I finally managed to wrest myself away from the office long enough for a baseball game, just in time to see the Boston Red Sox in their last game in Arlington this season (barring a miracle on the part of the last-place Rangers, at any rate). Fortunately, baseball is one of the few sports where, on a given day, you can match up the best team in the league against the worst and still have an interesting, competitive game, as was the case with Boston's 6-5 win over Texas today. That's probably most true when you're watching a duel of the #5 starters. Of course, Julian Tavarez is ostensibly not even the true fifth starter for Boston but is filling a spot left open by Matt Clement's prolonged stint on the disabled list.
The disparity in the two teams' starting pitching is rather large, otherwise. The Rangers rotation has the worst ERA for starters of any team in recorded history, while Boston can boast MVPs of two World Series and the inaugural World Baseball Classic.
When the Sox went up 3-0 in the top of the fourth, it looked like my father might be a baseball genius. Before the first pitch was thrown, he had set the over-under on Texas starter Kameron Loe at 3 1/3 innings. After starting the fourth with two consecutive singles to J.D. Drew and Mike Lowell, followed by a home run to Jason Varitek, Loe received a visit on the mound. Loe stayed in the game, however, and even outlasted Tavarez (by one out). He allowed only one more single (in the fourth) and retired the Sox in order in the next two innings before Joaquin Benoit relieved him in the seventh.
Tavarez, on the other hand, surrendered the lead in an ugly sixth inning. Kenny Lofton drew a lead-off walk, making him the Rangers' third baserunner since he led off the first with a single to left field. The other two had reached after being hit by a pitch and a fielding error. Tavarez followed up Lofton's walk with a single to Michael Young and a home run to Mark Teixeira, nearly copying the Red Sox pattern of three-runs in, no outs from earlier. Tavarez did not have quite the same luck ending the inning as Loe had and, after Sammy Sosa grounded out, allowed three consecutive base hits that drove in the go-ahead run for Texas. J.C. Romero was brought in to get the final out.
With a one-run lead in the eighth inning, Ron Washington brought in his set-up man Akinori Otsuka. Prior to today's game, Otsuka had only allowed two earned runs this season. He doubled that total, however, blowing the save and getting tagged with the eventual loss. Kevin Youkilis led off the inning with a single, and despite striking out Manny Ramirez, Otsuka gave up two more hits to Drew and Lowell, surrendering the lead. During the inning, David Ortiz, who had been resting a sore hamstring, could be seen up in the dug out, talking to Terry Francona (even from club-level seats near the right-field foul pole, Papi has a distinctive presence) and picking up a bat. Youkilis was batting in his usual third spot in the lineup that day, but he appeared ready to pinch hit if necessary.
Joel Pineiro, who had relieved Romero in the seventh, retired the Rangers in order in the bottom of the eighth, recording his third strikeout in 1 2/3 innings of work. When Eric Gagne took the mound in the ninth inning, I had slightly mixed feelings. I had been clamoring for the opportunity to see Gagne up close (relatively speaking) since the Rangers had signed him in December, and I was eager to see what progress he was making in returning to his once-great form. However, I didn't really want to see him pitching to one of my favorite teams.
Gagne encountered a battle with the first batter he faced. With a 2-2 count, Dustin Pedroia continued to foul off another eight pitches (without taking another ball) before sending a homer beyond the Southwest airlines banner in left field and tarnishing Gagne's ERA with his first earned run of the season. Julio Lugo and Coco Crisp sent two more shots way deep into the outfield but not far enough before Youk struck out to end the inning.
The insurance run proved valuable to the Red Sox as Hideki Okajima gave up a pair of hits, including an RBI single to Mark Teixeira with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Sosa flew out to end the game, however, and Boston came away with the win, sweeping the three-game series.
The Rangers never cease to amaze me with their incomprehensible personnel moves. I had thought that Jon Daniels would be some kind of improvement over former G.M. John Daniels (AKA the Empty Golf Shirt), but he and Tom Hicks continue to let some of their best players slip through their fingers and write huge checks to the over-rated, the washed-up, and the just plain bad. Today, they announce the newest addition to their bullpen when they sign Eric Gagne to a one-year, $6 million contract... pending the results of a physical.
Now, don't get me wrong- I love Eric Gagne as much as anyone and maybe more than I should (see here for proof).Still, he has pitched fifteen and a third innings in the past two seasons combined. Nobody needs to convince me of his potential (or past greatness, as I fear it is now). I remember his Cy Young season when he posted 55 saves with just three losses in 77 games, with a 1.20 ERA. But in an eight year career, he has only had three good seasons (although when he's good, he's amazingly brilliant). The Rangers say that they are confident in Gagne's medical reports, but I can't imagine anything inspiring enough to gamble six million dollars on.
Of course, I'm hoping that Gagne really is healthy and can return to his former glory. I would love the chance to be there and watch him at work and in top form.
It was a match up of two rookies on a damp afternoon in Boston today. Jon Lester, in his big league debut for the Red Sox, was to match up against John Rheinecker, in his fourth game for the Rangers in the first game of a double-header.
It would seem that the Rangers bring rain clouds into town with them when they visit Fenway. During their last visit in May, the first game of the weekend was called (a 6-0 victory for Texas) after six innings, and the remaining two games of the series were postponed due to the rain. This time, the rain began falling in last night¿s game, although they were able to finish before it got too heavy. They were to make up one of the games during a double-header today, but the 1:25 start was delayed nearly five hours, eliminating the possibility for a second game.
Rheinecker and Lester did meet up, but neither came away with a decision. Lester quickly fell behind in the top of the first. He began his outing with a strikeout to Gary Matthews, Jr., but allowed two doubles (to Michael Young and Mark DeRosa) and a walk (to Hank Blalock) that gave Texas a 2-0 lead before the Red Sox came to the plate.
