fans gave him a standing ovation every time he came up. Surprised me, but was nice to see. Pudge actually wasn't having a great game, as he tossed a ball into center on a steal attempt, and a ball got by him. However, he "redeemed" himself at the end of the game with a home run in his penultimate at bat of the game, and then a double, which was almost a second home run to right center. He got thunderous applause after the home run, and Kevin Mench would not get into the batter's box after him until he came out for a curtain call, which he did. In his final at bat, after the double, he stood at second base to another round of applause, and he got yet anothere standing O when he was taken out of the game for a pinch runner. Major Pudge love-fest going on at the Ballpark this day.

We were behind early (no shock there), especially after a Tejada grand slam. We were down 8-1 after 6.5 innings, and we put up a couple of runs in the 7th, one in the 8th, and then it got really interesting in the bottom of the ninth. We scored 3 runs to make it 8-7, and actually Todd Greene, who ran for Pudge, came up to bat. Had Pudge stayed in the game, he might have had a chance to hit a home run and win the game. It didn't happen, but I don't think it lessened anyone's feelings for what happened today. Great game.

The one thing that concerned me was that the scoreboard said "Thanks Pudge" after his home run. It probably means nothing. It's probably just one of the scoreboard folks putting some text up there. But still - the fact that the Rangers own scoreboard said Thanks Pudge was kind of an eerie omen!

Oh yeah - hi to the woman who came over and said hi to me at the game. She said she reads my site regularly, and I'm sorry I forgot your name, but it was nice to say hi to someone who reads the site! :)

Additional game commentary is available here.

There were two games left in the season, so I decided to go to both of them. I already had tickets for Sunday's game, but Saturday's game I went and took a new digital camera and retook all the pics for my seat selector, and I'll be putting them online this offseason.

Anyway, this was one of those games that was typical of the Rangers season. Crappy bullpen pitching, giving up more runs than the several we scored ourselves. We got out to a big lead early, but couldn't hold it. We scored 7 in the first two innings, and then didn't get any more until one late, but by that point, our pitching had let the game get away. :(

Miguel Tejada hit two home runs - to exactly the same spot in left field. In fact, the same guy got both balls - that was kind of cool! I did like being at the game, even though we lost. Kind of sad, as it was the last night game of the season. I'm going back again tomorrow for the finale, but this was an odd feeling, even though I have one more. Kind of the impending "Aaah - no more baseball games to go to" feeling I always have at the end of September.

Three games to go. All against the A's. The A's are .5 games behind the Yankees for best overall record in the AL, and homefield advantage. Do I want the Rangers to win any of these games and help the Yankees? Hell no! I want us to lose all three of these, and give the Yankees a big pfffft. Of course, I'd like to see Arod hit his three home runs to get to 60, but he didn't get any tonight, so he needs three in the last two games. Unlikely, but you never know.

Overall, this was a pitching game again. Chan Ho Park was sloppy in the first, giving up two runs, but that was it, really. While he did give up one more run later on, he was pretty good after the first inning. Mark Mulder on the other hand, gave up nothing. He went 7 innings, giving up only 3 hits. We didn't score anything until we made it very interesting in the bottom of the 9th, putting two runs up on the board. I was actually scared we'd win! :)

Two more to go.

Day games are hard for me (as regular readers know), because I'm working. I have it on on the radio, but it's hard to pay attention. Plus when we went down by a lot of runs yesterday, I just kind of tuned out. :)

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Didn't see much of this, as it was my bowling league night. However, I saw enough. Kenny Rogers pitched pretty well, in what could be his final start as a Ranger. Arod got #57, and Raffy got a HR, too. I could look at the box score and make up stories, but at the end of this bad season, I don't really have the urge to write a lot. :)

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I was at the Ballpark for this game, and when it started, I told my wife this was either going to be a well pitched game, or a total fiasco. We got the well pitched game. I really didn't think Benoit would hold on - I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, and for him to give up 6 runs in an inning. However, he didn't. He got some really key strikeouts to get out of some jams, and looked every bit the well seasoned major league pitcher would be. Thing is, we need to keep playing teams that are good. When Benoit plays the Tampa Bays or the Baltimores (this months Baltimore), he plays bad.

However, last night he was great. Anaheim's pitching was great too, especially Ben Weber out of the bullpen (come to think of it all the bullpen folks used (even my nemesis Rich Rodriguez) pitched well). There were three runs scored, two of them on solo home runs (Anaheim's Garret Anderson & Pudge). In fact, Pudge scored both runs, and threw out a runner attempting to steal in the 9th, which was huge.

A nice game, and while there were 16 men left on base for both teams, one that seemed to be an old style pitching duel - nice to see in the surprisingly cool weather of late September 2002.

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We lost three over the weekend to the A's. Too many walks, poor pitching. What more needs to be said? Oh yeah, we had better not have Rich Rodriguez on this team next year, or I'll be pissed.

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We lost three over the weekend to the A's. Too many walks, poor pitching. What more needs to be said? Oh yeah, we had better not have Rich Rodriguez on this team next year, or I'll be pissed.

Additional game commentary is available here.

