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Another loss to the Royals in KC. Can we not go there anymore?
About the only really nice thing was hearing Chuck Morgan’s voice again. Chuck – come back!
The game wasn’t anywhere near as close as the score indicates. We picked up three in the 9th to make it somewhat close (and actually almost tied it), but we were outplayed totally.
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So much for yesterday’s commentary. Another one run loss. By my count, that’s 15 this year. Turn those around to wins, and we’d be 55-35. Sigh.
Another bullpen letdown. Don’t feel like writing about another one of those. Wait – Arod had two home runs, and is now the major league HR leader, and leads the AL in RBI’s, too (and slugging percentage, I think).
Additional game commentary is available here.

Well, I guess we got tired of one run losses (and there’s been a lot of them). In fact, I decided to look up the one run losses so far this season:
Apr: 5 (15 total)
May: 3 (16 total)
Jun: 4 (13 total)
Jul: 2 (4 total so far)
My count appears to be off one somewhere on total losses (I counted 48 and there’s 49), but you get the point. 14 of our 49 losses have been by a single run. If we had those back, we’d have a much different record and be in a way different position. The bulk of those can be summed up as bullpen.
Anyway, this game was pitched well by Kenny Rogers, who will probably be traded, even though I don’t want that to happen. He made a most specactular play on a ball, diving into first base to make a putout. He’s one of the best fielding pitchers I’ve ever seen with my own eyes. Arod had another home run, and Raffy had a few RBI doubles led the way to the 8-1 win. Was nice to get one of these, but given the way we’ve been playing, I doubt it will translate into much beyond today.
Additional game commentary is available here.

Oh look. Another Rangers loss. And by the same score as the previous night’s game, too. :(
The most exciting parts of this game for me were the home run by Arod (which is always great to see), and the almost inside the park home run by Pudge. However, Pudge appeared to totally run out of gas around third, and it appeared like he was almost stopped coming into home. Too bad, as once it got by Hunter, I thought Pudge’s ball was a sure inside the park home run.
However, we managed to overcome that disappointment and tied the game up in the ninth. Unfortunately, we blew it again against our usual nemesis, “extra innings”. That Extra Innings guy really has it in for us, and we never can seem to beat him. Methinks the blowup of the team will be happening shortly.
Additional game commentary is available here.

Not discussing the All Star game, as there’s been a ton said. I absolutely agree with the decision made to stop it. No more pitchers, time to stop. The fans really irritated me, and I felt Selig didn’t deserve this. I’m no major Selig fan, but I don’t see what other choice he really had. Biggest mistake was announcing it DURING the bottom of the 11th inning. Wait till it was over, and then make the decision. Whoever decided that was an idiot.
As for last night’s game.. I thought Chan Ho Park did pitch better than he had been. He went 6.1 and gave up 3 earned runs (4 in all). Not bad. Technically a quality start, but he’s still got a lot of work to go. His out pitch seemed to be good yesterday, and while he wasn’t dominating, it looked good. Combined with the start before this being about the same kind, and it appears he’s headed in the right direction.
Major roster overhaul yesterday with a total of 7 moves (although one was a rehab assignment). We brought up troubled CF Ruben Rivera who got a hit last night, and showed why I call Carl Everett “Slow Ass”. It was nice to hear Jerry Narron say that Rivera will get the bulk of the playing time in center given that I want Everett released. I suspect the Rangers do too, but I’ve bought into the notion I’ve read that the Rangers are waiting to see if the players strike. If the players strike, then we can save a few bucks on Everett’s release. Anyway, Rivera made a spectacular catch up against the baggie in right center that Everett wouldn’t have gotten anywhere near. That play alone showed why we can’t have Everett in the field, and with him batting less than .200, we can’t have him at the plate, either.
Kevin Mench had a huge home run early, but then had a major base running blunder late when he got picked off trying to make it back to first on a wide turn. He was removed from the game, but I don’t feel there will be any permanent repercussions from that. Eric Milton was extremely good from the third inning to the sixth, striking out 6 Rangers in a row, and a total of 10 for his 7 innings of work. That was really spectacular to watch.
I know the Rangers aren’t going anywhere, and given we’re playing one of the contraction teams, I don’t mind losing to them, because it helps them. Still, I’d like to see some wins – we had better beat up KC when we get there Monday, or there probably will be even more roster overhaul.
Additional game commentary is available here.

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