A phrase that I know some people would rather go away certainly applied on Sunday afternoon. It was Mother’s day, so it was fitting to break out the old tired phrase, “Chicks dig the longball!” There were eight of them in all.
The Rangers got ’em from Ian Kinsler (his team leading 10th, a two run shot in the 3rd), Hank Blalock (his third, a solo shot in the fourth), Brad Wilkerson (his fifth, a two run shot in the 6th), and the best one, a walkoff solo shot by Nelson Cruz in the bottom of the ninth. The Angels had four as well, and surprisingly, none by #27. Two of their four were by Gary Matthews, both two run shots. Their others were by Shea Hillenbrand, & Mike Napoli.
Now, in all both teams combined for 22 hits, of which eight were home runs. The teams combined for 3 doubles, so that’s 11 extra base hits, and 11 singles. In the overall scheme of things, it wasn’t dominated by home runs, but darnit, when there’s that many of them, it just seems so much sexier to say “the game was dominated by home runs!”. In a way it was, 12 of the 13 runs came off of home runs, so it is right I suppose, but there were 14 hits that weren’t home runs. Ah well, I guess I’m just being too pedantic again.
Mike Wood was our starter, and he didn’t have a great line at all. Went four, gave up 7 hits and 1 walk (plus 3 of the 4 Angels HR’s). CJ Wilson gave up another run (solo HR), but Benoit, Otsuka, & Gagne followed up and stopped the home run barrage. Millwood comes off the DL tomorrow, I would expect Wood would get sent back down.
I remember being at the park some years ago when the Rangers had 7 or 8 home runs themselves, it’s quite entertaining to watch that many of them. Bet the folks roasting at the Ballpark Sunday afternoon enjoyed it. Especially the longballs.
Chick dig ’em, you know.

This was a game I only peeked in on – as it was a day when I was watching Samantha (mommy was at work), I only got to see a few pieces. I did get to see the lone really good bit, which was Texeira’s home run, and I saw Kam Loe take his frustrations out on a water cooler in the dugout. Overall, it was the typical loss to the Angels. :(
Bartolo Colon returned from the DL to pitch against us. He wasn’t that dominating – in fact his line was pretty pedestrian for him against the Rangers. He went 6IP, 5H, 3ER, 2BB, 6K. Decent stuff, but not totally dominating. The three Angel relievers didn’t allow any runs, so they kept things in check – as they usually do.
On our side, Kam Loe was not terribly good the first two innings. He gave up all 5 of his earned runs there, but after that, settled down, and didn’t allow any more runs until he exited the game after the seventh inning. That sounds very Chan Ho Park like. On the positive side, Loe didn’t allow any home runs.
We did have three more errors, one of which led to an unearned run given up by Otsuka in the 8th. Is it me, or do we have way too many of those in 2007? Seems higher than usual, but I haven’t had the time to do the research to look that up.

I was at this game, only my second attended game of the season so far, which is some sort of record for me, I think. I’m just starting to get weary of the drive back and forth between Garland and Arlington. Anyway…
There was little to talk about for the longest part of this game. John Lackey allowed a first inning single to Mark Teixeira, and then did not allow another hit until the seventh inning. He retired I believe it was 16 in a row at one point. Lackey was outstanding. I knew he’d be when I was there to witness his debut a couple of years back here at the Ballpark. Lackey didn’t give up anything until the bottom of the ninth when he seemed hittable. Lofton led off with a single, Michael Young doubled, scoring Lofton in an odd looking play when Lofton ran through a stop sign, and SHOULD have been out by 15 feet. After Tex grounded out, Slammin’ got his 596th career home run, and that was it for Lackey. In fact, the home run to Slammin’ seemed like Lackey had been irritated at the way a play went in the inning, and seemed more a victim of his own emotions there than his skill at this juncture in the game. But that was all we got. Made things interesting a bit in the bottom of the ninth, but this was really John Lackey’s game. He utterly dominated us for eight innings.
Funny thing is Vicente Padilla wasn’t bad at all, either. He went 7 innings, allowing 3ER (4R total), and was not terribly crisp, but had some nice defense behind him – for the most part. I say that, because Ian Kinsler “bucknered” a ball in the fifth, allowing two runs to score. Now scoring rules only allowed one to be an unearned run, but IMO, both should have been. Fortunately, Padilla was helped out by four double plays in the inning, a couple of which he was involved in himself! Ron Mahay was roughed up a little in the ninth, but it didn’t really matter the way Lackey was pitching.
One amazing thing about this game is that Vlad Guerrero had NO hits. He did walk twice (once intentionally), but to see Guerrero with 0H in the box score is quite a feat!
Speaking of Sammy Sosa, did anyone else notice mlb.com set up a “Road to 600” section just for him? I’m not sure when they did this, but I first noticed it when putting together this writeup.