We lost three over the weekend to the A's. Too many walks, poor pitching. What more needs to be said? Oh yeah, we had better not have Rich Rodriguez on this team next year, or I'll be pissed.

Additional game commentary is available here.

Our last game of the year against Seattle ended in a win - our 70th of the year. Unfortunately, it happened to come at Game 153 of the season, which means we've lost 83! Eek! It was pretty funny that the pregame show showed Lou Piniella's blowup two or three times, and the game intro did as well. Still got a lot of mileage out of that. :)

While it was nice that we busted out the big bats in support of Ben Kozlowski - who pitched pretty decently considering the situation. (Raffy Grand Slam, and Arod 3 run home run), we let it get away again after Kozlowski got out of the inning. Jamey Newberg reported today that Pudge was looking sloppy, and I have to agree. If that's the kind of catching we'll get if we give him a new contract, then hey, let's jack up Todd Greene to #1, and have Haselman as his backup. We busted out for 5 runs in the top of 10th, in our fourth straight extra inning game against the Mariners. Nice to see that.

I was astonished to see the total number of walks by both teams in these four games - SIXTY EIGHT!

I was a bit concerned about the goings on in Kansas City, though. Those two mental zeroes that attacked the Royals' coach should be prosecuted fairly heavily. Also, did you get a look at these idiots? Neither of them looked like they had enough brain cells to even comprehend baseball. Do a Google Image search for 'William Ligue Gamboa' - you'll see what I'm talking about.

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This is the time of year that folks who root for bad baseball teams find ways to do other things. I'm no different. Last night I spent a lot of time watching the Monsters Inc. DVD that I got in yesterday. :)

I tuned in late to the game, and guess what? We lost in extra innings again. However, by far and away the most entertaining thing of the game that I watched was Lou Piniella's blow up after Mike Young made a spectacular play at second to get (at least by the umpire's call) an out. Lou of course came out and had a major Lou meltdown. Quite funny to watch, ESPECIALLY as the umpire kept his cool and didn't say a word, just kind of stood there and let Lou spew. I'm fairly sure that egged Lou on a bit more than he might have. Was also nice of the TV folks to leave the game on Lou, and not cut away to commercials, so we could see it all. There's only one picture below of this, wish there were more stills. Quite quite funny.

He didn't pitch in this game, but I still don't like Rich Rodriguez. Oh yeah, Arod didn't start the game, but did pinch hit late. Would have liked to have seen the entire night off for him, but one pinch hit isn't that bad, I guess.

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You know, when a game is played close, and you lose late, you're supposed to say "I don't mind losing that because it was a good game". I've gotten tired of saying that over the last three years. I want to win again. I'm sure the Rangers do too, but as a fan, hey, all I can do is bitch about it, right? I can't actually make decisions that impact the games, right? :)

Anyway, Chan Ho Park looked good, even though he walked 8 batters, it didn't seem to impact him too much. Park has done a complete turn around lately, and he seems to be the pitcher we had signed, not that guy wearing #61 for the first half of the season. This is good, as I hope he can carry this over into next season. It does show he doesn't come back well from an injury, though.

Arod looks beat out there, I think he needs a day off. Also, I still don't like Rich Rodriguez.

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I didn't see most of this game, as I was watching my hometown Philadelphia Eagles whoop up on the Washington Redskins on Monday Night Football. I did see the latter stages of the game though. I was bummed I missed Pudge getting ejected, it looked like quite a scene, especially with him flipping off the umpire. The DMN says that he could be in line for a suspension, but we'll see if that happens.

Anyway, we managed a comeback against Kaz Sasaki in the 9th (who doesn't look as impressive this year for some reason). However, our usual problem turned itself up late. Too many walks. In fact, we had 13 walks over the 11 innings, the last one being the worst, as it gave the Mariners the win. Normally I don't like saying "Let's end this season", but since the Rangers seem unwilling to NOT use Rich Rodriguez, I'll be glad when the season is over so I don't have to look at him pitch for us (hopefully never again). In fact, all 6 of our pitchers walked at least one Mariner - yeesh.

No home runs at all in this game, which isn't surprising with the ballpark we were playing in, but what was surprising was how ineffective Arod was last night. He had several opportunities to drive in quite a few runs, and did nothing - that was a bummer. Always love to see Arod stick it to the Mariners. In fact, if he's gonna hit 60, he needs to get going, as there's now 12 games left for him to get 5 home runs. 6 home runs to tie Maris' AL record for home runs.

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No time to write about this game as I sit here and do this page on Monday afternoon. Too busy at work. Besides, we got swept. :) Additional game commentary is available here.

No time to write about this game as I sit here and do this page on Monday afternoon. Too busy at work. Besides, we got swept. :) Additional game commentary is available here.

No time to write about this game as I sit here and do this page on Monday afternoon. Too busy at work. Besides, we got swept. :) Additional game commentary is available here.

Listened to this game at work, and as such, I didn't get much listening done. I rarely do when at work.

Was really nice to see a win, and a sweep of the Mariners, who really got hurt by losing all four in Texas. It also brings us that much closer to actually getting to .500 before the end of the season. It's not out of the question, but is definitely a tough project with so few games left in the season. It's the first time we've swept Seattle in a four game series since around 1992, I think, and the first time at home since 1986. We're also 30-30 since the All-Star Break. 19-9 Since August 4th, and 5 games above 500 at home. w00t! :)

Additional game commentary is available here.

