Oh boy. Oh boy. Oh boy. I’m afraid to admit it after so many years of so many failed attempts at this… But I’m starting to get excited about Brandon McCarthy again. Today he was darn near perfect in the game against the Padres.
Brandon went four innings, gave up NO HITS, two walks, and struck out three. His spring ERA is (I believe) now at 1.80 and is 2-0. According to the radio guys, the only reason he came out at all was that other pitchers needed to get work, and Brandon continued to work down in the bullpen. I have a good feeling. Granted, being a Rangers fan having a good feeling about a pitcher can mean jack, but man it feels good, doesn’t it?
Josh Hamilton went 3-3 with an RBI and two runs scored. Two of his hits were doubles, and he sounded good on the radio. Ian Kinsler also went 3-3 with two runs scored.
Joaquin Arias went 1-2 and kept his batting average at at stupid high rate (.522). Funny thing is it’s not as high as Adam Melhuse’s which is sitting at .615! Obviously that won’t stay, but it’s always amusing to see gaudy numbers like that.
Nelson Cruz got it going early with a three run home run in a part of the game I didn’t get to hear due to work. Cruz appears to have pushed out Andruw Jones, I can’t see where Jones fits now especially with Cruz doing so well.
Willie Eyre also threw a scoreless inning, striking out two in his comeback from Tommy John.
Nice to see such a dominating performance by Brandon McCarthy. Hopefully my saying he is the key a couple of days ago in a season preview was what he needed. :) hahahahaha