G52: Rangers survive 4 errors, win 6-4 on Tuesday

I didn’t see much of this game, as I had some household responsibilities tonight. I did see some of it, and from the Rangers point of view, I saw the most important inning, the third. I wasn’t happy at the top of the third when we were down 3-0, as Millwood seems to continue his streak of not pitching well in Arlington.
But then the bottom of the third Mike Young jacked a ball into the bullpen which put us within a run, we were down 3-2 at the time. Then Mark Teixeira singled. Hank Blalock followed up with another single, and then Mark DeRosa walked, loading the bases for Brad Wilkerson. Wilkerson hit what he says he thought was a sac fly to right, but it kept carrying and carrying and it cleared the wall for a grand slam. That put us up 6-2, and it felt good.
But then we tried to give it away from that point on. We had a total of four errors tonight. We hung on, and for the second night in a row, Carl Everett ended the game. Last night it was a fly to right, tonight it was a called strikeout that brought out just a tad of the Boston era Carl Everett. Course Raul Ibanez did his best Boston Everett impression in the first after being called out on a strike.
The Mariners seem again to be a “not much going on” team. They just look lethargic. If you want to see what Mariner fans are thinking, check out the USS Mariner site. They’re practically in complete revolt over there.
I don’t have much else to add to this, not having seen most of the game, but a win is a win. We’ve now won three in a row, and have a 28-24 record, and were technically 4.5 games up in the West at the end of the game. However, before we get all excited about that, it’s the worst record of a division leaader of the six divisions. A division lead is always a good thing, but when you’re the lowest seed in that department it doesn’t fare well for the playoffs, IMO. If you take the Rangers record and plop it into the other divisions, this is where they’d stand.
AL East:
Fourth place, behind Boston, New York, & Toronto, 2.5 games back
AL Central:
Third, behind the Tigers & White Sox, 6 games back
NL East:
Second, behind the Mets, 2.5 games back
NL Central:
Tied second with Reds, behind Cardinals, 5 games back
NL West:
Third, behind Diamondbacks & Dodgers, 2.5 games back
While it’s fun to say we’re in first place, it’s not the greatest first place. If we were 10 games over 500 or something I might be more excited about it. It’s a cautious excitement for now.
Also, congrats to Chris Young, who came close to a no hitter, taking it into 8 tonight against the Rockies.