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The only thing worth writing about was Hank Blalock’s home run out onto Eutaw Street behind Camden Yards. I’ve been there, it’s a gorgeous place, and even more impressive when a home run is hit out there. I’m tired of writing about games where we give up over 10 runs and lose.
Game notes are here.

It’s always nice to see Camden Yards on my television. It’s one of the best ballparks that exists today. My wife and I were there a couple of years ago, and it was positively awesome. Unfortunately, the Texas Ranger teams we’ve been sending there the last couple of years haven’t been as spectacular (neither have the Oriole teams, either).
Overall, I can’t say it was a bad game, as it was generally well pitched, had some great defense – things that generally contribute to a quick, fresh game. However, we came out on the bottom side of this game after it seemed we’d win early on. The best moment was probably the crash between Doug Glanville and Laynce Nix in right center. It looked bad when they crashed into each other, but neither seemed affected by it.
There isn’t one moment that I can pin it to (other than the run the Orioles scored to take the lead) that says “Aha! That’s where we lost”. It just struck me as very “even” game. It’s a shame we lost, as I thought our pitching was pretty good.
Game notes are here.

Well, this game was mass suckage. About the only interesting thing about this one is that Mark Teixeira hit a foul ball into a trash can in the picnic area at Tropicana Field.
Game notes are here.

Fairly decent pitching (I say fairly because Benoit did give up 3 in 5 innings) led to a 7-3 win over the Devil Rays. This game was interesting in that four of our batters got hit – which seems like a lot. Our bullpen pitched 4 innings of scoreless relief, we had some nice defense, turning three double plays, some stolen bases, some hitting – pretty much a nice balanced game.
Juan Gonzalez had to leave the game, and was replaced by newcomer Shane Spencer. He had an o-fer, and it really seemed odd seeing him in a Ranger uniform, considering what he did to us back when we were in the playoffs against the Yankees.
Game notes are here.

There’s not a whole lot to say about this one. It was a wasted effort by Ismael Valdes, as we got totally shut out, losing 2-0. A shame, as Valdes pitched well. Game notes are here.

We start off the “second half” with a nice win that actually was more dominating than the 12-6 score would indicate. John Thomson was brilliant through seven innings. He scattered hits, and didn’t give up much until the 8th inning when his total went to 3 runs over 7.2 innings. Still most definitely a “quality start”. As many a Ranger fan has pointed out, his trade value only increases with these performances the last few weeks. I wonder who will want to trade for him. Our old “buddy” Jay Powell gave up three runs in the ninth to allow the DRays to get to 6 runs – far more then they should have gotten. We also came this close to breaking that “no pitcher has gotten 10 strikeouts for the Rangers” thing too, as Thomson had 9.
Offensively, we got some surprises. We got a 4-6 night out of Doug Glanville – we got a home run from Donnie Sadler and one from Marcus Thames, making his Ranger debut. There was also a big 3 run blast by Juan Gonzalez to shut up a guy who was REALLY riding Juan all game, and what’s funny about that is the guy started doing the “We’re not worthy” thing to Juan when he hit the home run. It was quite funny, and both Josh & Tom got a charge out of it.
A nice way to start the second half – plus the entire rest of our division lost, so we picked up ground on everyone! (Woo-hoo, now only 19 out)
Game notes are here.