I'm not going to touch on the September 11th stuff, as there's been a lot written by a lot of people who could write about it a lot better than I.

As for this game, Colby Lewis was far more impressive than I anticipated him being. I didn't see most of the game, because Wed is my bowling league, and missed most of it, but t was nice to see Arod jack another one, for 54 now, as well as a nice finish in the bottom of the ninth, damaging the Mariners chances some more - bet they thought coming to Texas would be a cakewalk. :)

Dare we think sweep? :) Additional game commentary is available here.

Well, I was at this game, and for a game that featured only 13 hits and 5 runs, it ran awfully long. I know the box score said 2:59, but it seemed to be awfully slow and boring, even for a game that (barely) had a time under three hours. Anyway, it was still nice to see some good pitching. Kenny pitched well, although he wasn't sharp, throwing about 110 pitches or so in 6 innings. Kenny's only mistake was a throwing error, which allowed his only run to score. Rudy Seanez was NOT good - his line doesn't look THAT bad, but sitting at the Ballpark, he looked really "eh". My least favorite Ranger, Rich Rodriguez came on, and threw two pitches to get out of the Seanez inning, and Cordero was absolutely lights out, striking out the side in the 9th for the save.

Was a nice night at the ballpark, saw a good win, and there was less than 20,000 there - well, announced, anyway. We broke our home run streak of 27 consecutive games, as we didn't have any tonight. There was a short video tribute to the home run streak before the game, which was nice to see.

Also, what's with the HORRIBLE music at the Ballpark anymore? They are playing music before the game that is just a) not baseball music and b) just atrocious anyway. We really need Chuck Morgan back. Give him a massive pay raise, and fire the three people they replaced Chuck with. YEESH!

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I only saw a few minutes of this game, as I was watching Monday Night Football (damn Steelers lost - Grrrr). Anyway, the only bit I saw was when I flipped to the game in the bottom of the 6th, and Arod was at bat. Decided to stick around to watch him bat, and given that I only saw about 3 minutes of the game, I watched the right 3 minutes - got to see a great home run by Arod. Then I see by the box scores that he hit another, as well as Raffy hitting #40.

Also saw where Arod & Raffy are the first two players ever to hit 50 & 40 home runs two years in a row. No one else has ever done that. Nice job, guys!

I think that might be it for Aaron Myette. Probably pitched himself out of a job.

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I didn't watch much of this game, as like most people I was watching football on Sunday afternoon. It was Week 1, and I had to be watching football. :) I did peek in on the Rangers game, and after they got behind, I stopped peeking very much. I did see Raffy's record breaking home run, though.

Back home to play Seattle. The cakewalk teams are done. Our remaining 20 games are against our own division, all of which are much better than us, so we'll either gain some respect, or sink even further back in the hole.

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Well, I was going to write about this one, but I didn't see or hear virtually any of it. The reason why is that I was out for the afternoon, so I recorded the game on my TiVo. I sat down on the bed to start watching it, and after the first inning, one of my cats decided to pay me a visit. Unfortunately, she stepped ON the remote, and hit the "end of program" button. At the time, it was the bottom of the ninth, and I saw the score. Oh well, so much for watching that one.

We tied the HR record, with a few of them. Herb Perry had another great game - 2 HR, 5 RBI. And Chan Ho Park looked really good again. That bodes well for next season. Just hope he doesn't get hurt again during the offseason.

Additional game commentary is available here.

Don't have time to write about this on Monday morning, but it was nice to see a win where we were supposed to get one. :)

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Arod's the only Ranger player ever to have 50 home runs, and he's done it the two years he's been a Ranger. He's also played in every game the Rangers have played since he signed up. Again, don't know if anyone's worth a quarter of a billion dollars, but there's no denying how good he's been for this team. When he hit his second home run, my wife and I were watching the game while eating dinner, and I almost spewed my food when I said "Holy Crap" when he hit the second one. Off the bat, it looked like it was headed to the upper deck. Didn't get there, but was still very impressive. It's not unrealistic to think he might get 60 - as there are 23 games left; he needs 10. His two weren't the only home runs of the night, we also had jacks from Carl Everett, Todd Hollandsworth, & Mike Young (all in the 5th). The Orioles never really made any noise this game, this was ours from the start.

Our pitching was pretty decent, too. Kenny went 7 innings, giving up the two runs, and Kolb & Cordero pitched an inning of hitless, scoreless baseball each. Cordero also had two strikeouts, and has looked very impressive this year. With Zimmerman out till middle of next year (and there's a possibility he may NEVER come back), this is a good time for Cordero to finally figure it out.

We go on to Tampa Bay tomorrow. Hopefully, we can exact some revenge for that horrible series in Arlington a week ago when we got swept by the Rays.

Well, as good as the previous game was, this one was equally flat and blah. Aaron Myette, making two starts in two games, due to his only throwing two pitches in the last one didn't go that great again. He seems the weakest link in our young pitchers (although Doug Davis fell pretty good, too). The TV guys keep saying he's got great, above average stuff, but I can't say I've seen it. I wonder if he'll be here next year. If not, he'll probably figure it out somewhere else.

