Oh my! I was watching this game at home, and I thought Rick Helling was pitching well – I thought it was going to be another great Helling game. Helling pitched well the first two innings, but then had a meltdown in the third, allowing five runs. That was a shame, as I really thought he looked sharp in the first couple of innings, even though he allowed a few walks. He bounced back for a good fourth, but was pulled early in the fifth in place of Mike Munoz, who along with Zimmerman & Venafro shut down the Indians after the third.
Now, our offense. :) Jeez! We went up 2-0 (on a Pudge solo home run in the 1st and a gift error by Vizquel), and I thought that was an OK start. We then let them tie the game in the third, and I thought… “OK – these are the Indians, you don’t keep them down very much”. But then I look up, and we’re down 3. I thought we were screwed.
However, in the sixth, Royce Clayton had a solo home run – showing some more power to left field (most of his homers have seen to have been to right). Not long after that in the top of the 7th, unlikely home run hitter Mark McLemore belted a ball over the wall to bring the score to 5-4. My wife, who was watching with me mentioned the “John Blake peck-away theory”. :)
Anyways, it got much much better after that. After a Pudge single and Juan single, Lee Stevens belted another single bringing in Pudge to tie the game. A pitching change by Cleveland brought up Rafael Palmeiro who hit the first pinch hit home run for the Rangers all season, a 3 run shot, giving us an 8-5 lead. In the 8th, Lee Stevens again batted in Pudge, giving us a 4 run lead, and then Jon Shave, playing for Luis Alicea (who was already playing for Todd Zeile, who had food poisioning) who had moved to second to replace Mark McLemore (who had moved to right to replace Roberto Kelly who was pinch hit for by Raffy) drove in two runs with a double. Shave doesn’t get to play much, it was really nice to see him get into the fray here.
That wasn’t all. In the 9th, Tom Goodwin singled, and Pudge hit yet ANOTHER home run, a two run shot. That gave him 2 for the game. We had a total of 5 home runs this game. Two by Pudge, and one each by Raffy, Royce, & Mac. What a game. I didn’t expect to do well here, and we blow them out 13-5. I felt bad for Helling, other than the one meltdown inning, we had great pitching tonight. That’s 23 runs we scored in the last two games. Let’s hope we can keep this up for the next few (at least).
Roster Transaction
- Optioned Ryan Glynn to AAA Oklahoma.
- Recalled Danny Kolb from AAA Oklahoma.
G118: Rangers salvage finale, shut out White Sox, 10-0
Now this is more like it. Avoiding a record fifth loss in a row, and a sweep to the Chisox (shudder), we broke out and won 10-0.
This game seemed like ours from the start. We scored in every inning except the 5th and 6th. We went up 1-0 in the first inning, and it turns out that’s all we needed.
Esteban Loaiza pitched like he’s capable of, throwing eight innings, allowing no runs on only 5 hits. He looked good, sharp, and is the kind of pitcher we wanted him to be when he came here last year. I’m really hoping (along with everyone else, I’m sure) he can keep this up, and this is the kind of pitching we get from him. He almost got decapitated in the first inning when Frank Thomas had a screaming liner right as his head. However, Esteban ducked out of the way and caught it – a very impressive play.
Rusty Greer had yet another home run in Chicago – that brings his total there to about a million. :) Pudge had two home runs in this game too, increasing his home run total this year to 26, I believe.
Danny Kolb pitched the 9th, allowing just one hit and preserving the shutout. We looked good yesterday – we needed that going into Cleveland tonight where I’m hoping we can come away with a split. I don’t have a particularly good feeling right now.
G117: Rangers lose again to Chisox, 8-7
As bad as losing both games of a double header to go to a 3 game losing streak is, losing a walk-off loss in the bottom of the ninth to go to a four game losing streak was even worse.
My wife and I were out when this game was on (we saw Runaway Bride, a very funny movie), but when I came home, I saw the score, and got disgusted. As I didn’t see or hear any of this game, I’m not going to do commentary, but hell. Four in a row? To the Tigers and the White Sox? Yeah, this makes me feel good going into Cleveland on Monday, even if we do win the last game.
Pudge got his 20th steal of the season, giving him a first in all of MLB history – the first catcher to steal 20 bases and hit 20 RBI’s in one season. I wonder if he’ll get 20 doubles as well. :)
Glynn was activated, and I’m sure he’ll be sent back down after this. Probably not seen again in 1999. Especially if we’re in a pennant race in late September.
Roster Transaction
- Signed pitcher Chad Poeck and assigned him to A
Port Charlotte.
G116: Rangers lose to Chicago again, 7-4. Ugh 2.
Double ugh. If we looked asleep in the first game, this one was worse. I don’t know if it was the actual game itself, or the fact that we lost both ends of a doubleheader to the White Sox, but I was really disgusted with this one. :(
Rusty had another home run in Chicago – his best home run hitting city by far.
