This game started off with a lot of moves, and a little less than halfway through there were a lot of moves on the field. First off, the roster moves. Two guys were activated from the disabled list. One was tonight's starter Kason Gabbard. The other was third baseman Travis Metcalf, who hadn't yet appeared in a game this year. Metcalf didn't really seem needed to me right now, as German Duran is doing a decent job over there, and we have Ramon Vazquez both to handle third till Blalock returns. However, with Ben Broussard being designated for assignment today, I guess you needed an infielder. Broussard other than the first couple of games of the season really hasn't hit the ball at all. Nice enough guy, but man, he was just not getting it done. Additionally, A.J. Murray was sent back to AAA, but that's no surprise, he was just up for a spot start.

Then the game started. Kason Gabbard started for us, and was looking pretty good. Gave up no runs, and just two hits. But unfortunately, he only went 3.2 innings (more on that later).

The game started off well, with Vazquez singling and both Hamilton and Bradley walking. A sac fly and a single later, the Rangers are up 2-0. Felix Hernandez (I still refuse to use his dumbass nickname) labored. I didn't get a count, but he was around 30 pitches for the inning. Gabbard tossed up a donut on the scoreboard in the first. Gerald Laird was hit by a pitch, and then was driven in by a two run home run by Ian Kinsler. That was about it for the Rangers offense for awhile. In the fourth, Ian Kinsler was hit by a pitch. He wasn't thrilled about it by his look at the plate, but didn't do anything about it.

Then in the bottom of the fourth comes the head scratcher of the evening. Kason Gabbard threw a pitch up high, but over the plate. For some really unknown reason, Richie Sexson charged the mound. The pitch was easily a foot or more away from him - he ducked out of a pitch that if it was a foot lower would have been a strike. And he charged the mound. That was quite odd. Then to make it worse on himself (probably with the Commissioner's league) he tossed his batting helmet at Gabbard before he got to the mound. Charging the mound is a suspension anyway, but throwing an object will probably make the penalty worse.

As he was charging the mound, Josh Lewin said "...with a helmet throw - COME ON!" In the replays of this and the discussion while the melee was going on, Tom Grieve came out with a comment that was right up there with his opinion on Hideki Irabu's ability to pitch himself out of a paper bag. Grieve's quote here that made me laugh out loud was:

"If he doesn't get suspended for a week for that gutless move, I'll be completely shocked. Number one; for charging the mound on a pitch that wasn't even close, and then getting twenty feet away and throwing a helmet at him like a girl. What a joke."

That made me laugh out loud. Another really good Grieve line from this was the one I started this article with. I actually thought of another word to use here, but it definitely isn't a good one to use on a baseball blog like this one. All I'll say about that is "meow". Grieve's comments made me get out the laptop and start writing this commentary before the game was over; something I don't normally do. After the initial remark, there was the usual brawl milling around, and pushing and shoving happened. The only actual person who was ejected was Sexson - probably because there wasn't any real fighting in the brawl outside of Sexson. What was interesting was the clip of Milton Bradley pushing Gerald Laird - about 3 or 4 times on camera, and with some force too. On one of them, I thought Bradley was going to push Laird down, actually.

Gabbard ended up coming out of the game shortly after that; early reports say it was about his leg, and not his back (which he was on the DL for). One never knows if it was directly related to Sexson, but that seems like the obvious response to the situation. Gabbard was followed up by Franklyn German, Jamey Wright, Eddie Guadardo, & Frank Francisco. These guys continued their pen dominance, and allowed squat. In fact, all those guys allowed just two hits.

In the sixth, we tacked on another run after a Gerald Laird double, and a Ramon Vazquez single. Speaking of Vazquez, he started in place of Michael Young tonight, and more than picked up the slack for Young. Vazquez went 4-5 with with an RBI and a run scored. A pretty good night for him. Brandon Boggs was 2-3 with a walk, showing no signs of giving up his spot to go back to AAA.

This was the first time the Rangers had back to back shutouts in four years.

With two shutouts in a row, plus going back into Tuesday night's game, that's a total of 22 innings in a row the Rangers have shut out the Mariners, and going further back, that's just one run in the last 27 innings, and just one in the previous 32 (the M's put up a four spot in the third on Monday's game).

The one thing I don't want to see is Tom Grieve back down from his comments. Stick to your guns, man. You were right. Don't back off them. Don't apologize.

So this year I've decided to keep track of it. This post will get bumped whenever there is a player who is making his first appearance for the Texas Rangers in 2008. I am going to count guys who get called up, but don't play, as they will be part of the 25 man roster officially. So here goes. The most recent additions will be on the top of the list. The original opening day 25 man roster is not in any particular order.

