This was the final start of the season for CJ Wilson. It was more interesting to me than Cliff Lee’s last start, because we generally know what we’re getting from Cliff Lee. CJ Wilson, we don’t. This was his first year as a starter, and by all accounts, he seems to be gassed a little. His September numbers are up, and to be honest, I’m a little concerned about his start. So I was curious to see how he’d do here.
Early on, I thought “Oh crap”. He gave up two runs in the first inning on a triple, two walks, and two singles. And that was all before Wilson got the first out of the game! Egad, that was an awful start. However, he settled down a bit, and didn’t allow anything else. Just the two runs. However, he came out after five innings, having thrown 82 pitches. He probably could have gone another, but I expect the short outings at the end of the season here are to give some bullpen guys some work before the postseason starts. Our pen was good, we had four guys pitch a total of four innings, although one guy (Rapada) had a line of 0.0 IP. Rapada & Derek Holland allowed a single hit, but that was it. Pen was good.
Our offense put up a pair of three run innings. One in the fifth (to get the lead back) and one in the seventh. Only two extra base hits in all. A double by Nelson Cruz, and a big two run home run by Josh Hamilton (his 32nd overall). All the other nine hits were singles. Our hits were pretty bunched together, as all of them came in slots 1-5 in the lineup. 6-9 (Kinsler, Moreland, Treanor, & Borbon) all took an ofer, although Treanor walked once. But the hits were all up top. Two for Andrus, three for Young, two for Hamilton, one for Guerrero, & two for Cruz. Franceour pinch ran for Guerrero and got an at bat of his own, but didn’t get a hit.
Nice to see the time off doesn’t appear to have affected Hamilton’s offense. Which is huge, as we’ll need him more than ever come Wednesday.
G160: Hamilton returns, but Rangers lose in 11, 5-4
Josh Hamilton returned for the last three games of the season, pretty much to get his swing back for the playoffs. Some would say that’s not enough time, but it’s all we’re going to get. He wasn’t the big power in this game, though.
That was Mitch Moreland, who was 2-3 with two runs scored, and two hits. Also had two walks. But the two hits were home runs. Bengie Molina also had three hits and an RBI. But the rest of the offense was spread out, and contributed to the fact that we didn’t have more runs.
Tommy Hunter was decent, although he only went five innings on 60 pitches. Obviously, he came out not because of being tired.
It’s an extra inning loss. Don’t like those. :(
G159: Cliff Lee great in final start of season; Rangers win 3-2
Some of us have been worried about Cliff Lee a little. He was good when got here, played a little hurt for a bit and slacked, but his last few starts have been on the upswing. So it was with some minor trepidation that I approached his last start of the season. Wasn’t sure what we’d get out of him.
We didn’t get the nine innings mow ’em down Cliff Lee, but the Lee we got was the pretty darned good one anyway Cliff Lee. Seven innings, four hits, no walks, eight strikeouts. Allowed a run, but it was unearned. He looked good, if not totally dominating. Came out after 93 pitches, so that was likely a “we’re taking him out after seven anyway” type of deal.T
He didn’t get the win though, as Darren O’Day blew the save, and allowed the other run to score. Still, I was’t worried about Cliff Lee in game 1 of the playoffs now. :)
The bulk of our offense came from Vlad Guerrero & Nelson Cruz, who combined for five of the nine overall hits the Rangers got. Two of Cruz’ three hits were doubles, but that was it – all the other hits were singles. Was enough to punch across runs in the third, fourth, & eighth to win the game.
Looking forward to Cliff Lee next Wednesday. :)
G158: Rangers salvage finale on gift from Mariners, 6-5
A walk off strike out.
A walkoff strikeout. If it wasn’t for that, we were in serious jeoprady of being swept. Not something you want to have done to you in Game 158 of 162. Blah.
Justin Smoak homered again. Think he was jazzed up to play the Rangers?
G157: Rangers lose again, 3-1 to Felix Hernandez
Felix Hernandez vs Scott Feldman – no real matchup there (not in 2010) anyway.
After Feldman was out, we were down 3-0, and while our pen pitched well, we couldn’t get anything going against Felix Hernandez.
Smoak was 1-3 with two RBI’s that came on a two run home run. EEK! Smoak! Smoak!
Ah well. Limp to the finish line, eh? :)
G156: Rangers raise AL West Flag, lose to M’s, 7-5
On Monday night, the Texas Rangers did something they haven’t done in a decade. Raised a championship flag. Granted, it’s just the AL West Champs (not the AL champs, or the World Series champs), but those could still happen. Still, we’re in the playoffs, and Game 1 is Wednesday night October 6th. Wow. That’s weird.
