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Maybe it’s time to send Kam Loe down to AAA for a couple of hours to recharge his batteries. In his second straight mostly “meh” start, Kam looked positively Chan Ho Park like. Loe went six innings, giving up six runs on six hits, while walking four. He threw 97 picthes, which wasn’t really bad pitch count wise, but you can’t find much good in those numbers. Heck, he even has three sixes in a row in his line score. ;) Seriously though, it was not a well pitched game for Kam.
CC Sabathia though was the first starter to get to 13 wins. He too went six, giving up three earned runs (four overall), and only had one walk.
Offensively, we had a decent amount of hits (12), but couldn’t get enough together to score more than 5 runs. Brad Wilkerson had two hits (one was a double), Ramon Vazquez had three hits (one a double), and Gerald Laird went 2 for four (one was a home run).
The message I get from looking at this box score is mediocre (at best) starting pitching for the Rangers coupled with an inability to drive in runs (Ranger batters left 16 men on plate, although the team total was lower than that) leads to another loss. That would be our 54th loss of 2007; it came in game 96 of the season.

Kevin Millwood had one bad inning. The second. In that inning:
– N. Swisher walked
– M. Ellis singled to left, N. Swisher to second
– M. Kotsay reached on fielder’s choice, N. Swisher to third, M. Ellis to second on pitcher K. Millwood’s throwing error
– M. Scutaro singled to center, N. Swisher scored, M. Ellis to third, M. Kotsay to second
– B. Crosby walked, M. Ellis scored, M. Kotsay to third, M. Scutaro to second
– K. Suzuki struck out swinging
– T. Buck hit sacrifice fly to center, M. Kotsay scored
– S. Stewart singled to right, M. Scutaro scored, B. Crosby to third
Not a good inning. However, even if none of that happened, it wouldn’t have mattered. Oakland pitchers Lenny DiNardo and Santiago Casilla were totally dominating. DiNardo started, and went seven innings, giving up just three hits. Casilla relieved, went two innings, gave up just one hit. That was it. No walks, no runs, no nothing. The Rangers had four hits total. Two of them were doubles (Metcalf, Wilkerson) and the others were singles (Hairston, Young).
Not much Millwood was going to do against that. Still, his line was’t all that bad, really. Six innings, 3 hits, 4 runs (although only one was earned). Walked three, which isn’t great, but not entirely horrible, either. So Millwood has continued his good pitching since his return, but he got screwed by his own throwing error.
It’s definitely one of those “tip of the cap” moments.

The top of the lineup certainly came through for the Rangers this game. Kenny Lofton went 3 for 5 with a walk, and scored two runs. Michael Young went 5-5 with a walk, scored once, and drove in three runs. In fact, Lofton got a triple on the first pitch of the game, and then Young doubled him in on the second pitch of the game, so we led the game extremely quickly.
Sosa couldn’t come through here – I believe he came up twice with the bases loaded and two outs. I wonder if we’re going to be able to get anything for him at all. Sosa left eight runners onbase himself. Bleh. He did have a sac fly at one point, but leaving eight isn’t exactly getting the job done.
Other than Young and Sosa, the other RBI’s were by Laird, Vazquez, & Hairston. No home runs in this game, plus two doubles (both Young), and one triple. We had 12 singles – so it was a low powered attack, but it got the job done.
Robinson Tejeda was out of the game before the end of the fifth, going just 4.1. The usual problem. An obscene amount of walks (six). Four hits, 3 earned runs, two of which came on Jack Cust’s fifth inning home run).
Ron Mahay got a save in this game – I wonder why we didn’t use Gagne – perhaps needed a day off.
Speaking of Gagne, there’s a lot of noise that he wants to stay here past 2007, I wonder if that’s something we’d realistically consider.

Kind of busy at work today to write. But I have to admit to being surprised at the performance turned in by Jamey Wright. Very impressive.

This is another game I didn’t get to see much of. The game had started by the time I got home from church due to a meeting regarding a new church we’re building. By that time I flipped on the tube, and saw we were down 4-2, and I sighed, turned the TV off, and played some more of “The Bigs” on my Xbox 360. I benched Teixeira there, and he didn’t complain about it. :)
McCarthy was OK in looking at his line. Six innings, six hits, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts, and 3 earned runs (four overall). The pen was good this day, throwing quite a lot of innings (5 overall with five relievers). They shut down the Angels, and allowed us to win the game.
We won on a home run by Mark Teixeira that just barely qualified as home run – it appeared to be aided by a fan in the replay I saw.
Still, a win is a win. Something we don’t do much in Anaheim much anymore.

Well, there’s a little dose of reality. I don’t think anyone thought Kam Loe was as totally dominating a pitcher has he showed since his “return” as his numbers had shown. Nor did I think he was a horrendous as he was early in the season. I do think he was better than this, however.
I didn’t get to see the game (as I have some family in from out of town now), but his line was 2.2IP, 3 earned runs (plus two more unearned ones), 5 hits, and worst of all 5 walks. Blech. That’s 10 “bases” given out in 2.2IP. OK, maybe it wasn’t that great, but I guess my first look missed the walks. If he does this again, we need to send him to AAA for a throwing session. :)
The pen wasn’t that great either. Only CJ Wilson escaped unscathed. The other three (Eyre, Littleton, Francisco) all gave up something.
We had a chance to get John Lackey out early, he was horrendous in the first inning, throwing something like 42-45 pitches. That was the only part of the game I got to see. We did score three in the first, which was good, but I think we left the bases loaded, or with two on, and with a chance to score more and get Lackey out early. Let him off the hook. Kind of figured when we did that, we’d probably lose.
Kenny Lofton continues to play extremely well, going 3-5 with two doubles, and scoring twice. Heck, even Sammy Sosa got a triple in this game. Our offense wasn’t too bad tonight, this one was our pitching letting us down. As common as that sounds to long time Ranger fans, the extremely recent vintage Rangers haven’t been guilty of that.

This was a good old fashioned pitcher’s duel.
Kevin Millwood tossed seven innings, giving up just one run on five hits and three walks. There were also two double plays turned by Rangers defense this day.
Kelvim Escobar went eight innings, giving up just one run on six hits and one walk. The Angels turned one double play.
And what did we do with that? Pissed it away on a walkoff loss in the bottom of the ninth to the Angels. At least Millwood has apparently overcome his slow start and has become seemingly the pitcher he was in his year in Cleveland.
Lofton continues to play well at the top of the lineup. I liked the guy a lot. But I can’t see him having any value here past July other than mentor, which we probably don’t really need. Hopefully he goes somewhere where he can win in 2007.
Also, does anyone believe for a minute the stuff that Mike Ogulnick has been pushing about Kevin Millwood being a player to be traded before the deadline? I can’t see us doing that. Besides, doesn’t he have a no trade?