Well, we went back to our usual result againt the Yankees – A loss. We lost two out of three in this series with the Yankees (making us 1 for 5 so far this season against the World Champs). However, I liked the way we played. We didn’t just roll over and die, although you’d think we did with the season series results. The Yankees are the yardstick. We still don’t measure up against them, and that’s still because of our pitching. These guys can pitch circles around everyone, but it was nice to see us not just wilt. Of coure the Tigers spanked the Yanks a week ago, what’s that say about them? :)
I had that same kind of bad omen I got on opening day. My wife and I are big fans of the NBC Thursday night TV lineup, so we watched mostly that while flipping to the Ranger game during commercials. Oh man, an inside the park Home Run by Mr. Twinkie, Chuck Knoblauch. Ugh.. Well, we stayed with them for awhile, and then when I got done watching Frasier, I flipped back, and it was 5-0. I thought we were done for, but we did manage to hold them to no more runs after they got to 5. We did battle back, but it wasn’t enough against Yankee pitching.
Old Man Morgan (I don’t like the nickname “The Mo Man” – sounds dippy) pitched well, but some defensive blunders gave him the loss. He only got charged with one earned run, the rest were unearned. The inside the parker was a blunder by Tom Goodwin, and Todd Zeile made a bad throw that Stevens couldn’t dig out which led to a few Yankee runs. Mike ended up leaving the game after being hit on the shin by a batted ball. He looked OK, but Johnny took him out anyway. Given the score, I think it was more to get him out before more damage was done. I wasn’t watching the game completely, but from what I saw, he didn’t seem like he was pitching that bad – just caught a few bad breaks. Mike Venafro looked good from what I saw in the line score (only saw him pitch to two batters) and from what Jim said below. I like sidearm pitchers, they just seem “cooler” to me. :)
I agree with Jim below, it’s a game we should have won, but didn’t. Still, I liked that we didn’t look like total crap against the Yankees. On another note, I wish Don Zimmer well, this is the last time the Rangers should see him, and he seems like a nice guy from what I can tell. I know you’ll never see this Zim, but one Ranger fan wishes you well!
As a side note, after ER last night, my wife and I watched Field of Dreams. It’s a spectacular movie if you’ve never seen it. A bit on the weird side for me, but still very well done. That and Bull Durham. :) Also, what was with the AL West yesterday? 22 runs by the Mariners? 17 by the Angels? Cripes!
Commentary by Jim Meeks:
Two Rangers defensive blunders cost them a ball game Thursday night.
The game’s first batter, second baseman Chuck Knoblauch, hit a liner to center fielder Tom Goodwin, who dove, missed the ball and let it skip by him all the way to the wall. Knoblauch scored on what should have been a single and a three base error but the official scorer deemed a home run.
A bad throw by third baseman Todd Zeile couldn’t be handled by first baseman Lee Stevens in the third inning and the Yankees scored 4 unearned runs in the inning. The Yankees only scored 5 runs total and all 5 should have been unearned.
This marks the first game the Rangers have lost this year due to lousy defense. The Rangers have actually played above-average defensively all year.
Mike Morgan didn’t pitch badly but was charged with the loss.
Mike Venafro pitched 4 perfect innings in relief and probably earned himself a permanent stay with the big club. He’s pitched extremely well since his call-up. Danny Patterson is likely the odd man out when John Burkett returns.
Rafael Palmeiro stroked a 2-run homer in the 8th, but it was too little and too late.
This was a game they could’ve and should’ve won. Let’s hope the Rangers don’t lose the division by one game.