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I had to work late, and I wasn’t going to be in the mood to start watching a game at 11PM, so I listened on the radio while I worked. Valdes won the game, and only gave up two, but I wasn’t sure why he came out of the game when he did. At the time, I thought he could go longer – but hey, I’m not Buck. :)
Offensively, we had some spread out RBI’s – a total of 8 amongst 5 players – capped by a 3 run HR by Ruben Sierra in the ninth, which kept Urbina off the field, and gave Cordero a save, because he stayed out there for the 9th and mowed ’em down.
I’m hoping we play better against the Orioles this weekend than we did last weekend.

I missed most of this game, because I got home late, and then fell asleep on the sofa.
I think this game can be summed up this way though.. Benes wasn’t great. Ben Grieve was. :)

We’re back on the winning track after taking the first of two in Tampa 4-2. We had three home runs in this game. We almost had four, but one of those freaky catwalk things caused an Arod ball to be called a home run, and then it was reversed, and he didn’t get it. Still, we won, which is good. All four runs scored on home runs – one each by Teixeira, Gonzalez, & Palmeiro.
Our pitching was good. I was expecting Colby Lewis to stink up the joint again, but he pitched good. He went only 5 innings, but gave up just a single run. The four relievers we used (none of which was Van Poppel, who was essentially released before the game) combined for a total of one run. A nice pitching performance – hopefully we can win again Wednesday night, so we can get back to within one game of .500 and hopefully not lose when we get to Baltimore. :)
It was nice to see old friend Mike Venafro again – although I have to say he looked odd in a Tampa uniform – I wish he was still with the Rangers, I always liked him.

Well, we’ve got another streak – in the wrong direction. We lost a goofy one, 13-10, on a game that included crappy pitching all around, and a grand slam by Mark Teixeira (his first).
It was nice to see Rick Helling back at the Ballpark. That’s about all I’ll remember from this game, except the Teixeira slam. :)

The streak gets to seven with a 5-3 win over the Orioles at home. Ismael Valdes gave up 10 hits, but since all of them were singles, not a whole lot of damage was done. Our usual combination of Cordero & Urbina closed the game out on the pitching side.
Offensively, Raffy broke out and got HR #501. He also got #502 as well, but missed clearing the top of the wall by an inch or two. Mike Young, whose average has climbed to the best it’s ever been lately, also had a nice home run to left in the 5th. Ruben Sierra, who hasn’t lookd good this year, gave us an insurance run late.
Overall, a nice game – not a 13-10 fiasco, not a 1-0 pitcher’s duel – but a nice baseball game. Wish I had been there.

No time for commentary today, as I’ve got two meetings today, but two straight sweeps – 6 in a row, and we’re within two games of 500 again. Let’s hope we can take at least 2 out of 3 against the Orioles. It will be nice. Oh yeah, Einar Diaz got his first HR as a Ranger, nice to see.

No time for commentary today. Nice to see 5 in a row! :)

It’s four in a row now – but unfortunately, we can’t gain any ground, because division leader Seattle has won their last 5 in a row, and we’re still nine out. However, we’ve moved to within 4 games of 500 again. However, if history is a teacher, we’ll get to within one game, and then lose 7 of our next 9 or something like that.
Anyway, Joaquin Benoit continued to stretch of great pitching with a fourth game in a row that was won by a Ranger starter who pitched pretty good. Benoit went 7 innings, giving up just two (earned) runs on a total of 4 hits. He also had 8 strikeouts and two walks. Overall, some great pitching – no complaints here.
Offensively, we got out to a 5-0 lead after two (with HR’s by Hank Blalock & Arod), and that’s all we’d get and Benoit made it hold up. Actually, after the second inning, I felt like we were going to score like 20 runs and totally stomp on the Devil Rays. That didn’t happen, but I’ll certainly take a good pitching performance and a win any day over a “stomp ’em into the ground” win. :)