Rheinecker also gave up two hits (both singles- to Mark Loretta and David Ortiz) and a walk (Kevin Youkilis) in the bottom of the inning. Loretta scored Boston¿s first run on a ground out. In the second, Lester continued to struggle, allowing two more walks. He also had to contend with a would-be fielder¿s choice that was foiled by a fielding error by Mark Loretta and a double-steal by Ian Kinsler and Jerry Hairston, Jr. With Michael Young¿s walk, the bases were loaded for Mark Teixeira, but Lester managed to strike him out to get out of the jam.
The third inning was somewhat better for Boston, with Lester allowing just one single and Coco Crisp scoring the tying run after leading off the inning with a double. In the fourth, the Rangers regained the lead with a sacrifice fly by Matthews, but Boston tied it up again in the bottom of the inning with Jason Varitek scoring on an RBI single by Alex Gonzalez.
In the fifth inning, Lester was relieved by Julian Tavarez with one out after giving up a lead-off single and a walk. Tavarez struck out the next two batters to end the inning, but he gave up the go-ahead runs to Texas in the seventh. With the bases loaded, Ian Kinsler hit a single, scoring Blalock and DeRosa. Rudy Seanez took over after that, but the damage was already done with the Sox down 5-3.
Rheinecker did not last much longer than Lester. After two singles and a double-play ball in the sixth inning, he was relieved by Bryan Corey. The 32-year-old, making his fourth major league appearance (and first for the Rangers), struck out all four batters he faced in the sixth and seventh innings and was on record for the win.
The Red Sox did get one run back in the eighth inning with Manny Ramirez hitting a lead-off homerun off of Rangers set-up man Francisco Cordero. The Rangers added on to their lead in the ninth, though, with a two-run homerun from Hank Blalock off of Keith Foulke. In the bottom of the ninth, Akinori Otsuka retired the Red Sox in order to give the Rangers the 7-4 victory and even up the season series between the two teams.
It had to end sooner or later, and today, Jonathan Papelbon’s perfect save record came to an end. After two months and twenty saves as the Red Sox closer, Papelbon had his first blown save tonight against the Rangers.
In the top of the eighth inning, Craig Hansen relieved Tim Wakefield, who had allowed just two runs on four hits and a walk through seven innings. The 22-year-old rookie made his first appearance of the season, after pitching in just four games (with a 6.00 ERA over three innings) in 2005. In two thirds of an inning, Hansen gave up back-to-back singles to Gary Matthews, Jr. and Michael Young. Papelbon was brought in to face Hank Blalock with two outs and runners on the corners. Blalock singled to tie the game and hand Papelbon his first blown save before Kevin Mench flied out to end the inning.
The Red Sox had taken an early lead against Vicente Padilla. In the bottom of the first, he gave up consecutive singles to lead-off batter Coco Crisp and Mark Loretta. Padilla retired Boston’s star sluggers, with David Ortiz flying out to Matthews and Manny Ramirez going down on strikes, bringing Trot Nixon to the plate. Trot has a better batting average on the season than either Papi or Manny and already has thirty RBIs, but only had five homeruns going into the game tonight. However, with two on and two out and a 1-0 count, he hit his first Fenway homer of 2006 to put the Sox up 3-0.
The Rangers picked up their only runs against Wakefield in the top of the third. After striking out Ian Kinsler, Wake gave up a single to Matthews and then a two-run shot to Young. He retired the next eleven batters he faced, and struck out the side in the fifth inning. The only other hit he allowed was a two-out double to Brad Wilkerson in the seventh.
Papelbon did allow Blalock to tie the score in the next inning, but, luckily for him, the Rangers brought Francisco Cordero in from the bullpen to relieve Padilla in the bottom of the inning. Coco began with a lead-off walk to Manny, followed by a single to Trot, who was 4-4 on the evening. Mike Lowell then hit a sacrifice fly, allowing Ramirez to score the go-ahead run before Kevin Youkilis lined into a double play.
Although Papelbon was already charged with the blown save, he did return in the ninth inning to close the door with the Sox back on top. He did allow a single to Rod Barajas, and pinch runner Jerry Hairston, Jr. stole second, but Mark DeRosa and Wilkerson had already struck out, and Kinsler went down swinging for the third time that night to end the game. Papelbon came away with the win, and while his record is marred with the blown save, he still has only one earned run in over thirty innings this season.
My father has always told me: great teams feast on the bad teams, split with the good teams, and take what they can from the rest. I am not nominating the Rangers for greatness, but certainly that is what I would like for them. And I do not believe there is any doubt that the Royals are a bad team, as they are on pace to have one of the least successful seasons in the history of baseball. Nonetheless, I feel just a little guilty when Texas comes in to Kansas City, fresh off a blowout against the reigning-champion White Sox, ready to feast. The Rangers have had a day off to relax and rest their star pitcher, whereas the Royals wrapped up a game (a 4-1 loss) in Seattle around 10:00 PDT last night before flying back to Missouri.
Do not fear: I have not gone soft, and I am still a Rangers fan. I did not really want the Royals to win. After all, it would only be an exercise in futility. Still, I feel just the slightest bit guilty cheering for Texas under the circumstances. That said, I am glad for rookie Ian Kinsler who went 2-4, including a two-run homer in the sixth inning, and had three RBIs.
