The Rangers drop to 1-4 after tonight’s loss to the Tigers. It’s way WAY too early to panic, but it is disappointing. I was expecting to be 3-2 at this point.
This one started out the way most of our games went. We were in it early, and just a few things here and thre seemed to let the game slip away. John Koronka started, and looked decent early. Where have I heard that before – even just in this season so far? Despite his line (5IP, 6H, 4ER), he didn’t seem all that bad for me. I won’t be upset to see him get another start. He looked better than his line. Plus he’s a lefty, which itself is something that will probably earn him another start at least.
Rick Bauer, who was called up after RA Dickey was sent out after last night’s debacle followed Koronka. Bauer went three innings, giving up just one run on 4 hits. That wasn’t bad at all. I know he was called up to provide bullpen relief, as Koronka wasn’t expected to pitch very long, but he looked decent out there.
Mike Maroth, who usually gets bombed when he pitches against the Rangers turned it around tonight. He did have a lot of hits (8) for the innings pitched he had (5.1), but he only allowed one run.
We couldn’t get much of anywhere against the Tigers pitching tonight. We did have eleven hits overall, but only managed two runs against the Tigers. Young, Tex, & Nevin both had two apiece, and the rest were scattered amongst the lineup. Mike Young did get a home run – but everything else was a single. Unless you get a boatload of singles (way more than 11), you don’t always score a bunch of runs.
Ian Kinsler continued to impress, going 2 for 4, and raising his batting average to .462 for the season. In fact, after tonight’s action, here’s a comparison of stats. I’m sure in the long run this won’t remain the case, but for a purely homer reason it’s amusing to compare:
Runs Scored: Kinsler 2, Soriano 1
Hits: Kinsler 6, Soriano 4
Doubles: Kinsler 1, Soriano 0
Home Runs: Kinsler 1, Soriano 0
RBI: Kinsler 1, Soriano 0
Total Bases: Kinsler 10, Soriano 4
Walks: Kinsler 1, Soriano 0
Strikeouts: Kinsler 0, Soriano 4
Stolen Bases: Soriano 1, Kinsler 0
OBP: Kinsler .533, Soriano .375
Slugging: Kinsler .769, Soriano .286
Batting Average: Kinsler .462, Soriano .286
Salary: Kinsler $327,000, Soriano $10 Million
You’ve gotta love all that. :)
Like the Kinsler/Soriano comparison. If those stats continue, I’d obviously be shocked, but Kinsler and Young have been the only real bright spots for the Rangers thus far.