As is the custom with day games during the week, it’s spotty if I can get to listen to the game, and even if I can, I can’t always pay attention, depending on the level of actual work I have to do at the office. This was no different. I listened to the early stuff, and it was a pretty well pitched game early on. It was 1-1 through four innings, and then I had to go run an errand out of the office. That was fine. I was driving, so I could flip on the radio, and I caught most of the Rangers three run top of the fifth. That contained the rather entertaining rundown that Gerald Laird scored on. Surprised to hear that on the radio. Was much more entertaining to watch on the news highlights later.
So I’m running my errand, and I come back to work, and now they go up 7-1, which was very nice to see. I decide to do some other work in the office that takes me away from my desk for about 15 minutes or so, and I come back to my desk, and see it’s 14-2, which prompts a “Excuse me? Why did that have to happen NOW while I was away from my desk?” :)
Anyway, with a score of 14-2, you know there was offense all over the place. We actually had 3 of our starting 9 go ofers (Kinsler, Kata, & Cruz). Mark Teixeira went 4-5 with three doubles, raising his season average to .283. Sosa was 3-4, Blalock was 2-4, and Laird was 3-5 (going back over top of the Mendoza line). The biggest single offensive moment was Victor Diaz who pinch hit for Blalock in the 8th. Diaz then got one of the rare pinch hit grand slams in Rangers history, and the Rangers first slam of the 2007 season. Was pretty much the final nail in the coffin of this game. I missed it due to work, but it was nice to see THAT on the highlights. :)
Brandon McCarthy got the win (third of the season), and is seemingly turning the corner in terms of horrific performances, although his pitch count left a bit to be desired (104 in 5.1IP). He only gave up one earned run, a solo shot to Melky Cabrera, and had just five hits. Frank Francisco gave up the other run the Yankees got, and they were followed up by Willie Eyre & Eric Gagne, who was seeing his first action since coming off the DL a couple of days ago. Chien Ming Wang didn’t pitch well, which is odd, giving how well he’s done – I don’t expect him to have too many more of these performances for the Yankees; which is good, as we’re done with ’em for 2007 already.
Oh, and I noticed that ESPN didn’t like the game, because Baseball Tonight didn’t have their collective heads up Steinbrenner’s ass by leading off with the Yankees like they normally do. Jamey Newberg said it well a couple of days ago with this:

I hate the ESPN mentality that that every other team, with the exception of Boston, is sentenced to playing the role of the Washington Generals. That baseball needs the Yankees to be great. No, it doesn’t.

Don’t back down from that, Jamey!
Oh, and as to why I don’t cover Yankee wins over the Rangers? Well, first off the Yankees suck, and secondly they get enough coverage, I don’t want to give ’em any more. ESPN can I’m sure find a little extra to give ’em for the coverage I am not. I just don’t feel like writing about Yankees wins. I used to, but got tired of thinking of 500 word essays to give the Yankees the electronic middle finger, so I just don’t bother now.

As per my policy, I do not write about losses to the Yankees.
Next game, please.