Total players in 2008: 36
Total pitchers used in 2008: 18

• #36 - Travis Metcalf (May 8)
• #35 - A.J. Murray (May 2)
• #34 - Brandon Boggs (Apr 29 - Major League Debut)
• #33 - Chris Shelton (Apr 29)
• #32 - Sidney Ponson (Apr 26)
• #31 - Jarrod Saltamacchia (Apr 25)
• #30 - Frank Francisco (Apr 22)
• #29 - German Duran (Apr 17 - Major League Debut)
• #28 - Wes Littleton (Apr 14)
• #27 - Scott Feldman (Apr 13)
• #26 - Luis Mendoza (Apr 12)
• #25 to #1: Joaquin Benoit, Franklyn German, Kazuo Fukumori, Jason Jennings, Dustin Nippert, Kevin Millwood, Jamey Wright, Josh Rupe, Vicente Padilla, Kason Gabbard, Eddie Guardado, C.J. Wilson, Gerald Laird, Adam Melhuse, Hank Blalock, Jason Botts, Ben Broussard, Ian Kinsler, Ramon Vazquez, Michael Young, Milton Bradley, Marlon Byrd, Frank Catalanotto, Josh Hamilton, David Murphy

I'm going to do my best to stay on top of this, but if you notice someone I've missed, please tell me. Thanks.

Thing is, Vicente Padilla is pitching by far the best he's ever done in a Rangers uniform - perhaps ever? He was fantastic - he went seven innings as well, but no runs and just two hits with eight strikeouts and two walks. On top of that, he was stupidly efficient with his pitches. Going into the seventh, he had thrown something like 60 pitches total. He had to work a bit in the seventh, but the first six were total cruise control. Even the seventh was something cool. Vicente's two walks were both in the seventh. He started the inning with them. Then proceeded to strike out the side. He looked strong, he could have come back out for the eighth, I'm sure, but I understand the decision.

Also on Padilla, the way he just went after Seattle after the two walks in the seventh was really impressive. I'm going to shamelessley steal this bit from Joey M over at Baseball Time in Arlington, because he already wrote this better than I could. :)

And yet, it was Padilla's seventh inning that really stole the show, if only because of the way he buckled down in the face of adversity. After walking Raul Ibanez and Adrian Beltre on back-to-back 3-2 pitches to lead off the frame (which prompted a predictable visit from pitching coach Mark Connor), Vicente went into overdrive:

92. 95. 94. Strikeout looking.

95. 96. 95. 95. 95. Strikeout looking.

96. 96. 97. 95. 96. 96. Strikeout swinging.

Dynamic. Singular. Electric. I'm not sure any one adjective can properly describe that 14-pitch sequence.

The two runs we got were both scored by Milton Bradley. One was in the fourth when Bradley scored on Brandon Boggs' first career triple. The other was the sixth when Bradley jacked a home run ball into the Mariners' bullpen. We had a chance to get some more in the latter innings, but didn't come through.

The win now puts us in sole possession of third place. I really hope we win Thursday night, as I don't want to leave Seattle tied for last place again. We're now 15-20, and inching back to .500.

I also hope we win against the Red Wings, but I don't see it happening.

DAVID MURPHY ONE OF FOUR NOMINEES FOR NEW ROOKIE OF THE MONTH AWARD PRESENTED BY GILLETTE & MLB

David Murphy of the Rangers is one of four American League nominees for Major League Baseball's newest major award in both leagues -- the Rookie of the Month Award presented by Gillette (www.mlb.com/gillette).

In the American League in addition to Murphy, nominees for April (including March games) are right-hander Armando Galarraga of the Tigers, outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury of the Red Sox and left-hander Greg Smith of the A's.

Fans get to decide the best starts by players starting their careers, and by voting become automatically entered in a drawing for a trip to see either the 79th All-Star Game on July 15 at Yankee Stadium or one of the 2008 World Series games. Voting will be conducted at the start of each month for the top rookie from each league.

In the National League, the four nominees are outfielder Kosuke Fukudome of the Cubs, right-hander Jair Jurrjens of the Braves, right-hander Kyle McClellan of the Cardinals and catcher Geovany Soto of the Cubs.

The online fan vote represents 20 percent of the overall balloting, with the remaining votes coming from team baseball writers and club broadcasters. Once voting is concluded, Gillette, MLB and Major League Baseball Advanced Media will announce the winning rookie for each league in a monthly press release and congratulate the winners at mlb.com/gillette.

That first announcement will be this Friday, after which Gillette will present the award winners with a Rookie of the Month trophy and make a donation to a charitable organization in each award recipient's name.

Statistical criteria is provided on the site for fans to make their selections. For position players, it's home runs, batting average, on-base percentage, runs scored. For pitchers, it's wins and saves, strikeouts, ERA.

The game started off nicely, as Miguel Batista (who normally pitches well against us) was really putting up a stink in Seattle. He threw I think 47 pitches in the first inning, walked several, and had virtually no command to speak of. To be honest, he should have given up more than two runs in the first inning. If I remember right, we left the bases loaded, and it just felt like we should have nuked Batista a lot worse, although that was still to come.