I was also relieved to see Brad Wilkerson, who has been bemoaned as the Worst Hitter in Rangers’ History (by a certain GAC Daddy), perform well in a rare start as DH. I am not entirely sure why Wilkerson, with his .245 batting average, was penciled in as the designated hitter, but it worked out well enough. He may be the antithesis of clutch (he is 0 for the season with two outs and runners in scoring position), but he did go 2-4 tonight with a (solo) home run to give the Rangers their first lead.
I will not go into the details of the carnage (although 6-2 is really not too gruesome). Suffice it to say I was relieved to see Millwood go seven innings and scatter just seven hits, allowing two earned runs. Even more comforting was to see Francisco Cordero retire all four batters he faced, with the first grounding into a double play and the last two striking out swinging. It was no save situation, but it was pretty good pitching. Just don’t remind me that it was “only” the Royals.
The Rangers had their way with Mark Buehrle in the rubber game of their series at US Cellular Field today. Apparently, Buck Showalter and Rudy Jaramillo found a way to make their elaborate sign-stealing light device portable and brought it to Chicago with them. Certainly there can be no other explanation for the Rangers getting six earned runs from Buehrle off of nine hits (including six doubles) and four walks.
Although Joe Crede gave his pitcher an early 2-0 lead to work with, the Rangers tied things up in the third inning. Gerald Laird got on board with a double (his first of the afternoon) and advanced to third on a wild pitch before Buehrle walked Michael Young. Mark Teixeira, who has not had the best start to his season, came up with a double of his own to bat Laird and Young in.
In the next inning, Mark DeRosa led off with another double but was stranded when the next three batters were retired. However, in the fifth inning, Teixeira broke the tie with another double that scored Gary Matthews, Jr. The announcers made sure to note that Buehrle is consistently good for at least six innings, but Ozzie Guillen, with hindsight at least, may have been better off pulling him in the sixth before things took a turn for the worse. DeRosa led off again and drew a walk. Then, with two outs, Jerry Hairston, Jr. in his first game with the Rangers. Laird picked up two RBIs with his second double of the afternoon and then scored on a base hit by Matthews.
In addition to his two doubles, Laird went on to hit two home runs. He hit his first in the eighth inning, against Cliff Politte who finally relieved Buehrle after seven innings, with the Sox down 6-2. Politte did not fare any better, however. After Laird’s solo homer and with two outs, he gave up another two runs to the Rangers. After Young doubled, Teixeira batted him in. He and Blalock, who Politte had intentionally walked, scored on a single to DeRosa before Agustin Montero was brought in to stop the bleeding. Laird gave the Rangers a final insurance run with another home run in the ninth inning, making him 4-5 for the day with two doubles, two homers, and four RBIs and bringing his season batting average to .367.
In the meantime, rookie pitcher John Rheinecker had another impressive outing. In his third major league start, he threw eight full innings and allowed just two earned runs off seven hits and no walks. His only runs came in the second inning when Jermaine Dye led off with a single and Crede followed up with his two-run shot. Rheinecker allowed the Sox to cluster two hits in an inning twice and seemed to get even better as the game went on. In the sixth and seventh innings, he retired the side in order on seven and six hits, respectively. Even in the eighth inning, which got off to a scary start, he managed to work out of trouble with little difficulty. Even after Pablo Ozuna reached on Hairston’s fielding error and Paul Konerko was hit by a stray pitch, Rheinecker still only needed a total of nine pitches to work through that comparatively ugly inning.
Either to give Rheinecker a rest (although he had only thrown 94 pitches through eight) or to give Francisco Cordero a bit of work before the day off tomorrow, Buck put him in for the ninth inning. With the Rangers up 10-2, thanks to catcher Laird’s second homer, they appeared to have a lead that was safe even from Coco. The reliever, who already has seven blown saves in the first two months of the season, got off to an iffy start with three pitches that were well out of the strike zone. However, Crede flied out on the next pitch, and Coco promptly struck out the next two batters to end the game.
The Rangers will have Monday off as they travel to Kauffman Stadium to take on the Royals. With a 9-4 win in Seattle today, Kansas City snapped a three-game losing streak (one of their shorter streaks of the season) but are still below .250 on the season. They have another late game against the Mariners tomorrow before returning home for their series against Texas.
The Rangers opened up the final series of their current homestand against the Mariners tonight, after already facing the Angels and A’s. If you enjoy good pitching, this was a terrific game that included ten 1-2-3 innings, although it was probably less interesting to those in search of high drama or thrilling play-by-play. However, rookie John Rheinecker, recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma today, made his second start for the Rangers and had quite an impressive outing, silencing (at least temporarily) certain skeptics who tend to distrust anything sent to the mound in a Rangers jersey.
The left-handed pitcher, who celebrated his twenty-seventh birthday tonight, pitched eight and a third shut-out innings against Seattle tonight before Rick Bauer took over to close things out. In that time, Rheinecker allowed just four hits and one walk while striking out six.
Through the first eight innings, the Mariners only advanced one runner past first base. That occurred in the second inning when Adrian Beltre reached second on Kenji Johjima’s groundout, fielded by Rheinecker. The Mariners only managed to get multiple men on base in the ninth inning. Lead-off batter Ichiro was hit by a pitch, and Rheinecker, after getting the next out, allowed a single to Raul Ibañez. At that point, the Texas starter was relieved of his duties and Bauer came on for the save. Ichiro made it all the way to third (further than any Mariner had all night) on Richie Sexson’s fielder’s choice, but Carl Everett flied out shortly for the final out of the evening.
Of course, Seattle’s pitching was hardly disgraceful. Starter Jarrod Washburn had a quality start, allowing only two earned runs on six hits in seven innings. However, with no run support coming from Washburn’s teammates, those two runs were as much as Texas needed for the win. The Rangers did all their damage in the sixth inning. With two outs, Mark Teixeira hit a homerun with Gary Matthews, Jr. (who had singled earlier) on base to give the Rangers their 2-0 lead. That was the extent of Texas’s heavy hitting for the night. It was enough, though, with the pitchers getting the job done- for once, at least.