As per my policy, I do not write about losses to the Yankees.
Next game, please.

Thanks to everyone who sent in a message of condolence for the passing of my stepfather. Was kind of you. Usually when I have a break like that, I have some sort of large update for all the games I missed. This is said post. I decided to tackle this when my little girl was having some issues sleeping tonight, and I got woken up enough that I couldn’t go back to sleep. Decided to write some baseball during 5:00AM dead time. :) In all, I missed 10 games since my last regular update. I probably could have gotten started with the Blue Jays series over the weekend – in fact, I had a ticket to the bobblehead game on Friday, but I was so tired from the recent trip, that I did not feel like driving the 70 miles round trip to the ballpark from my house. I missed getting the bobblehead, though. :)
G22: Rangers beat Blue Jays, 5-3 (Apr 27)
This was an uncomplicated win. The Rangers hit three home runs in the third inning (Wilkerson, Texeira, & Sosa), which accounted for all five of their runs. Mark Teixeira’s was his FIRST of the season, and it came in the 22nd game. That’s not good. We all panicked when he only had 9HR at the All Star break last year. At this rate, he’ll get half of that! :( Robinson Tejeda wasn’t bad, but not great. He gave up 3ER in 5.1IP. He struck out 7 in that time, which is good. Tejeda seems to be a fairly serviceable player for us this year. Mike Young had a bad day on the bases, he was picked off, and was also caught stealing. [ Game Recap on MLB.com ]
G23: Rangers beat Blue Jays, 9-8 (Apr 28)
In a game that saw twelve different pitchers used (5 for Tex, 7 for Tor), the Rangers outlasted the Blue Jays, and finally won an extra inning game – something we never seem to be able to do. Each team had 12 hits, and the Rangers added on a special bonus, two errors. Gerald Laird went 3-5, raising (snicker) his average to .177. He did lead the team with three RBI, though, and had a home run. Millwood wasn’t great, giving up 5 runs in 5.2IP. Willie Eyre also gave up 2ER in 1.2IP. Otsuka had a blown save – it wasn’t great in the pitching department. Mark Teixeira also had another home run; that’s two in two days – plus he had two doubles. Hopefully that’s a good sign. [ Game Recap on MLB.com ]
G24: Rangers lose to Blue Jays, 7-3 (Apr 29)
Tomo Ohka. We lost to Tomo Ohka. That alone should be enough for this recap. McCarthy continued to stink up the joint, giving up 5ER in 3IP, with four walks sprinkled on top for extra flavor. Willie Eyre bounced back from his last outing to go three innings of scoreless relief. Ian Kinsler added his 9th home run. Somehow I doubt he’ll hit his current pace of 54HR, but that would be nice to see. ;) Mike Young is still around the Mendoza line, which is scary as we’ve had about a full month of play now. I just can’t get by.. “We lost to Tomo Ohka”. That’s like saying we lost to Mark Clark. [ Game Recap on MLB.com ]
G25: Rangers lose to Blue Jays, 6-1 (Apr 30)
Vicente Padilla continues to pitch like a guy who has his contract, not one who is pitching for one. He’s now 0-4, with a 5.66 ERA. This is the Padilla the Phillies were eager to get rid of, I’m sure. Roy Halladay on the other hand, pitched like someone who has that kind of reputation should. Complete game win; 1ER on 5 hits with no walks, and 8 strikeouts. That’s pitching. Sammy Sosa was the only player who had any kind of offense here, going 2-4 with a double and an RBI. Halladay was this game. [ Game Recap on MLB.com ]
G26: Rangers lose to Yankees, 10-1 (May 1)
As per my own self induced policy I started a couple of years ago, I do not write about losses to the Yankees. [ Game Recap on MLB.com ]
Rain out (May 2)
This game was a rain out – I was traveling home from the funeral services back home, and didn’t think it was raining that hard. [ Game Recap on MLB.com ]
G27: Rangers lose, 4-3 (May 3 DH Game 1)