G115: Rangers lose to White Sox, 4-2. Ugh.
Ugh. That’s about all I have to say about this game. :)
In all seriousness, we got in a hole early, and couldn’t get out. Burkett pitched fair, but their guys pitched a lot better. Considering this was the first game of a doubleheader, I was surprised they used 5 pitchers. Their starter went 5 innings, giving up 1 earned run on 3 hits. The remaining pitchers gave up the same – 1 run on 3 hits (one of which was a Rusty home run).
However, we just never got it going, and we looked asleep.
Alice Holtz Dies
ARLINGTON – Alice Holtz, the widow of longtime Rangers’ broadcaster Mark Holtz, died Wednesday after a long battle with cancer. She was 51.
Mrs. Holtz passed away at approximately 4 p.m. Wednesday at Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth. She had been hospitalized for about two weeks. In memory of Mrs. Holtz, the Rangers observed a moment of silence prior to Wednesday’s game with Detroit.
Mr. Holtz broadcast Rangers games on television and radio for 17 years from 1981 through 1997. He died Sept. 7, 1997 from complications of a bone-marrow transplant for the treatment of leukemia. He also was 51.
Mrs. Holtz was originally diagnosed with cancer in the fall of 1989. Her struggle against the disease became well known in North Texas. Mrs. Holtz, however, rarely called attention to herself.
“Alice was a tremendously good-natured person with a terrific sense of humor,” said Rangers broadcaster Eric Nadel, who worked alongside Mr. Holtz for 13 years and remained a close family friend after his death.
“She was the type of person you were always glad to see,” said Nadel. “And she was remarkably low-key in describing all of the battles she had to fight the last several years. She was always trying to make it sound like it was no big deal. But she had a really rough struggle.”
Mrs. Holtz grew up in suburban Chicago and married Mr. Holtz in 1967. Before moving to Arlington in 1980, they lived in Waverly, Iowa; Scottsbluff and Omaha, Neb.; Peoria, Ill.; and Denver.
Mrs. Holtz is survived by a daughter, Cindy Kuster; granddaughter, Allison Kuster; son-in-law, Jeff Kuster, all of Arlington; her parents, Bill and Dorothy Rudge of Wildwood, Fla; and a sister, Karen Brown, of Chapel Hill, N.C.
A memorial service will take place Monday at 11 a.m. at Trinity United Methodist Church, 3321 West Park Row, in Arlington. Contributions in Alice Holtz’s name may be made to the American Cancer Society.
G114: Rangers drop game to Detroit, 3-1
I was at this game, and it turned out to be not as hot as I thought it would be. Don’t get me wrong, it was hot, but it wasn’t that bad – but I was in the shade the whole time. :)
Aaron Sele pitched extremely well throughout 8th innings (actually, 7 innings and a batter). He struck out a career high 13 batters, but unfortunately, the Tigers pitcher(s) pitched better. We only had 5 hits, and one run. Detroit had 8 hits with 3 runs, one of which was a solo home run, but this struck me as a rather well pitched games on both sides.
I did score the game, but I was busy taking pictures again – just in case you didn’t think I’ve taken enough. :)
Not a whole lot to say about this game, except there was some great pitching on both sides – and we never really got going offensively.
G113: Rangers beat Tigers, 8-2
Rick Helling threw a 6 hit complete game win. It’s nice that Rick finally got some run support. He’s been pitching very well in the last two months, but the team just has not been getting it done for him. Or, if they have, it’s been after he’s left the game, the win usually going to Jeff Zimmerman. :)
This game started off pretty well, and that more or less set the tone for the entire game to follow. Rick Helling struck out the first batter, then walked the next one. After a popout to Pudge, Helling erased his walk by picking off the runner to end the first.
Our side started well, too. Mac tripled to start the game, and scored a couple of batters later when Rusty grounded out, bringing Mac in. Add to that a Raffy solo shot to centerfield, and we were off to a 2-0 lead. We added a few more in the next inning, and that put us ahead for good. We also followed with a home run by Roberto Kelly in the 5th, and we picked up the rest of our runs in the 6th, the highlight was a two run double by Tom Goodwin.
The only two runs Detroit got were both on solo home runs by Juan Encarnacion & Damion Easley. If you remember, Encarnacion also had another homer against Rick Helling on opening day. The first pitch of the season, to be more precise! Helling seemed to get a bit weaker towards the end of teh game, but he pitched wonderfully, a great win for him and the team.
We seemed to dominate this one, but then again, we should dominate teams like the Tigers. I just wish we could perform like this regularly against someone like, oh… the Yankees!
I’m going tomorrow to the game that starts at 6:05. Ugh, 104º – no fun :(
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