This is left from Thursday, but it was such a good game I figured I'd post it after the fact since I already had it written:
The Rangers maintained their lead in the American League West with a huge come-from-behind victory over the A’s tonight. Kevin Millwood started for Texas and had one of his worst outings of the season (aside from giving up nine earned runs in an inning and a third against the Twins). He gave up seven runs in five innings off nine hits (including two homeruns) and a walk.
After the A’s were retired in order in the first inning, but they got to Millwood quickly in the second with three hits (including doubles to Eric Chavez and Nick Swisher) before he got his first out. Frank Thomas and Swisher scored on Bobby Kielty’s double to bring Oakland’s lead to 3-0. Millwood had another 1-2-3 inning in the third, but the A’s picked up another run off two hits and a walk in the fourth.
In the meantime, the Rangers had failed to score, although Oakland starter Brad Halsey had walked the bases loaded in the first inning and allowed three hits in the next two innings. They were hitless in the fourth and fifth, but as soon as Ron Mahay took over for Millwood, the Rangers started to go to work on Halsey. The bullpen was able to stop the bleeding and allow the Rangers’ bats to mount their comeback. Ron Mahay came on for the sixth and seventh, followed by Rick Bauer and Akinori Otsuka for the final innings. Between the three of them, they held Oakland scoreless and allowed just one hit and one walk (both off Bauer) in the final four innings.
In the bottom of the sixth, Mark Teixeira led off with a single but was erased on Hank Blalock’s fielder’s choice. The Rangers had two outs after Phil Nevin struck out, but they were not going to go down that easily again. Kevin Mench singled, and Mark DeRosa drew a walk from Halsey to load the bases for Rod Barajas who hit a grand slam to put the Rangers back in the game.
With Oakland’s lead cut down to three runs, Ken Macha brought in Steve Karsay to relieve Halsey. Karsay promptly gave up a solo homerun to rookie Ian Kinsler, playing in his first game after going on the disabled list with an injured thumb in the first week of the season. Returning to the top of the lineup, Gary Matthews, Jr. drew a final walk before Michael Young struck out to end the inning.
After Mahay retired the A’s in short order in the top of the seventh, the Rangers continued to chip away at their lead. Teixeira led off with a homerun in the bottom of the inning, bringing the Rangers within one run. With two outs, Mench tripled but was stranded when DeRosa struck out.
The A’s seemed to have their best chance at building on their lead in the eighth inning. After Adam Melhuse walked with two outs, Kielty doubled off the left field wall, but Melhuse was tagged out at the plate by Barajas after a terrific relay by Young from Mench. That out ended the Oakland half of the eighth and their last scoring threat of the evening. In the bottom half of the inning, the Rangers tied the score up when Ian Kinsler hit a solo homerun- his second of the night- off Kiko Calero.
Both teams sent their closers out in the ninth with the score tied. Otsuka retired his batters in order, bringing up Huston Street to face the heart of the Rangers’ order in the bottom of the ninth. Tex went down swinging, and Blalock grounded out to Mark Ellis, bringing Phil Nevin to the plate with two outs. Nevin had not had a hit since the May 16 game in New York and had not even reached base since he walked on the 17th, but he came through for Texas with a walk-off homerun to give the Rangers the win and keep them in first place in the West.
You'll have to excuse this looooong post. I have still not been able to solve my internet problems while I'm away from home. Besides being disconnected from the blog world, I am also unable to watch my out-of-market games on mlb.tv. I am getting very, very antsy. I typed up these ravings Monday night after the Mavs game when I at least got my computer up and running again after it seemed to overheat and make some frightening noises before shutting itself down. I found a disc and am posting this from work now- living on the edge, I know:
I have some embarrassing confessions to make. It all started when I got worked up into a tizzy as the Spurs managed to trim what had been a twenty point lead to the Mavericks down to 76-72. I cursed all the people who proclaimed the Mavericks the certain winners of this series after their game-four win that put them up 3-1 over the defending national champions. I looked at the scoreboard and saw 3:12 on the clock with a little four next to it. I started screaming at the television but took a breath of relief when Keith Van Horn hit an amazing three point shot to put Dallas up by seven. Thirty seconds later, Nowitzki planted an incredible turnaround shot shortly before Van Horn sank another jumper from beyond the arc.
Even after Van Horn missed his next shot, and Bruce Bowen and Tim Duncan brought the Spurs back within six points, the Mavericks got the ball back and had the lead with seventeen seconds remaining. As time wore out, Dirk took a shot that came up short, but I was pleased nonetheless. I reached for the phone to call a friend, as I heard Marv Albert announce the score: “Dallas 84, San Antonio 78 at the end of this incredible third quarter”. My heart sank, not for the first time today.
After my tirade against the premature celebration of a Dallas triumph, I was left looking more than a little foolish. I had just announced in a voice, weak from disbelief, that we were going to the conference finals. Suddenly, I realized that the little four I had noticed next to the time on the score graphic indicated the time on the shot clock and not the quarter of play.
I am not sure why I didn’t question if we were in the 23rd quarter moments later or why I failed to notice just how quickly the game had gone by or how low the score was. Usually I’m the one caught off guard to discover that there are less than two minutes remaining in regulation, although there is little chance of that happening in San Antonio’s A####mp;T Center. I had been busy screaming at Josh Howard (when he missed his first foul shot), hurling balled-up socks at Tony Parker (on television, during the taped interview about breaking the hearts of the Mavericks), and cursing Tim Duncan (just because… not really) along with all the people who jinxed the Mavs. In the midst of all that frustration and anxiety, logic seems to have escaped me.