As per my own self induced policy I started a couple of years ago, I do not write about losses to the Yankees. [ Game Recap on MLB.com ]
G28: Rangers lose, 5-2 (May 3 DH Game 2)
As per my own self induced policy I started a couple of years ago, I do not write about losses to the Yankees. I did have a great time at a Black Sabbath Heaven & Hell concert this night, though. [ Game Recap on MLB.com ]
G29: Rangers beat Blue Jays, 7-1 May 4)
This is more like it. That’s the Tomo Ohka we know, the one that gives up a boatload of runs and hits, not the one who gave me nightmares a few nights ago in Toronto. Brandon McCarthy stemmed the tide a bit, and got a nice win, going 6 innings, giving up just one run on 2 hits. He still had too many walks, but it didn’t seem to hurt him here. I also got a kick out of Sal Fasano jacking the home run that was Toronto’s only run. Philly fans have a great imagination when it comes to “fan groups” at their home games (The Padilla Flotilla comes to mind), but the one they had for Fasano made me laugh (Sal’s Pals, who dressed up in the huge mustaches that Fasano has). Don’t know why, I always liked this guy. Anyway, we had two home runs from Hank Blalock and Kenny Lofton. Tex also had a double, and the rest of our hits were all singles. Blalock had the best night, going 3-4 with 3RBI, and 2 runs scored himself. This was the game I had a ticket for, but was just so tired after the trip, and the Black Sabbath concert the night before that I just couldn’t go. If anyone has an extra bobblehead that they gave away from this game, please email me. Thanks. [ Game Recap on MLB.com ]
G30: Rangers beat Blue Jays, 11-4 (May 5)
This was a match up of 0-4 (Padilla) vs 4-0 (Halladay). On paper, we lost this one immediately. But Padilla pitched very well (7IP, 1ER, 6H, 3K, 1BB), and Halladay did NOT (5.1IP, 9ER, 12H, 2BB, 3K). It was quite the reversal of what I think just about everyone thought would happen. We had 15 hits in all, and it was nicely distributed. Of our starters, only Sosa was hitless. In all, we had four doubles (Young, Wilkerson, Kata, & Tex). Mike Young also had a home run in this game, and we had ten other singles. The big one was the third inning when we had something like 5 or 6 consecutive hits against Halladay – it was quite surprising to see him like that. Mike Young went 3-5, and it only raised his average to .225. He needs about two straight weeks of 3-5 games to get back to where he needs to be. Matt Kata went 3-3 as well. [ Game Recap on MLB.com ]
G31: Rangers beat Blue Jays, 3-2 (May 6)
Wow. The first usage of the sweep graphic this season! I missed most of this game due to church related events, but I did see enough. All three of our runs were on solo home runs. The first one was by Kenny Lofton in the fifth, the second was by Mark Teixeira in the sixth, and the game winner was by Michael Young in the bottom of the eighth. That was all we needed. Victor Diaz (who was batting cleanup – WTF) also had a double, but outside of the home runs, no other offense mattered, really. Kameron Loe pitched well enough for the win, but didn’t get it, as Benoit blew the save. Loe went 6.2IP, and gave up just the one run and had six strikeouts. That’s the guy who was so great in spring training, but seemed to lose it completely like most of the rest of the team once we came out of the gate. Still, the win is a win, and a sweep at home is very nice. [ Game Recap on MLB.com ]
We’re now 13-18, and still in last place, but it doesn’t feel that awful. The Angels are in first place at 17-15, which is not that big a deal. When first place is only two games over .500 and you’re just 3.5 games back, “last place” doesn’t seem so bad. Still, we have a lot of work to do, but I don’t feel as panicky as I did a week ago. Sweeps usually have something to do with that. :)
Hopefully I can now stay current with games going forward. I don’t want to have to take another week and a half break for the same reason I took this one.