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No time for commentary on this game.

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I was listening to this game as I was doing a Yahoo Fantasy Baseball Draft. I did something I know is against just about every piece of advice. Never draft a player based off of something they’re doing in a game you’re listening to. But it was a Rangers Fan League, so I had to do the homer thing. When Kevin Mench jacked a home run in the game, he was my next pick in the draft. I’m so ashamed. :)
Rod Barajas also added a second home run later in the game to go with Mench’s. That was really all we needed, but we also had an RBI contribution from Laynce Nix to go with the two each from Mench & Barajas. Actually, we didn’t have a lot of offense either. Our total hits were 7. 3 from Mench, 2 from Barajas, and one each from Nix & Teixeira.
The Cubs threw their ace, Carlos Zambrano, who took the loss. He did, however, go 6 innings, giving up 6 hits, and 4ER on one walk, and 5 K’s. He was hurt by the longball – if it wasn’t for the two jacks, he would have an awesome line.
R.A. Dickey had a better night. He went six (being the first Ranger pitcher to go at least 5 innings), and gave up ZERO runs on 3 hits with 1 walk and 3 strikeouts. A very nice line for him. Very nice. Probably helps him in the race for the fifth starter. However, the Rangers site mentions that we have some talks going on with the Braves (who want bullpen help) for former Ranger John Thomson (FA after 06). While I think RA helped himself last night, he needs to do that four or five times in a row – he’s been pretty inconsistant his entire career (to me, anyway).
I also direct you to this article by John Vittas over at MVP Network on last night’s Rangers game, RA Dickey, John Thomson, and a bunch of issues on the health of our players. Was a good read.

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The wrong direction streak continues. We lost our third in a row to the Chicago White Sox this afternoon, 5-4. We’re now 8-11-1 in spring training. It’s about now when we start hearing that it doesn’t really matter – but let’s face it. Who wants to have a losing record in spring training – really?
The big catalyst for the Sox today was former Ranger farmhand Scott Podsednik. Pod went 3 for 4 with two runs scored and an RBI. Gustavo Molina (is he related to the other three?) also teamed with Pod going 2 for 3 with 2 RBI’s as well. Between the two of them they covered just about all the “important” offense for the White Sox.
Three of those runs were against Kevin Milwood, who gave ’em up in 4.1 innings. The other two were against Fabio Castro, who finally melts down and gives up some runs. Francisco Cordero and Akinori Otsuka also pitched, but didn’t give up any runs. Combined, our staff went 9IP, giving up 13 hits, 5ER, 6K, & 3BB. 2 to 1 walk ratio isn’t bad, but I’d prefer less walks still. Zero would be nice. :)
Offensively, we had three solo home runs. One each by Kevin Mench (his fifth), Ian Kinsler (fourth), & Mark DeRosa (his first). Botts went 2 for 4, and Blalock & Young both went 2 for 3, so our offense was a little more “bunched”.
Hey guys – weekend TV games coming up! There’s one on Sunday afternoon, and then Monday night, there’s a half our “2006 Season preview”, as well as a half hour Rangers pregame show, and then a game on TV with Josh & Tom – so get ready. :)

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Well, we’ve turned into a pretty streaky team trying to tread water in spring training. We lose again, 10-5 to the Brewers to drop to 8-10-1 overall. The two pitchers we were hoping would grab onto the fifth starter position really both stunk up the joint.
Edison Volquez went 2 innings, gave up 5ER on 5H, 0K, & 3BB – one home run.
Juan Dominguez went 3.1 innings, gave up the other 5ER on 6H, 0K, & 3BB – two home runs.
Not good at all. For guys that should be getting into their game given the opportunity, I’d expect more. Moreso from Dominguez who has had a small taste of success at the majors already. Volquez I’ll cut some slack to given how meteoric his rise was through the system last year.
Offensively, the big “standout” was Mark DeRosa, who went 2 for 3, with an RBI and 2 runs scored. Laird, Jimenez, & Durazo scored our other runs. Given I was finishing up my big project at work, I didn’t get to pay any attention to the game, so I don’t know how any of it really “felt”.

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The Rangers lost totally to the Angels on Tuesday after a day off. The less said about this one, the better.

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