On the positive side, our home run streak reached a new record - 22 games in a row, with a Pudge blast into the Rangers bullpen 425 feet to left center. That's about it good, except for a Todd Greene solo HR late in the game.

Additional game commentary is available here.

Sorry for the delay in getting going again. My brother was in town, and I didn't watch much baseball at all when he was here, and then I got bogged down getting caught up at work, and then there was the sorry Tampa Bay series, which I just didn't feel like writing about. Thought I'd give it a fresh start at the start of the Baltimore series. And what a good game it was to start up with.

I missed the top of the first inning, as I had neglected to record the game on my TiVo at home. As I was listening on the radio on the ride home from work, I heard they were making a pitching change - that was odd - first batter in the bottom of the first. I didn't know Arod had gotten plunked, and Myette was retaliating (not officially, of course). So Myette got tossed after the first two pitches went behind Melvin Mora's back. In came Todd Van Poppel who walked the batter Myette started, then one of his own. Then he got down to business, striking out five in the two innings he pitched (including everyone in the first inning). Then they brought in Benoit.

Man was he spectacular! Going 7 innings, and not allowing anything, except one hit batter, a walk, and a triple in the 9th inning to break up the no hitter bid. That would have been nice, and Benoit was the lead story on the ESPN baseball site on Wednesday (as it should have been). Still, Benoit set a major league record though as he got a 7 inning save, which I found humorous. I didn't even think about that during the game. :)

Oh yeah, we extended our HR streak to 21 games in a row - the second time this year we've done that. Also, I was mad at myself for not recording the pre-game, as I missed an interview with Johnny Oates. I REALLY wanted to see that. Damn.

Additional game commentary here.

I have to admit, going into this game, I didn't think we had a chance. Derek Lowe has been spectacular all season, and we were tossing out an inconsistant rookie who likes to walk lots of batters. Not a good combination. However, we instead got a wonderful pitching duel. Benoit went six innings, allowing 2 earned runs - and that's all the Red Sox got, because our bullpen (Alvarez, Powell, Kolb, Rodriguez, & Cordero) combined for four innings of shutout relief. It wasn't a cakewalk, but they got it done. In fact, Rich Rodriguez (why is he still here?) threw just one pitch to get the win.

Derek Lowe was even better, going 7 innings, and allowing just one unearned run. He deserved the win, but Boston's bullpen let 'em down, by allowing a solo home run to Todd Hollandsworth in the 9th inning, and another solo home run to Pudge in the 10th to win it. Cordero nailed it down, and we got a nice come from behind win in Boston.

Carl Everett got the predicted reaction in Boston. Interesting that the umpire he head butted is here, too, although he won't work the plate during the series. Arod didn't get a home run, so his mega streak of consecutive games is over, but I attribute a lot of that to Derek Lowe - although Arod came close on one ball hit to the deeper parts of Fenway.

Nice game - nice win; on my birthday, too. :) Five in a row now. Would be nice to sweep all the way through Boston & New York without losing, but somehow I don't see that happening. :)

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It's Arod again - hitting two more home runs, rocketing past Sammy Sosa for the ML lead with 44 now. That's 6 home runs over the last 3 games - with 1 on Friday, 3 on Saturday, and 2 on Sunday. In fact, he almost had three Sunday too - putting one just short of the right field fence during the game.

Aaron Myette was really wild this game. He got the win, but walked 7 in 5 innings, and threw 116 pitches through 5 innings as well - quite frankly, he didn't deserve the win, I felt. The game was pretty much in hand until late when we almost blew it in the 9th, giving away four runs, and requiring Cordero to come in and save the bacon.

We also had a home run by Raffy, and Carl Everett had a good night with three hits. Our offense is clicking very well - it's too bad it happened this late in the season.

It was also nice to be at the park to see the ML debut of Jason Hart, who walked. Not an eventful debut, but at least it wasn't an out! And he technically doesn't have any at bats, either.

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What can you say about this one? Arod does it again. And Again. And again. Three more home runs for Arod were the story of this game. He had 3 home runs in three straight at bats going into the previous game. He ended up with three home runs for hte night - and was left on deck in the bottom of the 8th.

We also had hoem runs by Herbert Perry & Raffy, but the story of this game was Arod - no doubt about it.

There was a lot to like about this game. First off, I had just finished working on my fence in my back yard, so being able to sit on the sofa after 3.5 hours of manual labor in the back yard was great. Thank god for TiVo, so I could watch the game from the start. :)

I really got a kick out of seeing Buck O'Neil at the game last night. Was really nice to hear a few stories of his, plus it was a blast hearing him go "Come on Arod - Come on Arod". Al Oliver was before my time, so I didn't enjoy his speech as much, but it was still nice to see the guys from the past here. Sometimes think I want to go to Kansas City and check out the Negro League baseball museum. Watching Buck O'Neill in the Ken Burns baseball documentary was a lot of fun. Man certainly loves his baseball - and like a lot of old timers, he doesn't seem to have a distaste for today's game too - which is nice to see.