When I realized that I had another twelve minutes to go before the winner would emerge, I thought I was going to be physically ill. It certainly was a painful but incredible twelve minutes, too. Dallas still led by as many as nine points in the final nine minutes of regulation, but Duncan and Manu Ginobili outscored the Mavericks 15-10 and Michael Finley hit a three-pointer to bring San Antonio within one point of his former team with 1:45 remaining (for real this time).
Duncan went to the line after Erick Dampier fouled out against him. He tied the score at 101 with his second shot after missing his first attempt. Spurs fans can blame officials, Mark Cuban’s blog, Manu Ginobili or anything else they like, and I will not argue that Duncan stepped up his game tremendously this postseason- particularly against the Mavericks, leading all scorers in five of seven games. Still, the fact remains that he missed six of his twenty-three shots from the line tonight, missing more shots than any player, other than Dirk or Ginobili, even took.
After a missed shot by Nowitzki, Ginobili hit a three-pointer to put the Spurs up 104-101 with 32 seconds to go. Ten seconds later, Dirk brought the Mavericks back within a single point, but a shooting foul was called on Ginobili and Dirk tied the score up with his free throw. Finley inbounded the ball to Ginobili after the Spurs’ timeout, and he dribbled around the arc, running down the clock. With precious few seconds remaining, Manu, who had been praised throughout the fourth quarter for his effortless ability to sink clutch baskets, went in for the layup to break the tie for San Antonio… and missed. Tim Duncan tried to get another shot at it, but Dirk was there and had other plans. Jason Terry, back after his one-game suspension, got the rebound and the game went to overtime.
By then, the anxiety truly had made me ill. To borrow a line from a classic film, “I threw up a little bit,” but that did not keep me away from the TV once the game returned. Josh Howard struck first in OT. With just under two minutes remaining, the Mavericks led the Spurs by six points. After Tim Duncan cut that back to four points, DeSagana Diop drew a foul on Bowen. He sank the second shot after missing the first and San Antonio had the ball back. After a timeout, a foul was called on Devin Harris for moving in the way as the ball was going to be put in. The Spurs got a free throw for Michael Finley to come within four points. They also regained possession of the ball, as it was not yet in play when Harris’s foul was called, and had over twenty seconds remaining.
In those final seconds, Dallas aggressively defended against San Antonio and drew a pair of fouls. Nowitzki’s “two shots”, the Mavericks went up 119-111. Finley missed the final shot of the game and Adrian Griffin, who had been pulled off the bench (literally, by his collar) by Avery Johnson as Terry shot, grabbed the rebound as time expired for the reigning NBA champions.
Secret Number Two: While I’m spilling my secrets, here’s another one for you: I like Mark Cuban. I am not saying I agree with every word the man says or that I want to hang out with the guy (but Mark, if you read this- I live about seven minutes from the AAC. Stop by after the game anytime. Bring your wife, some of the guys, the coaching staff- anybody but Humble Billy- and have a drink. I’ll make some brownies or something.
Seriously, though, Mark Cuban certainly can be obnoxious at times, but I have never- especially in this town- been so absolutely convinced of an owner’s commitment to winning. In recent years he has made some decisions which have been unpopular among some and questioned among many.
First among those would be his release of Steve Nash. Nash, along with Dirk and Michael Finley, was considered part of the core of this new generation of Dallas Mavericks. After the team had gone through a horrific period in the 1990s, Nash was part o####roup of players who, with Coach Don Nelson, brought winning back to Dallas basketball. Upon his departure from Dallas, Nash went on to the Phoenix Suns and turned a team that had been sixth place in a relatively unimpressive division the season before and turned them into the winningest team in the NBA. He was voted the MVP and helped knock his former team out of the playoffs in the second round. Nash has now been named the MVP for the second consecutive season and many still question how Mark Cuban could have let him ride off west. However, the fact remains that Nash just was not playing at that same level in his final seasons in Dallas. One of the main reasons he probably stepped up his training and turned up his game was because he had something to prove. He also plays a different role in Phoenix than he did in Dallas. Mike D’Antoni does not run the same game that Nellie did or Avery does. To assume that Nash could have been a two-time MVP in Dallas is ridiculous. Of course, the Mavericks now have the opportunity to prove that they are capable of beating Nash and the Suns to go farther than they ever did with him.
The following season (meaning this past year), another one of those star franchise players was sent packing. This time it was Michael Finley who wound up with the reigning champion Spurs. His regular season in San Antonio was less than impressive, primarily playing off the bench and not producing much of anything. He managed to do some damage against his former team, both in regular season meetings, as well as in the playoffs. Without blaming Michael Finley for the Spurs’ elimination (because it is certainly not his fault) or making Cuban or Nellie, Jr. out to be geniuses, it is once again a team without Finley that is advancing to the conference finals.
Team management / ownership was also criticized this past off-season for remaining stagnant and a few busts. I will not attempt to upside the Doug Christie deal except to say they got rid of him quickly enough, and the general wisdom of signing Erick Dampier to his large contract is certainly questionable. However, even that has not been a total bust with the Little General figuring out how to get the most from his big men.
I understand that Cuban is in business to make money. That said, he has actually lowered some ticket prices and created more promotions to make the games more accessible to fans and to families. If he can spend less money on personnel and still wind up with what could be the most successful team in franchise history and bring in more revenue without driving up ticket prices, more power to him. Since the day Mark Cuban took over this franchise, it has been a different looking team (and I’m not referring to the new uniforms or the new arena). Attitudes about the team’s potential, the fans, and, most importantly, winning changed almost overnight. I still say Cuban should buy the Rangers. Now I just need to convince him and Tom Hicks.
