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This was one of those “growing pains” games for Derek Holland. Most Rangers fans expect him to be great, but he is 22, and there won’t be games. Actually,it wasn’t totally awful, but the line wasn’t particuarly great, either. Five innings, five hits (not too bad), four walks (bad), and a home run. Derek gave up four earned runs in his five innings, which is certainly not good.
The Dodgers also tacked on two against Eddie Guardado in his 2/3 of an inning. He seems to be way more inconsistent this year. There’s still outings where he was good like he was in 2008, but the 2009 version isn’t nearly as automatic. Certainly he isn’t “everyday”.
Darren O’Day’s ERA is 0.82. Just sayin’… ;)
Offensively, I wanted to start with Ian Kinsler. His slump continues, with his batting average now at .260 after a 0-4 game. This game featured just six hits from Ranger players, two of them from Andruw Jones, everyone else just one. In fact, the only run of the game came from the only hit that wasn’t a single, that being Jones’ fourth inning solo home run.
There’s no shame in losing to the team with the best record in baseball, and it’s not like they were run over like roadkill, either. They played well as a team in the two losses, but you’d rather see 2-1 than 1-2 for sure.

I’ve seen the lights go out on Arlington
I saw the Lone Star State laid low.
And life went on beyond the Galleria,
They all bought bright Leuxes-
And left there long ago.
They held a concert out in Arlington-
To watch the Ballpark lights blow.
They turned our power down,
And drove us underground-
But we went right on with the show…
Feldman & Wolf were rolling on now..
Lookin like a classic pitcher’s duel
Then the right field lights went out
We sat and waited
For lights that never came…
We sat at home for hours
Watching Rain Delay shows
The fun was going away
I wanted to hit fast forward..
And we lost all hope of the game
When finally out of nowhere
The lights in right just turned right on.
The players took the field
All the pitching was lost
Both teams ran out the bullpens.
Homer by Kemp
Doubles by more Dodgers
Ran the score up three to one
Guardado, Grilli, & O’Day,
Even Moscosco couldn’t help
The Rangers lost the game!
I’ve seen the lights go out in Arlington-
I saw the ruins at my feet,
You know we almost didn’t notice it-
We’d see it all the time on Randol Mill Rd.
They burned the churches up in Oak Cliff-
Like in that Spanish Civil War-
The flames were everywhere,
But no one really cared-
It always burned up there before….
I saw the lights go out on Arlington-
I watched the mighty skyline fall.
The boats were waiting at Ray Hubbard,
The union went on strike-
They never sailed at all.
They sent a carrier out from Norfolk-
And picked the Yankees up for free.
They said that Queens could stay,
They blew the Bronx away-
And sank Manhattan out to sea….
You know those lights were bright on Arlington-
But that was so many years ago…
Before we all lived here in Texas-
Before the Mafia took over Mexico.
There are not many who remember-
They say a handful still survive…
To tell the world about…
The way the lights went out,
And keep the memory alive….

First off, I didn’t see hardly any of this game, as we had a few friends over to watch Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Was a lot of fun, and a friend bought some of my favorite (Blonde) beer, which I haven’t been able to find lately around me.
The Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles swept into town, bringing with them the overall best record of any team in baseball. They finished the game with the same condition, but not before being shown that the little ol team from Arlington can play with them.
Vicente Padilla, coming off a stint on the waiver wire, didn’t allow anything, although he was all over the place. Threw just five innings, but also 108 pitches. Walked three, gave up four hits, but more importantly, no runs. One wonders if he pitches really good between now and the end of July he’ll get moved. I don’t think anyone thinks Padilla will be wearing Texas in 2010, so it could make sense.
He was followed by Jason Jennings, who threw three innings of scoreless relief, and Jason Grilli (who I expect won’t stay long either) who threw a scoreless inning, preserving the shutout.
Offensively, we got some runs across the plate, which has been a problem the last few games. We had nine hits in all. Three doubles (two by Teagarden), a triple (Byrd), a home run (Blalock), and four singles. I missed all of it, just saw highlights on Baseball Tonight. But it was nice to get some runs across.
But more importantly getting a dominating win against one of the big boys. That was very cool.

A lot was written about how the 1-0 win in Arlington is a rare occurrence. It is. You almost never see the Rangers win 1-0 at home. If there’s zero in the score like that, the other number is frequently a nine or something like that.
But not this night. Kevin Millwood was quite good again. While I didn’t get to see the game, his line looks impressive. 7.2 innings pitched, five hits, no walks, and NO RUNS. Kevin left with 105 pitches thrown, which is below his usual workload for 2009. Still, you can’t argue with the results.
Darren O’Day & CJ Wilson both threw two thirds of an inning, also giving up no runs. Wilson gave up a hit, but that was it. The Blue Jays scattered their six hits, with only Aaron Hill getting more than one.
On our side, it wasn’t great to see us shut down offensively again, but thanks to our pitching, the one run we got was all we needed. The Rangers actually had fewer hits than Toronto did (five to their six). David Murphy was the only Ranger with two (one a double). The other hits were by Chris Davis (double), and singles by Chris Davis, Jarrod Saltamacchia, & Nelson Cruz. The lone run actually was driven in by Marlon Byrd, who had a sac fly in the second.
Overall, an extremely impressive game. I wish I was out there for it. Would have been great to see!

Wednesday night’s game was rained out, and for good reason. There was some really heavy rain going through the Metroplex. From the looks of the storm and the radar, there was enough to get the family into the bathroom. That’s an adventure with two adults, a four year old, a newborn, and two cats in a single bathroom. Got pretty humid in there by the time we got out.
Anyway, the Rangers game will be made up as a doubleheader on September 1st. Provided my new job allows it, I’ll be there. I love doubleheaders!

Not much to say about this one.
The Rangers were shut down pretty darned good by Brian Tallet. We managed just two hits. A double by Brandon Boggs, and a single by Chris Davis. That was it.
Meanwhile, Ranger pitching was pretty bad. Combined, they went nine innings, giving up 12 hits, 9 runs (eight earned) with four walks. Meh. It was even a group of names you go “Huh” to for the most part. Mathis, Moscoso, Guardado, & Grilli.
That’s enough about this one. It stunk.