The Rangers evened their spring training record at 2-2 behind a 6-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. It was a game I was unable to listen to again. It was Daddy & Daughter day as Mommy was at work. To that, I spent most of my day playing a videogame on my Wii, “Disney Princess: Enchanted Adventure“. It wasn’t quite listening to Eric Nadel call a game in FM, mind you, but I had fun.
I did get to hear about half an hour of the game, and fortunately it was a decent part. I got to hear the top of the fourth inning where Greg Golson (who came over in the trade for John Mayberry Jr) hit a bases loaded double, plating Saltamacchia & Andruw Jones. That wasn’t all Golson did, as he beat out an infield hit earlier in the game which scored Saltamacchia again. So Golson had a good day. His official line was 2-3 with 3 RBI’s.
One of the Rangers’ strengths last season was doubles. We continued that today with five of our fourteen overall hits being doubles. Travis Metcalf, who appears to be the forgotten man of the infield hit two of them. There was the aforementioned one by Greg Golson, and the other two were by Max Ramirez and Justin Smoak. Metcalf actually had more hits than Golson, with three. It was all doubles and singles, no other hits besides five doubles and 9 singles. In fact, the bulk of our offense came from three batting slots (6 through 8). Saltamacchia was 2-2 with 2 runs scored in the six spot. Max Ramirez subbed for him in that slot and went 2-2 with a run scored himself. In the seven hole was Travis Metcalf, who went 3-5 with an RBI. In the eight spot was Greg Golson, going 2-3 with 3 RBI’s. Outside of these guys, there were only five other hits, so the 6-8 spots were definitely the offense for the day (although Joaquin Arias had an RBI in the 9 slot).
Turning an eye to pitching, Brandon McCarthy started. There’s been a lot of talk this spring about how he finally may have turned the corner into the pitcher we gave away John Danks for. Something to do with a talk with Nolan Ryan helping his mechanics. I’m hoping that’s the case, as I remember being very excited when we traded for him. Typically in Texas, they come here and don’t deliver. His line today was “eh”. Not really bad, but no number strikes you as “Oh my god – that’s IT!”. He went two innings, gave up just two hits, but also two earned runs on one walk and one strikeout. The guy who followed him, however was a bit better line wise. That’s Netfali Feliz, one of our true untouchables, I think. Two innings pitched. Gave up three hits and an earned run, but struck out four guys for four of the six outs on his register. Josh Rupe, CJ Wilson, & Derrick Turnbow each followed with a scoreless inning. Tommy Hunter finished up with two innings, giving up one hit and one run – a solo home run to Chris Roberson; the only home run of the day.
While I really wished I could have listened to this game (Saturday afternoon with a beer and a baseball game on the radio is great), I did have an awesome day with my daughter. I wouldn’t have been able to drink the beer either, as it’s forbidden due to the medicine I’m taking from my leg surgery last October. But the day with my daughter was way better than any Rangers game I’ve ever listened to. I love the Rangers, but I love my family a heck of a lot more.