Secret Number Three: I missed the very beginning of the Mavericks game (about a minute and a half on the game clock) because I was wrapped up in the Sox – Yankees game at Fenway. Without internet access, my ability to watch my out-of-market games online was hobbled, but I had been excited when I saw that the game was on ESPN. With Boston retaking the lead from the Yankees, I was so caught up in the action (and so unused to this series getting started much before 9 pm local time) that I did not switch over in time for tip-off. After losing so much sleep over the late starts, I almost dropped the ball when the Texas game ended up in the early time slot (since the double-header was shared with a game in Phoenix and not Detroit or Cleveland).
I did check in on my boys in Boston periodically during commercial breaks, but I made sure that I did not miss another second of the action in San Antonio. With the Sox extending their 4-1 lead to a 7-1 and then a 9-1 lead, I did not worry too much about them.
Fortunately (for me), I missed the entire debacle when Keith Foulke nearly converted an eight-run lead into a save situation with a five-hit, four-run ninth inning. I only learned about Alex Rodriguez’s pointless two-run homer when I flipped back and found Baseball Tonight on after the game.
Secret Number Four: I almost completely missed the Rangers coming from down 2-0 to win 3-2 against Anaheim, with Coco getting the hold and Akinori Otsuka picking up the save. It looked like an exciting game, but I’m not sorry I missed it. If they do it again in October, I promise I won’t miss it.
Secret Number Five: I have learned something new about myself this past week. I already knew that like the Boston Red Sox and the Boston Celtics (okay, like is putting it mildly). If I watched hockey, I would probably like the Boston Bruins. I enjoyed learning about the Boston Tea Party when I was in school. I like to bake and eat Boston cream pie. Although I only saw it a few times, I kind of liked the show Boston Public. None of that is news to me or anybody, but I have discovered that I do not like Boston Terriers. I consider myself an animal lover. I’m even a vegetarian, but my friends’ Boston Terriers that I am currently watching (as well as their lousy internet service or wireless router) are driving me absolutely crazy.
Okay, well, enough for now. I'm sure I'll have more to say later.
Secret Number Six (addendum): Due to circumstances beyond my control, I also missed last night's Pistons - Heat conference finals game as well as any baseball action. I couldn't even watch an archived game before bed. I almost cried a little.
Secret Number Seven: I have no desire for boobs...
It was the Rangers that were shut out in Houston today, with Taylor Buchholz getting his third win of the season. The rookie pitched nine scoreless innings, allowing only five hits.
John Koronka took the mound for the Rangers today. In the first inning, he gave up a lead-off walk to Craig Biggio. After getting two outs, he walked Morgan Ensberg before Preston Wilson singled to drive in the first run of the day. Koronka pitched 1-2-3 innings in the second, fourth, and fifth innings and managed to work his way out of a bit of two-on, one-out jam in the third.
In the sixth inning, though, the Astros added to their lead with a two-run homer from Ensberg. C.J. Wilson gave up another two-run shot to Jason Lane in the eighth inning, by then it hardly mattered.
The Rangers return to Arlington tomorrow for ten games against the rest of the West, beginning with a three-game series against the Angels. If they hope to remain at the top of the division, they need to hope for some consistency among their pitchers. The team has cracked the top ten in runs scored, but they will need to do better than that if the starting pitchers are going to keep up an ERA of 4.58.
The Rangers and their pitchers had a much better outing tonight in Houston. Kevin Millwood picked up his fifth win of the season, pitching seven scoreless innings against the Astros. He allowed just four hits and had six strikeouts. Andy Pettitte, on the other hand, picked up his fifth loss of the season, allowing five hits on twelve runs and five walks in six innings.
The Rangers took an early lead against Pettitte, with Gary Matthews, Jr. and Michael Young hitting back-to-back doubles to begin the first inning. After Mark Teixeira got aboard with a single, Young scored on a sac fly off the bat of Hank Blalock. Things seemed to calm down in the second for Pettitte, who pitched a one-two-three inning with two strikeouts. Things took another turn for the worse in the third. After striking out the lead-off man, he gave up a single to Tex and walked Blalock. Kevin Mench picked up an RBI with a ground-rule double. After pitching to some of the Rangers’ most formidable hitters, Pettitte intentionally walked Mark DeRosa who, along with Gerald Laird (whose season has also been abbreviated by injury), has one of the highest averages on the team. Brad Wilkerson singled to score Blalock before Laird and Millwood went out on strikes to end the inning.
In the fifth, Wilkerson and Laird hit consecutive singles and Millwood sent a sacrifice down Pettitte’s way to advance the runners. With first base open, he pitched around Matthews to bring up Young, who hit a sac fly that scored Wilkerson. When Laird hit the first homerun for either team in the series in the ninth inning, it was overkill, considering the Astros hadn’t advanced a runner past first base in the previous eight innings. They did get a man all the way to third in the bottom of the ninth when Craig Biggio doubled off Francisco Cordero and advanced all the way to third when Hank Blalock bobbled a Morgan Ensberg ball. Coco did manage to protect Texas’s six-run lead though, and struck out Mike Lamb to end the game.
I was at the Ballpark at Arlington nine years ago, in June of 1997, when the first regular-season, interleague game was played between the Texas Rangers and the San Francisco Giants. The Rangers ended up losing that game 4-3, but there have been many exciting episodes of interleague play in the past nine years.
