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This is a game with not a lot of pitching, so I’m just gonna hit some of the notable highlights, as opposed to have actual commentary:

• Andrus was 3-4 with 3 runs scored
• Hamilton was 3-5 with 2 runs scored, and 4 RBI
• Beltre was 0-3, but still had 2 RBI
• Two of Hamilton’s three hits were a triple and a home run
• Hamilton’s home run was his 30th of the season
• We had home runs from Mitch Moreland (solo), Josh Hamilton (2 run), Geovany Soto (2 run), & Nelson Cruz (solo)
• Ian Kinsler had a stolen base
• Joe Nathan got his 23rd save
• Josh Beckett gave up eight earned runs in 5 innings
• Roy Oswalt agreed to pitch out of the bullpen – shocker!

We come home to face the Tigers, the team we beat to get back to the World Series again.   The Rangers record is 65-45, the best record in the AL at the moment.  The Tigers are five games back of that pace.  I’m going to the game Saturday night, it’s the big 40th anniversary game.  Ought to be fun!

After the first start by Dempster, I was hoping it was a case of “new team” jitters.  Turns out that might have been the case, because Ryan was much better in his second start than he was in his first start.   MUCH better.  In fact, Dempster (and Jon Lester) were having  pitcher’s duel, with no runs allowed until the sixth inning.  The official mlb recap’s headline was “Dempster dives into win column in Rangers uni”.   Dumpster diving pun aside, it was a beautiful outing.  Ryan came here with the likelihood of being a rental between now and the end of the season, but if there’s more of this kind of outing, I’ll want to keep him around.   Heck, he picked off Carl Crawford at second.  :)

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Another one where I don’t have much to say.  Yu Darvish didn’t pitch well again.  While everyone says he’s fine, he looks “tired” to me.  The MLB grind could be getting to him, and this is a time we need him to rebound not start sinking in his performances.

The only real good stuff in this game was a solo home run late by Adrian Beltre.  It didn’t make a huge difference, as it made the score 9-2 from the previous 9-1.  Nelson Cruz went 3-4.  That’s about it.  Not much else to write home about on this one.

Well, crap.  This one ended on a Mike Olt error.  Yeah, he’s a rookie, he’s gonna do that.  But you hate when it comes in a place where the game is over and you lose because of it.

Scott Feldman had another strong outing, and has pretty much erased the ill will I was harboring towards him after his horrendous stretch earlier in the year.  As bad as he was then, he seems as good now.   Just look at his line from this game.  7.2IP, 6H, 1BB, 4K, 2ER, 105P.  Really well pitched game by Scott.  I didn’t get to watch it, but I did listen a bit, and “iPhoned” it the rest of the game.   This is definitely the time for him to get hot and regain his 2009 performance again.  We certainly could use it with the uncertainty in the rotation right now (Lewis out, Darvish shaky for starters).   I said it in a recent update, but if Feldman rides out the year pitching like this, we most certainly could now pick up his option for 2013, something I thought would be unheard of a few months back.

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I’ve been going to baseball games for awhile now.  First one was somewhere in the early 70’s, around 73 or so, I think.   The height for me was when I had a half game season ticket plan with the Phillies back in the late 80’s (for a rather awful team as I remember).  It’s been a lot of games watched by this pair of eyeballs.  However, I say the best one I’ve ever attended was CLEARLY the Oct 30, 2010 game I attended.  That was the Rangers / Giants World Series game at home, where the Rangers won 4-2.   I point that out, because there was something in this game that instantly launched me back to that World Series game.  I’ll point that out when we get to it.

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When you give up nine runs in a game, it doesn’t quite make for what would call a “comfortable” lead.   I mean, heck, the game was tied 8-8 after the sixth inning.  We didn’t start to run away with it until later.   This was the Texas debut of two new players, Ryan Dempster & Geovany Soto.  Both recently acquired in separate deals with the Chicago Cubs.   It didn’t go too well for Dempster at all.   Soto did a little better, but before we get to that, we get to the curious case of Roy Oswalt.

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