Anyway, about this game - Kenny Rogers was pitching again on the day a strike date was announced. The last time he did that, he pitched a perfect game. Not to happen here, as Kenny was nowhere near as sharp as he was last Friday in Cleveland, but was "OK". He gave up 5 runs over 7 innings - not great, but not totally horrid, either. Danny Kolb, however was great coming out of the pen, pitching the final two innings and giving up a big fat donut.

Our offense was led by Arod (who else) who was 4 for 4 with 3 RBI's and two runs scored. It was capped off by a game winning home run in the bottom of the 9th to win the game. I have to say I wish Buck O'Neil was still around then to see the home run - boy does Buck get excited about baseball, that's for sure. Anyway, the problem here was that we had two players get hit on the hands by pitches. Kevin Mench (who stayed in the game), and Frank Catalanotto, who came out immediately, and has a broken hand, and very well could be done for the year. Not sure who we're calling up for that, but it's a bummer that Cat is out again.

However, given the way the season has gone, I can't say I'm totally surprised, either.

Additional game commentary here.

Nice to see a win, even though it seemed it might slip away at one point. Mike Young sprained his ankle ending the game. Didn't look good at the time. Somehow doubt he'll play this weekend, though.

Well, I have the time to write about this game, but quite frankly, I don't want to. What is there to say, really?

Additional game commentary here.

No time to write commentary. Too busy. Additional game commentary here.

No time to write commentary. Too busy.

No time to write commentary. Too busy.

Wow - I never expected this kind of pitching performance by Jose Lima against us. The Valdes curse continues, too.

There really isn't much else to say about this one, except it was REAL nice hearing Ernie Harwell on the TV!

Joaquin Benoit went a long way to helping his own cause last night by pitching 7.1 innings, giving up 8 hits, but only two runs (with 2 BB & 6 K's). He looked really good, but unfortunately, so did Mark Redmond of the Tigers. They both pitched well, and the scoring was deadlocked at 2-2 after the fourth, and it stayed that way for another 7 innings. Benoit had a bit of the Ismael Valdes curse of not getting any real run support, otherwise Benoit would get the win - he deserved it. Our bullpen kept it at 2 for Detroit, with Rodriguez, Cordero, & Kolb pitching a total of 3.2 innings of scoreless relief. Between the three of them, they only gave up one hit (Cordero).

We stayed tied into extra innings, which is usually a nightmare for us, but we put up 5 on the scoreboard in the top of the 11th - it started on a miscue by Robert Fick in right field, allowing two to score. Was nice to see some extra inning runs. Would have been even better to see them earlier, so Benoit could have gotten the win.

Anyway, the story of the night for me was Travis Hafner. Travis (who REALLY looks like Mike Morgan) made his major league first start (he came in late as a PH the previous night), and struck out early - but delivered after that. His first major league hit was an RBI triple - and then he almost got his first home run, too. He looked like a big kid, with almost McGwire-ish (or Kaplerish) muscles, but didn't seem like the kind that would raise eyebrows over steroids or something like that. I know he comes very highly touted, and it's nice to see him get going in his first start.

Was also nice to see us beat the Tigers in Detroit, something we haven't done in quite awhile, unfortunately. Anybody else notice that the two games in Detroit had really quick game times?

Additional game commentary here.

I'm tired of the Rangers losing to teams that they have no business losing to. I got disgusted after the first couple of innings, and actually switched the game off. It's rare that I do that.

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Aaron Myette continues to stink up the joint, giving up 8 earned runs in 3.2 innings. It's puzzling, as he does well in AAA, just not up here. Rob Bell came out of the pen and did well, giving up one run in 3.1 innings. Dennys Reyes went two and gave up two. So far Reyes hasn't been anything special, although he's left handed - I guess that's something.

However, the story here was Pedro. He went 7 innings, giving up one walk, striking out 10, and just three hits - with no runs. Very much the pitcher advertised. In fact, I was annoyed that he was pulled from the game, I wanted to see him go nine and shut us out. :)

We got three late, but the game really wasn't as close as 11-3 sounds (as if that's close). It really should have been 11-0. :)

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A big back and forth game, and a nice finish by Texas to win the game 8-6. We tried to give it away, but a surprising bunt by Carl Everett sparked the final push to win the game.

Some of the highlights were another home run by Arod, his 37th of the year, leading all of MLB. Kevin Mench's 3 run home run late to give us a lead (and prompting some nice emotion from Kevin on the basepaths). Carl Everett's aforementioned bunt.

Todd Hollandsworth joined the injury parade as he appeared to pull a hamstring running to first. He's probably headed towards the DL. Sigh.

Anyway, it was a nice game to watch a comeback. I said I wished we had lost all four games to the Red Sox, as I wanted that to help them against the Yankees, but it's always nice to see one's team win. :)

What can you say about this? Derek Lowe shut us down good. We gave up far too many runs again, but it didn't really matter. One was enough.

Additional game commentary here.

Well, after last night's game against the Yankees that I missed, I figured I'd miss the best offensive game of the season. Wrong.