One of the most marketable aspects of interleague play has been the meeting of so-called natural rivals. There are the major-market showdowns, such as the Mets-Yankees Subway Series and the Dodgers-Angels Freeway Series, and, of course, the North Side Cubs vs. the South Side White Sox. I even enjoy the “Lone Star Series” meeting of the Astros and the Rangers. However, some of these “natural rivalries” are a bit of a stretch. For instance, there is no battle in Pennsylvania since the Phillies and Pirates are both National League teams. Instead, we get the Phillies hosting the Red Sox.
Boston and Philadelphia are over 310 miles apart, which is only about fifty miles longer than the drive between the ballpark in Arlington and the Astros’ orange juice dome. Still, the northeast and New England are a different world than Texas, and three hundred miles there span several states. You have to drive past New York to get to Philadelphia and bypass two teams with stronger claims to a rivalry against the Sox than the Phillies have. Of course, they have their own battle this weekend, but other than seeing a team that they have little chance of meeting otherwise, there is not much substantive benefit to this annual diversion. The occasional trip to an NL park allows a glimpse at how well some of their pitchers can hit or if their designated hitters can hold their own in the field for a few days, but most managers don’t bother altering their strategy (if you can call American League ball strategic at all).
Friday night’s game between the Sox and the Phillies certainly did not resemble traditional NL ball. Of the eight runs scored between the two teams, only two (and none of the Sox runs) weren’t driven in on homeruns. The Sox got on the board with an early lead in the second with a two-run shot from Mike Lowell. Jason Varitek added another with a solo homer in the fourth.
The Phillies picked up their first run in the bottom of the fourth with Shane Victorino hitting a homerun of his own. They picked up two more runs with Alex Gonzalez and Jimmy Rollins scoring on Chase Utley’s double against Keith Foulke in the seventh. The two were inherited runners for Foulke, who took over for Matt Clement with two on and two out. Clement had helped himself to a bit of run support in the fifth, though, leading off with an infield single that he stretched to second on David Bell’s fielding error. David Ortiz brought him home with the Sox’s third homerun against Philly starter Jon Lieber.
Boston’s concessions to National League play were negligible. Terry Francona employed one pinch hitter in the entire game, with Dustan Mohr batting in the pitcher’s spot in the top of the ninth. The excitement of a double switch was absent and the word bunt scarcely whispered. It may (or may not) have been interesting for fans in Philadelphia to see the Red Sox come to town, but for Sox fans watching on television, it was business as usual.
The Rangers, on the other hand, did not manage to get their heavy-hitting, potent offense going at Minute Maid Park. They did manage to get eleven hits and two walks against Roy Oswalt in six and a third innings, but they also stranded nine of those runners. The Rangers led three times, beginning in the third inning, and retaking the lead after Houston tied the score up, first with a sac fly from Preston Wilson and later with an RBI single from Brad Ausmus.
In the seventh inning, Gary Matthews, Jr. scored on a Michael Young single to give Texas a 3-2 lead. The hitting may have lacked its usual force, but there was another familiar theme for the Rangers with the bullpen blowing the lead in spectacular fashion. Joaquin Benoit walked the bases loaded and then gave up a two-out, three-RBI double to Adam Everett. Although Brad Lidge has been less than golden this season with a 5.23 ERA thus far, he managed to get the job done for Houston in the ninth, striking out two and getting Hank Blalock to pop out for the final out.
Baltimore finally picked up a win against Boston today to avoid what would have been the third consecutive series sweep of the season. The Orioles did it with the help of a first baseman who was still wearing a Red Sox uniform the last time they beat Boston.
Kevin Millar put Baltimore on the board in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run homer against former teammate Tim Wakefield. Wake had begun the inning with a single to Javy Lopez before giving up the shot to left to Millar. He retired the next three batters, but the Orioles were up 2-1.
In the following inning, Baltimore expanded its lead again. Wake gave up another leadoff single, this time to Melvin Mora. Miguel Tejada followed up with a ground-rule double to deep centerfield. After Jay Gibbons popped out, Mora scored when Ramon Hernandez grounded out to Alex Gonzalez. With two outs, Tejada scored on a wild pitch (Wakefield’s second of the evening) before Lopez struck out.
Although nobody will accuse Doug Mirabelli of perfection, Wakefield’s game has looked better since his return at the beginning of the month. Although he had the two wild pitches tonight, they were only his second and third since the departure of Josh Bard, and there has been a pleasant lack of passed balls. This was his first loss since April 26, and his eight hits and four runs over seven innings were the most he had allowed since that game.
Boston looked like they might have a chance at coming back in the ninth inning. Mark Loretta led off with a single against Chris Ray. David Ortiz promptly followed up with a homerun to bring the Sox within one run. Manny and Mike Lowell were both called out on strikes, but there was a glimmer of hope for Boston when Wily Mo Peña got on base with an infield single. Trot Nixon was up to bat when Willie Harris, pinch running for Wily Mo was caught stealing second base. With that, the Sox’s inning was over and Baltimore salvaged the 4-3 win, their first against Boston since September 2, 2005.
The Rangers, too, suffered a 4-3 loss on their east-coast road trip against the Yankees. Kameron Loe picked up the loss, allowing four runs on nine hits and a walk in just five innings. New York took the early lead with an RBI single from Jorge Posada in the first inning. After Kevin Mench tied the score for Texas in the top of the fourth, the Yankees did the brunt of their damage in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs, they scored three runs on five hits, beginning with a double from Jason Giambi and followed by four consecutive singles.
Texas came back within one in the eighth inning when Gary Matthews, Jr. hit a one-out, two-run homer to bring the score to 4-3. However, Michael Young and Mark Teixeira grounded out against starter Chien-Ming Wang to end the inning, and Mariano Rivera was lights out in the ninth to give the Yankees their second win of this series (and fifth against Texas this year).