Game 2 starter is CJ Wilson, and he got his next to the last regular season start on Monday night. It didn’t go well. Five innings, 85 pitches, 8 hits, 1 walk, but six earned runs. Ugh. Not good. Granted, this isn’t the playoffs, but it’s close enough to them, that you want your playoff starters to be good in their last couple of starters. So that’s a little disconcerting. But not enough to make me panic, I suppose.
The only other Ranger pitcher to give up a run was Pedro Strop, but I doubt he’s on the playoff roster, anyway.
The big story was Justin Smoak coming back here and going 3-4 with three RBI’s and two runs scored. Also hit a three run home run off of CJ Wilson in the fifth. He pretty much trashed Ranger pitching this game. Probably made him feel good.
Vlad Guerrero & Nelson Cruz had home runs (Cruz’ being a three run shot), but it wasn’t enough to make a difference in this game.
Ah well. Limp to the finish line, eh? :)
Mark Lowe
- P Guillermo Moscoso recalled from AAA and placed on 60 day DL
- P Mark Lowe actived from 60 day DL
Doug Mathis
- P Doug Mathis recalled from AAA
- P Guillermo Moscoso activated from AAA DL
Texas Rangers: The Authorized History [ UPDATED ]
Back when I was first married, it was 1996. Ranger fans know that year well. Right after that season, Eric Nadel published a book about the Rangers. While it was mostly focused on the 1996 season, it also spent time talking about the rest of the franchise, going back to DC. My wife bought me this book as a present in 1997, in our first year of marriage.
Here’s what I wrote about the book back in 2001 for my site:
I loved this book. My wife gave it to me as a a present in 1997, and it was wonderful! I can’t recommend this book enough.
I’ve only been a Texas Rangers fan since 1994, and my wife gave me this book as a present in 1997. I knew the Texas Rangers existed before I came to live in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Texas area, but I never thought much of them. I didn’t realize the characters and history of the team. If you’re a casual Rangers fan, or a die hard Rangers fan, then you should have this book. It’s filled with all kinds of informational pieces about the team’s history, going back to the early 70’s when they were the Washington Senators. Focuses heavily on the 1996 season in which they finally made it to the playoffs after about 25 years.
As the Texas Rangers now move into the Alex Rodriguez era, the book probably could stand an update, as a lot has happened since the book was published during the 1997 season, but it’s a great read if you’re into team history
I still have the book – at some event years ago, I got Eric to sign it. More than once over the years, I asked Eric when he planned to do an update to it. As it’s 2010, we now have 14 years of stuff (once this year is over) to do an update on. Anyway, Eric told me on more than one occasion that he wouldn’t update the book again until the Rangers got back to the playoffs.
Well, we’re back Eric. Should we expect an update to the book next year? :)
UPDATE: I got an email from Eric Nadel after the game tonight with an update on this. After asking his permission to do so, I’m posting his reply to me below:
Eric: No, I am not planning to do an update to the book. What I said back then was I would do an update when the Rangers made it to the World Series. If that happens, then someone else can do the book. At this point, I am not willing to give up an off-season to write a book.
There we go. I’d still like to see a sequel from him, but I cannot argue with not wanting to give up one’s free time for that. :)
G155: Rangers slaughter A’s 16-9 on 1st day as AL West Champs
This was a game I only saw the beginning of, as it started at 3, and I had to leave the house at 3:45 to attend a Sunday evening church function. By the time I got back, I had seen the score, and was quite surprised by it.
The Rangers pounded out 22 hits, scoring 16 times, including a seven run top of the 9th, which made it a lot more comfortable than it was after the bottom of the 8th. The Rangers pen allowed the A’s to score a six spot in the bottom of the eighth, making it (then) 9-7. A little too close for comfort.
Every Ranger got on the board, except Chris Davis. He took a huge ofer, going 0-6. Everyone else had at least two hits, with Jeff Franceour having the most (4). Two home runs by Mitch Moreland, and one by Franceour & David Murphy.
As big of a win as it was, it certainly was a bit too close score wise. Colby Lewis was OK – which is good, as he’s a defined starter in the playoffs. He went six innings, six hits, one run, although he almost was bombed, the bases were loaded at one point, and I didn’t think he was getting out of it. Matt Harrison did most of the damage, allowing five earned runs in his 0.2 innings of work. Clay Rapada gave up a couple, too.
Harrison hasn’t been terribly sharp lately, I’d be surprised if he’s on the playoff roster.
Wow, that still sounds a bit weird – writing about playoff rosters.
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