I was at this game, and boy, was it fun to watch as a Rangers fan. I was actually looking forward to seeing former Ranger John Burkett pitch, as he's done pretty well since leaving the Rangers a couple of years ago (that sounds familiar). Anyway, he plunked the first two batters of teh game, and that pretty much set the tone. Carl Everett jacked a three run home run to cap off the scoring - 6 runs in all in the first frame. Actually, I thought it was gonna be bad as Johnny Damon hit a solo home run on the second pitch of the game, but that was pretty much it for Boston for awhile.

However, that wasn't it for us in the second. We scored another 6 runs, capped off by a grand slam by Carl Everett - 7 RBI's in the first two innings - a total of 12 runs for us after the second (and we were up 13-1 after the third). We picked up 6 more elsewhere, but the first three innings were the story of the game. Carl Everett also missed two MORE home runs, both by a foot or two - both were caught at the fence. Big night for him. He said in the press the fact it was against Boston meant nothing to him, but I have a hard time believing he didn't feel ANYTHING special over that. :)

Todd Hollandsworth made a nice first impression - with a double, a home run and 4 RBI's as well as a nice running catch in center. The popular opinion is that he probably won't be here next year, but it was nice to see someone be able to play center field and hit as well. I really liked Ruben Rivera, Jason Romano, Ryan Ludwick, & Calvin Murray out there, but Hollandsworth appears to be able to run balls down and hit too, which is something we haven't had from any of our centerfielders so far this year.

Chan Ho Park was great until he developed a blister, and then headed south in a big hurry. However, he had a big fan section out in right field - a group of folks who had some Korean signs out there where whooping it up like the drum guys in Oakland do. Any time Park did anything good, they made a nice noise out there. I really really loved seeing that, as for the most part this town doesn't have any regular fans like that, except for Zonk at games. I really wished I was back in my original season tickets that I had from 1997-1999 in Section 39, as they were in Section 40 making all this noise. :) Don't know if anyone in that group would read this, but if you did, I really enjoyed that - hope y'all come back.

By far the best game I've been to this year.

Additional game commentary here.

Man, did I pick the wrong game to go to in the Yankees series. Two of my bosses at work, who are admittedly casual baseball fans, and would much rather watch the Cowboys were at a luxury box for this game. Grrrr..... :(

Anyway, this explosion was really nice to see anytime, but was ESPECIALLY sweet against the Yankees. I really wish I could have been there, but I did watch the entire thing on TV, including the funny bit where the TV guys made fun of Josh Lewin, calling him the "Yammering Announcer". :)

The game was in hand early with a 6 spot in the second inning with 6 doubles and a home run leading the charge. The 6 doubles in an inning tied a record, and we also tied our own record for extra base hits in the game. Was really sweet to watch, but was also bittersweet considering the way the rest of the season has gone. :( Arod's HR in the second really did NOT look like a home run off the bat, looked like a pop out to right, but ended up going out of the deepest part of the park (right center). Nice to see. I really REALLY hope we don't have a strike, because I want to see Arod play this out and get a full season - I would love to see him make a run at the MVP award. What can you say about a season high 17 runs and 21 hits other than you're glad it was against the Yankees. We were on national TV on Monday night, I wish THIS was on national TV.

Gabe the babe is gone, with his trade to Colorado. I'll miss him, I liked him as a player and a person (from what I could gauge), but he never put it together here, and perhaps it was time for a change. Too bad, he was a great guy to have on a team.

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Well, that sucked, too. The Yankees win too much, I don't like writing about them winning, so I won't.

Well, that sucked. Additional game commentary is available here.

This game was going brilliantly. We were winning 2-1 through the end of the 7th inning. I was at this game, and wondered at the time why Valdes came out of the game after 6 innings, having thrown only (by my count) 87 pitches. Turns out it was a blister. It's too bad as he was pitching brilliantly.

My wife wasn't feeling good this evening, so we left early. Right before she went to use the bathroom before we left, Dave Burba was called on to pitch. As she was leaving, I screamed out loud "That's it - game's over. Three run home run from Burba". And of course, that's exactly what happened. We left after that, but not FOR that reason, we left because my wife wasn't feeling good, and needed to go home. So we started driving home. We hit I30 when the top of the ninth started. When we got home back into Garland, the top of the 9th had JUST finished. That's pretty bad when you can drive from Arlington to Garland in the span of half an inning!

Anyway, I got out of there just in time, what a meltdown of epic proportions. We gave up 11 runs in the 8th & 9th. A side note is that when it all started, we were four outs away from the win. But hey, I at least got a free hat for going, eh? :)

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Chan Ho Park gave up four runs in the first inning, but shouldn't have given up any, I think. We were "this close" to getting out of the first with no runs scored, and then bam, the A's had four up. Given the way the season has gone, I figured the game was lost already. We did put up one in the bottom of the first (on an Arod solo HR), but I still didn't feel good. Not until the third inning, when we put up a 5 spot, and were up 6-4. Carl Everett, who suddenly has discovered his power stroke this weekend chimed in with a massive three run HR that went over the seats in right field's Section 44 and into the walkway.