The Rangers suffered a historic collapse against the Yankees in the Bronx tonight. Despite a long tradition of flaky pitching, Texas had never surrendered a nine-run lead. Until tonight, that is. The Rangers led 9-0 in the middle of the second inning, after they roughed up Shaun Chacon early on. They had already begun with a two-run lead, following a three-hit first inning. Chacon loaded the bases with two walks and a hit batter before allowing his first run of the second inning. With one out, he gave up two singles (to Michael Young and Phil Nevin) with a double to Mark Teixeira sandwiched in between. Aaron Small relieved the starter after just an inning and a third. With two inherited runners on base, he gave up a homerun to Hank Blalock, to bring the Rangers lead to nine runs.
The Yankees took one back in the bottom of the inning, with an RBI single from Miguel Cairo. However, the Rangers regained their nine-point advantage with Gary Matthews, Jr. scoring on a Teixeira double in the next inning. Tex was thrown out trying to leg his way to third, but the lead appeared safe enough.
In the bottom of the third, New York began to chip away with Johnny Damon scoring on a double by Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada batting the shortstop home, narrowing the Texas lead to 10-3.
In the fifth inning, Jeter led off with a walk, followed by a double from Alex Rodriguez. Jeter scored on Posada’s sac fly and Rodriguez scored when Robinson Cano grounded out. After Koronka walked Bernie Williams, Buck Showalter pulled him and brought in reliever Scott Feldman. With the lead cut down to five runs, Feldman got out of the inning but quickly got into trouble in the sixth. Substitute outfielder Melky Cabrera singled, followed by a walk from Johnny Damon, and then a three-run homer from Jeter. At that point, Joaquin Benoit took over and promptly walked Rodriguez and Posada. He did get the first out for Texas before Bernie Williams hit a double that brought the Yankees within a single run. He and Posada scored on Cairo’s single to put them ahead after trailing by nine.
Texas briefly regained the lead when Brad Wilkerson hit a two-run homer in the top of the seventh, his second in as many days. However, New York tied it once more with Damon scoring on another sac fly from Posada in the bottom of the inning.
After a 1-2-3 inning for both New York’s Kyle Farnsworth and Texas’s Ron Mahay, Texas took another lead in the top of the ninth Kevin Mench led off with a single against Mariano Rivera. Pinch runner Adrian Brown scored on a double from Rod Barajas to put the Rangers up 13-12. Unfortunately for the Rangers, they were in New York and the Yankees still had a chance to do some damage. With two outs and Johnny Damon on second, Akinori Otsuka blew his first save of the season with a two-run, walk-off homer to Jorge Posada to give New York the 14-13 victory.
The Red Sox were no worse for the waiting of this weekend. It took very little time for the Sox to get to Baltimore starter Rodrigo Lopez. They did not score in the first inning, but Lopez did allow two base runners with a single and a walk before handing things over to the O-bats. They took the lead in the bottom of the first when Miguel Tejada went deep on Josh Beckett, but it was their only lead- and only run- of the evening. Baltimore only got one more hit (and no walks) off Beckett in the following six innings and one last single against Keith Foulke in the bottom of the ninth.
The Baltimore lead did not last very long at all. In the top of the second, Jason Varitek led off with a walk. Wily Mo Peña gave Boston the lead with a two-run homer. In the third, the Sox went up 6-1 with a four hit, four run inning that included a lead-off double by David Ortiz. Lopez threw a decent fourth and looked like he may settle down, but began the fifth with a single to Trot Nixon and another walk to Varitek. He was relieved of duty after giving up a triple to Mike Lowell.
Although they were already up 8-1, the Red Sox continued to pile on in the ninth inning. Jason Varitek got his second hit (and second and third RBIs) of the evening with a two-run homerun against John Halama. The Boston captain and catcher went 2-2 on the evening with three walks and three RBIs and scoring four runs. Mike Lowell went back-to-back with Tek with another homerun to bring the final score to 11-1. The O-Birds had one final hit before dropping their twelfth straight game against Boston.
Meanwhile, the Rangers, who defeated Boston in a rain-shortened evening in their last game, lent the Sox a helping hand in regaining the number one spot in the AL East. They traveled to the Bronx following the cancellation of yesterday afternoon’s game and beat the Yankees 4-2 in their house after suffering a sweep when they last met in Arlington.
Texas was scoreless through the first half of the game and trailed by two going into the fifth quarter, but they managed to tie it in an inning that began with a homerun for Brad Wilkerson and included singles for Mark DeRosa and Rod Barajas and a sacrifice fly for Michael Young.
Mike Mussina did not get any more help from his teammates to salvage a victory. Through seven innings, he had allowed just the two runs on six hits and one walk. Kevin Millwood had enjoyed a similar outing with two runs on five hits, with six strikeouts. Funnily enough, it was Millwood that had the better support from his bullpen tonight, with Francisco Cordero and Akinori Otsuka allowing only one hit while holding the Yankees scoreless in the final two innings.
Kyle Farnsworth, on the other hand, gave up a double to the first batter he faced (Matthews) when he relieved Mussina in the eighth. Matthews advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored the Rangers’ go-ahead run on a single to Mark Teixeira. After Phil Nevin drew a walk, Tex added another run to Texas’s late lead on a Hank Blalock single. With Coco throwing a solid inning and Otsuka going lights-out in the ninth, the Rangers came away with a win in their first game in New York on the year.
"Basketball, football, baseball- if it has balls, I'm all over it. Puck hockey."
I am a Red Sox fanatic and otherwise sports-obsess ed nut. Favorite teams include: Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros and Texas Rangers; Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots; Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics.