Sidney Ponson, who seems to be the 2008 "Lightning in a Bottle" pitcher for Texas so far started off the bottom of the first with a walk and a single, and you thought - "Uh, oh - here we go", but he ended up getting out of the inning with no runs scored. Good. So Batista goes back out there for the second, and gives up just a single run, which wasn't too bad for the Mariners. 3-0 is still manageable, even if your starter is stinking worse than the animal barn during the State Fair. Ponson follows that up with a 1-2-3 in the bottom of the second. Then the Rangers come out for the third.

Batista is still out there - at this point having thrown about 6,453 pitches. Not surprisingly, Milton Bradley leads off with a walk. David Murphy followed it up with a home run to right field. It was a line drive home run from a ball rather high in the strike zone (if not out of). Was nice to see it go out - because off the bat, it didn't have the trajectory that looked like a home run - it looked like a double in the gap. Batista did get Boggs to strike out, but then walked Catalanotto (Batista's SIXTH walk), which prompted John McLaren to finally pull Miguel Batista. In from the pen comes Cha Seung Baek, a guy who has traditionally in the past done extremely well against Texas. Not tonight - Baek was just as bad as Batista (in this inning, anyway). Saltamacchia flies out to Ichiro, but Ramon Vazquez followed up with a single. Michael Young singled, scoring both Catalanotto and Vazquez. Funny thing about Young's single is that it looked like an out - was heading up the middle, but Seattle second baseman Jose Lopez had the ball go just under his glove. Really - it looked like an out, and then - whoops - there it is in center. Lopez probably REALLY wished he had caught it a few minutes later, because it would have ended the inning. Instead Lopez watched with everyone else as a Josh Hamilton hit ball was deposited WAY up in the upper deck in right - it was a SERIOUSLY impressive home run. The kind that you just watch and go "HOLY CRAP - Look at that!" Josh & Tom were both impressed with it. I didn't hear it on the radio, but I suspect Eric & Victor were also impressed. If you click on the MLB Game Recap for this game, there's video highlights there, and you can hear the Mariners call of the home run too - even they were impressed with it. Milton Bradley finished up the inning with a ground out (he was the first and last batter in the frame).

That home run restored Hamilton to the major league leading lead in RBI's with 36. Josh is looking quite good, and boy, I hope he stays on the field. I know Volquez is looking good in Cincinnati now (at this point, 6GS, 4-1, 1.27 ERA), but Hamilton has been equally as good on our side, so it's nice to see this trade working so well.

I watched through the fourth, and at this point did something I didn't normally do - I turned off the game when we were winning. I did that because I wanted to play some Grand Theft Auto IV - if I waited till the end of the game, I'd be too tired to get in some gameplay. Peeked in on the game from time to time, but I was confident in the win - turns out (for once) I was right about it - the Rangers didn't score any more this game. The Mariners did pick up a lone run in the fifth on two consecutive doubles by Balentien and Ichiro.

Ponson got the win, and is now 2-0. Sidney went seven innings, gave up seven hits, one walk, one run. Didn't strike out many (two), but had a pretty decent, if not dominating outing. Can't argue with one run over seven innings, no matter what the rest of the numbers were.

I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention a catch by David Murphy (which is in the video highlights on the MLB Game Recap link above) later in the game. I missed it live, but I did go back and watch it a few more times. Nice rolling, diving catch. I've said it a few times already, but I really like the acquisition of this kid. I expect the emergence of David Murphy has really kind of negated the acquisition of Frank Catalanotto, who hasn't done a whole heck of a lot since his return. I know Cat is signed through next year (with an option for 10), but it wouldn't surprise me if Murphy keeps going like this if Cat isn't moved or released after this season.

Funny thing is with ten runs, you'd think we'd have a boatload of hits. We didn't. The Rangers only had eight hits all evening. Granted, two were doubles, and two were home runs, and the Mariners pitching staff gave up 10 walks (all the walks came early, too), but still - you'd think we'd have like 17 hits or something. Nope, just eight.

Very efficient evening, very nice to see a night like that. It also keeps the Mariners with us tied for last place. Two more games in Seattle - be nice to take both, and not leave Seattle still tied for last place.

Whenever my wife sees someone wearing #7 or #29, I usually hear "That's not Pudge" or "That's not RUSTY!"

I then had to go do something else, so I turned off the radio. Came back to my desk, turned it on again, and when the KRLD coverage came back from a commercial, I heard "..and the Rangers are down 7-0". I actually said "Shit!" out loud, and turned off the radio - that was it I was done for that game.

I'm really tired of 7-0 games early where I have to hope we'll come back. There's too many of them, and I'm getting burnt out hoping we'll have a comeback (that almost never seems to happen anyway).