We then pissed away the lead, and let the A's tie it in the 6th at 6-6, and it remained that way (despite a few close calls) until the bottom of the 10th when Arod came up with the bases loaded against Billy "I still have the stupidest beard ever" Koch. Arod jacked a ball to right center field, and I figured the game was over, but it kept traveling, and he ended up with a grand slam in the 10th to win it 10-6. Was a nice finish to this one, for sure. :)

This game started off good - with a three spot in the first inning against Mark Mulder. At that time I felt that we had better hold it, because three against Mulder is an accomplishment - and I was right - he didn't give up anything else - at least not until the 7th. In the 7th, we had fallen behind 4-3, but then we had what can only be called an explosion of epic proportions, scoring 9 runs in the 7th inning, capped off by TWO home runs by Carl Everett. That's something that no other Ranger in history has ever done. Everett probably won't have much longer in a Ranger uniform, but he did etch out a piece of history while he was here.

Wish I could have been there to see this in person, from what I saw on TV, it looked like a fun time that inning. :)

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We gave away the lead in the bottom of the first inning, and while we tied it back up in the top of the second, we gave it away for good, and never looked "back" after the second, when we gave up a five spot, which actually felt worse than it looked. I actually got disgusted, and turned the game off. As it was a 9PM start, and I felt we weren't doing anything more after that (I was right), I wanted to go do some other things around the house. :)

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We picked up a win in Seattle behind the strong pitching of Kenny Rogers, also rumoured to be going to Seattle. Kenny looked great again this year, getting his 11th win. If he manages to stick with us for the rest of the season (doubtful), he'll probably easily get 17 wins.

Anyway, we went ahead on the second pitch of the game, and never gave up the lead. Frank Catalanotto hit a home run on the second pitch over Ichiro into the stands, and we never looked back. Well, maybe we did late, when the Mariners made it 4-3, but it was still nice to get a win.

Valdes pitched great. We got no runs, lost it late. Yadda yadda yadda...

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Great pitching. Park looked great, our bullpen tried to give it away, but managed to keep it together. Great great win late.

I'd write more, but I'm busy trying to catch up with weekend work backlog and getting over being sick.

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Oh gee. We lose yet another one run game. About the only thing worth mentioning is HOW it happened - at least it was different.

Dave (can we get rid of this guy now) Burba plunked a batter with the bases loaded and the game tied in the bottom of the ninth. Sigh.

Well, what more can you say about this one except Cory Lidle? He pitched a masterpiece, giving up just one hit and one walk the whole game. Faced 28 batters total, and was brilliant. His only mistake was the double that Juan hit to lead off the eighth. After the 6th, I was actually rooting for Lidle to pitch a no hitter. Especially after we gave up a 7 spot. Figure, once you're down like that, you might as well get a no hitter pitched against you.

Hate to lose, but when something like this is pitched against you, doesn't matter when you give up 1 run of 50. Lidle was the name of this game.

Oh yeah, the retro uniforms were kind of goofy looking. For the first two innings, it didn't look like the Rangers at all, but I agree with Tom Grieve, it had a very good classic feel to them. Too bad more teams don't have uniforms like that. I think the Yankees are the only ones left doing that, aren't they?

It was funny, when Jerry Narron came out to take out Kenny Rogers, the place booed pretty loudly. I didn't see the need to bring in the bullpen at the point he did either, and joined in the booing, but Kenny got a standing O coming off the field, as he really deserved the win. I knew the moment Narron came out, the game was over. Our bullpen feels like the Mariners' looked like about 3 years ago when they couldn't win anything late at all. :(

Our bullpen blowing an extremely well pitched game by Kenny Rogers is the bottom line here.

Another loss. Not a surprise anymore, I guess. I suppose the only fun thing was that Valdes pitched well again, and we had several home runs. However, that's about all we had, can't win on HR alone. Especially when the usual culprit (bullpen) let us down again.

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No mas! No Mas!

¡Alguien satisface te hace la parada! (That's supposed to be Someone, please make it stop!)

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Two double headers in Kansas City. Four losses. This is really REALLY bad. Bye bye team. Roll up the truck and start shipping 'em out. Unfortunately that's probably what is going to happen. Carl Everett can drive the truck.

Another loss to the Royals in KC. Can we not go there anymore?

About the only really nice thing was hearing Chuck Morgan's voice again. Chuck - come back!

The game wasn't anywhere near as close as the score indicates. We picked up three in the 9th to make it somewhat close (and actually almost tied it), but we were outplayed totally.

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So much for yesterday's commentary. Another one run loss. By my count, that's 15 this year. Turn those around to wins, and we'd be 55-35. Sigh.

Another bullpen letdown. Don't feel like writing about another one of those. Wait - Arod had two home runs, and is now the major league HR leader, and leads the AL in RBI's, too (and slugging percentage, I think).

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Well, I guess we got tired of one run losses (and there's been a lot of them). In fact, I decided to look up the one run losses so far this season:

Apr: 5 (15 total)
May: 3 (16 total)
Jun: 4 (13 total)
Jul: 2 (4 total so far)

My count appears to be off one somewhere on total losses (I counted 48 and there's 49), but you get the point. 14 of our 49 losses have been by a single run. If we had those back, we'd have a much different record and be in a way different position. The bulk of those can be summed up as bullpen.

