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I picked a heck of a game to get back into this with. Earlier in the afternoon, I plowed through the ten previous games I had skipped after deciding to take a break. As you recall, I lost my job back on the 6th, and wasn’t quite in the mood to write about baseball. I wanted to wait till I got to a moment that I felt like writing about. So I wrote a little about the games I skipped (as my new schedule page kind of forces me to have an entry for each game). The rain delay was fortunate, as it gave me just enough time to finish after the game had actually been going on for only 10 minutes.

Early on, Vicente Padilla gave up a run in the first, but it was on an uncorked wild pitch that allowed Chone Figgins to score. That was a dumb run – Padilla’s body language even implied he knew that run shouldn’t have scored. A pitcher can’t always control runs scoring, but one scoring on a wild pitch that far outside really was his fault. Still, it was just one run. Then we get to the bottom of the first, and I have to say, it was quite entertaining…

John Lackey was making his first start of the season, having been on the DL. The first pitch he threw was behind Ian Kinsler’s back. Which Ian didn’t flinch over. Usually pitches like that garner some sort of response, and I don’t mean a retribution kind of thing. A flinch, a dive, something. Nothing, he just stood there. Then the second one plunked Kinsler in the ribs, prompting an immediate ejection from home plate umpire Bob Davidson. I actually laughed at that – of course Lackey & Mike Scioscia came out and argued, but when has an ejection ever been reversed? The deed was done, and it did seem a bit fishy that he was that wild – Lackey’s a really good pitcher. Still, my first thoughts lept to – “OK, here comes their bullpen, which is strapped”, and of course you then think of what happens tomorrow if their starter gets torched, too. :) As a Rangers fan, you love Lackey being ejected. As an overall baseball fan, well, it might have been harsh, but Lackey pitching that way did seem fishy. Perhaps it’s the beanball war the two teams have had creeping in there. Either way, it kept Lackey off the mound in Arlington, which is always rough for Texas.

Kinsler ended up scoring after a sac fly by Josh Hamilton in the bottom of the first. The following inning, the Rangers scored two on a single by Jarrod Saltamacchia. The Angels scored two in the top of the fourth on two separate singles. The Rangers countered in the bottom of the fourth with two of their own. One on a single, and the other on another sac fly by Josh Hamilton. What’s the point of running all the scoring together like that?

Well, of all the RBI’s in the game, they were all singles, except for the sac flys. In fact, for both teams combined, everything was a single, except for a double by Nelson Cruz. 17 of the 18 combined hits were singles. A definite no power game, that’s for sure.
Vicente Padilla had a real Weeble outing. Why? He wobbled, but he didn’t fall down. He really looked like he wouldn’t get out of the fourth, then put it together, and threw four more shutout innings. In all, Pidente tossed eight innings, giving up three runs on ten hits (with three walks). There probably would have been fewer walks, but there was a definite pea sized strike zone this game. Wasn’t just Pidente, either, all the pitchers were being squeezed. CJ Wilson came in and got the save, because Frank Francisco was placed on the DL.

But the bottom line was that the Angels bullpen threw nine innings. That will probably hurt them somewhere soon, if they don’t bring up some fresh arms to counter.

We’ve now won six games in a row, and are three and a half games up in first with a 22-14 record.

WHERE ARE ALL THOSE WHINERS ABOUT HOW WASHINGTON NEEDED TO BE RUN OUT OF TOWN NOW?

Yeah, that’s mostly Randy Galloway I’m talking about. I mean what can you expect from someone who has the following quote on his Myspace page? “I love the fact that i can run anyone’s name in the ground and there’s nothing they can do about it.” Yeesh – tells me he’s more interested in writing about himself, than the sports or people.

The Rangers had a seriously hard problem getting the final out of the game. Going into the ninth, we were up 10-3. Got two quick outs, and then couldn’t get anyone out. After there were two outs in the ninth, Derek Holland, Darren O’Day, & CJ Wilson all pitched. CJ finally got the last out, but it was’t easy – the go ahead man was on base, we just couldn’t seal the deal. Fortunately, we finially did, but it was touch and go for sure there.
Kinsler was the big charge, leading with two home runs. Andruw Jones had a home run, and Josh had his third home run since coming off the DL on Tuesday.
Kevin Millwood broke his streak of going at least seven innings in each game he started this year. Today’s game he was just six. Had nine hits and two earned runs. Few too many hits, but it didn’t result in a lot of runs, so that’s good.
The Rangers definitely continue to look good. If we’re gonna make a real charge at winning the AL West, we have to beat the Angels, and while it got hairy in the ninth, we looked good this game.
First place, two and a half games up. While there’s miles to go, it is a good feeling just the same.
(This commentary is short, due to playing catch up on nine games of commentary at once).

