Oh man, what a cool game.
From the start – this felt great. I felt that something good would happen when they said that Jose Canseco wouldn’t play – he always seems to be in a groove against the Rangers. Rick Helling confirmed this feeling and pitched a complete masterpiece. He went 7.1 innings, and gave up no earned runs (dropping his ERA under 3 to 2.82), and only a single hit – a single to the Crimedog. His pitch count was extremely high – in the 130’s, but that might have something to do with him walking six D’Rays. One run did score on Helling, but it was unearned due to an error by Mike Lamb. Otherwise, Helling was completely masterful (if a tad wild).
On the other side, the game was tight until the 6th when we went from a 2-0 lead (on two solo shots in the 2nd & 5th from Raffy & Curtis) to a 4-0 lead (via a 2 RBI single by Raffy). I know 4-0 is still considered by some to be “tight”, but the way Helling was pitching, it seemed like a huge lead. We then piled on some more runs with a three spot in the 8th, and another in the 9th on a home run by Pudge – his what, 40th in the last three games? :)
Gabe Kapler left the game with a strained muscle in the 6th – I’m really hoping he doesn’t go down for long – we have enough problems with injuries this season – we just “feel” like we’re coming around, we can’t afford to lose anyone else – even if he’s only batting around .200.
We just looked really good this game, I felt. This is the Rangers that we were supposed to be getting out of spring training. Unfortunately our modest winning streak is in jeopardy as Mark Clark takes the mound on Wednesday.