Anyway, this game was pitched well by Kenny Rogers, who will probably be traded, even though I don't want that to happen. He made a most specactular play on a ball, diving into first base to make a putout. He's one of the best fielding pitchers I've ever seen with my own eyes. Arod had another home run, and Raffy had a few RBI doubles led the way to the 8-1 win. Was nice to get one of these, but given the way we've been playing, I doubt it will translate into much beyond today.

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Oh look. Another Rangers loss. And by the same score as the previous night's game, too. :(

The most exciting parts of this game for me were the home run by Arod (which is always great to see), and the almost inside the park home run by Pudge. However, Pudge appeared to totally run out of gas around third, and it appeared like he was almost stopped coming into home. Too bad, as once it got by Hunter, I thought Pudge's ball was a sure inside the park home run.

However, we managed to overcome that disappointment and tied the game up in the ninth. Unfortunately, we blew it again against our usual nemesis, "extra innings". That Extra Innings guy really has it in for us, and we never can seem to beat him. Methinks the blowup of the team will be happening shortly.

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Not discussing the All Star game, as there's been a ton said. I absolutely agree with the decision made to stop it. No more pitchers, time to stop. The fans really irritated me, and I felt Selig didn't deserve this. I'm no major Selig fan, but I don't see what other choice he really had. Biggest mistake was announcing it DURING the bottom of the 11th inning. Wait till it was over, and then make the decision. Whoever decided that was an idiot.

As for last night's game.. I thought Chan Ho Park did pitch better than he had been. He went 6.1 and gave up 3 earned runs (4 in all). Not bad. Technically a quality start, but he's still got a lot of work to go. His out pitch seemed to be good yesterday, and while he wasn't dominating, it looked good. Combined with the start before this being about the same kind, and it appears he's headed in the right direction.

Major roster overhaul yesterday with a total of 7 moves (although one was a rehab assignment). We brought up troubled CF Ruben Rivera who got a hit last night, and showed why I call Carl Everett "Slow Ass". It was nice to hear Jerry Narron say that Rivera will get the bulk of the playing time in center given that I want Everett released. I suspect the Rangers do too, but I've bought into the notion I've read that the Rangers are waiting to see if the players strike. If the players strike, then we can save a few bucks on Everett's release. Anyway, Rivera made a spectacular catch up against the baggie in right center that Everett wouldn't have gotten anywhere near. That play alone showed why we can't have Everett in the field, and with him batting less than .200, we can't have him at the plate, either.

Kevin Mench had a huge home run early, but then had a major base running blunder late when he got picked off trying to make it back to first on a wide turn. He was removed from the game, but I don't feel there will be any permanent repercussions from that. Eric Milton was extremely good from the third inning to the sixth, striking out 6 Rangers in a row, and a total of 10 for his 7 innings of work. That was really spectacular to watch.

I know the Rangers aren't going anywhere, and given we're playing one of the contraction teams, I don't mind losing to them, because it helps them. Still, I'd like to see some wins - we had better beat up KC when we get there Monday, or there probably will be even more roster overhaul.

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N/A

Great ninth inning win. Felt like a playoff game, actually! :)

My wife and I have been at the last 4 or 5 July 4th games in a row. This year we decided to stay home. Should have gone, it was a great game. Anyway, as my wife & I just hung around the house for the evening doing things like drinking beer, sitting on the patio watching the world go by, etc.. I didn't start watching the game until it was over (on my TiVo). Anyway, after the top of the first, I was disgusted. Down 6-0 before we even batted. Needless to say, I skimmed through the game, not actually watching the Devil Rays bat at all. Just watched the Rangers bat - and also skipped the stuff between pitches, too. Watched the game in about 45 minutes that way. :)

This was the longball night, with a total of 5 home runs for the Rangers (total of 7 if you count the two by Tampa). We had home runs by Kevin Mench, Todd Greene, Arod, Pudge, & Raffy - with Raffy's winning the game in the bottom of the 8th. I suppose I would have been more into this if we were there. But the best part I think was Rob Bell settling down and not giving up anything after the horrid 6 run first inning. Quite surprised to see him out there in the second, but nice to see that he stepped up and carried the team from that point.

Three in a row, and while it's just Tampa Bay is nice to see. Unfortunately, we can't gain any ground on Seattle. :(

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A very thrilling win. A game that we won clutch in the end, that we shouldn't have had to win. We started off big, putting up a four spot in the first - it could have been more, but Arod was thrown out at the plate during the first. Pudge capped the four run inning with a two run home run. It felt good after the first. However, Tampa's pitching shut us down for almost the entire rest of the game. We didn't have any runs (or much else) after the first, and didn't score again until the eighth. However, Tampa did. They picked away at the lead (including a couple of home runs - one from Ben Grieve), and in the top of the ninth, tied the game 5-5.

Then Pudge stepped up in the bottom of the ninth, and jacked a home run ball over the fence for the win. It was really nice to see the Rangers come out and mob him at home plate, all jubilant (except Carl Everett, who probably thought that was beneath him and was being Mr Slow ass even there).

A really nice win over Tampa Bay. Ismael Valdes had to come out of the game early, which is not a good sign. Especially if we're trying to trade him. I don't want to, but we may end up doing so.