Matt Harrison was freakin fantastic again! Probably not as fantastic as before when it was a complete game shutout. But he did pitch a complete game. This time, he gave up two runs, and it looked like he was going to lose. Nothing more annoying than a complete game loss. If you go all nine, you’re likely going to win.

However, Matt left the game after the ninth, down 2-0. And a Rangers offense that was totally ineffective against the Mariners came up in the bottom of the ninth. Hank Blalock led off with a solo home run to right – a rather titanic shot to make the game 2-1. OK, feeling good, but we still have more work to do. A few batters later, Chris Davis came up, and jacked a two run home run to walk off with the win! That’s two nights in a row with a walk-off. That had to feel good for the Rangers, given how ineffective they were aginst Felix Hernandez all game.

(This commentary is short, due to playing catch up on nine games of commentary at once).

Let’s face it. There’s a bunch you can talk about with this game. But all anyone will want to talk about is the fact that we got a walkoff win at home against a division opponent.
Going into the 10th, we had given up a run, and I figured that was it – we usually lose extra inning games in the 10th. However, we plated two of our own in the bottom of the 10th to win the game!
Josh Hamilton did have his second home run in two games – a nice thing to see given how few he’s had up to this point. And Elvis Andrus tripled – always fun to watch triples!
(This commentary is short, due to playing catch up on nine games of commentary at once).

Josh Hamilton returned to the lineup on Tuesday night, and went deep. He’s had a power outage most of the season, but hopefully the reason he was on the DL for awhile helped that, and he can start raking. Josh wasn’t the only Ranger to homer. Chris Davis also did that, and Kinsler, Byrd, & Saltamacchia all doubled.
Our offense was pretty spread out. Every Ranger had at least one hit, with both Kinsler & Young getting three. The big damage was the bottom of the seventh where we plated six. Josh’s two run home run was in there. Was nice to see that.
Scott Feldman continued in the rotation, and looked good. 6.1 innings pitched, just one run on four hits.
(This commentary is short, due to playing catch up on nine games of commentary at once).

Vicente Padilla went a second straight game giving up just one hit. That kind of snuck out of nowhere. He started off the year weak, but has really come on strong the last couple of starts. Seven innings, just one hit and one run. Looked pretty good out there. Maybe, just maybe, with multiple starters pitching well? Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves.
Offensively, it was all about the power. We had nine hits. Five of them were for extra bases. Two doubles (Vizquel & Davis) and three home runs (2 by Blalock, & one by Chris Davis).
The game was tied through four at 1-1, but then Rangers popped it open with a four spot in the fifth, tacking on single runs in the seventh & eighth. The Sox didn’t really have a chance this game, we kept on top of ’em pretty good.
(This commentary is short, due to playing catch up on nine games of commentary at once).

Kevin Millwood wasn’t as dominating as he had been at times this season, but he certainly pitched well enough to win. He went seven innings (again), giving up just three runs. A good outing.
However, former Ranger prospect John Danks was better. Six innings, just one run. Fanned 10, something that always helps.
The Rangers didn’t have any power this game. Only one hit was for extra bases, a double by Nelson Cruz. Everything else (six of ’em) were singles.
The White Sox also had just seven hits in the game, but placed theirs better.
(This commentary is short, due to playing catch up on nine games of commentary at once).

MATT HARRISON WAS FREAKIN’ FANTASTIC!
Now THAT is the Matt Harrison I think people were expecting. Matt threw a complete game shutout. Nine innings pitched, 111 pitches, just four hits, and NO RUNS. Holy crap was that great! Man, if we can only get this kind of pitching regularly.. It’d be scary how good we could be with our offense.
MATT HARRISON WAS FREAKIN’ FANTASTIC!
Oh yeah, four doubles and seven singles, but who cares?
MATT HARRISON WAS FREAKIN’ FANTASTIC!
(This commentary is short, due to playing catch up on nine games of commentary at once).

Brandon McCarthy was the old Brandon McCarthy (4IP, 7ER).
Chris Davis hit a home run in the fifth.
The Rangers scored three in the ninth, in a “who cares now” kind of fashion.
Meh – this game sucked.
(This commentary is short, due to playing catch up on nine games of commentary at once).