This was a game I couldn’t watch on TV – the first of several like that (more on that later), and only was able to listen on the radio in bits and pieces, as it was family time with the kids when this was on. Listened to a little on the computer, and then on my iPad.
But from what I could hear, Colby Lewis was dominating. He had a no hitter going into the fourth, and ended up tossing a complete game shutout. Allowed five hits and one walk. Seven strikeouts, and NO RUNS. 110 pitches in all, which for 9 innings is a great number. I wish I could have seen it, because it looks by the recaps and the box scores as a great game to have seen. Hopefully Colby has figured it out. He’s been awesome since the birth of his kid. While I don’t think the new baby Lewis has anything directly to do with it, I know how I felt after my kids were born, so perhaps it has worked something good in Colby’s head.
Offensively, it was a balanced attack with not a ton of power. Endy Chavez & Michael Young each had doubles, and then there were ten other singles. That was it. But they were put together in enough of a right order to put up two two spots. One in the third, and one in the sixth.
Was a great game for Colby and the Rangers, that’s for sure! If the Angels lose tonight, we’ll be back in first place. However, I did take a look the standings, we’d be the team of the six division leaders with the lowest winning percentage. We need to work on that a bit more. Need winning STREAKS, not just wins. :)

CJ Wilson did not have it this game. He wasn’t sharp, but stayed out there and did fight the “meh” in his pitching. He didn’t cave in, and give up a dozen runs, so that part was good. But he wasn’t the guy he’s been the last few starts. Six hits and four walks over five innings. Four runs allowed, only two earned though. But he was sluggish and just “meh”.
Brett Tomko came in, and allowed two inherited runners to score, but Brett’s own line showed no runs allowed. Lowe & Feliz finished it out. Lowe got the win, actually.
This game was powered by the longball. The really big one was a three run shot by Adrian Beltre. Chris Davis also had one go out, and the way he was hitting it, had it been a summer windy day, he probably would have had three home runs this game.
Kinsler raked – going 4-4. That was good to see. Enjoyed scoring this game a lot. But it was bittersweet. I’ll post about why on Tuesday most likely.

This is one of those games where I was really tempted to make my entire update be “Well, crap.” I’m not taking that route this game, although I kind of want to.
Derek Holland had a better outing than the last two. Although this season after the first two, it feels like his rotation spot is on the bubble after every outing. That’s kind of the way I felt about Darren Oliver during his second stint with the Rangers when they couldn’t figure out what to do with him. But Holland did good tonight. Not dominating, but had a good line. Six innings pitched, 6H, 3BB, 4K, 2ER. Tad too many walks, but nothing really horrendous there.
Mark Lowe & Cody Eppley threw a perfect frame each.
Darren Oliver did not. Gave up the winning run in the top of the 9th, and we couldn’t come back and win. Bah.
Moreland & Kinsler each had doubles. There were five other singles, and the Angels didn’t walk anyone. Not a ton of offense there.
Well, crap.

While we won the game, we lost another player. This time, Julio Borbon to what appeared to be a hamstring issue running down a ball in center field. This unfortunately sets a record for the 2011 Rangers. They’re now the team who has managed to get all of their opening day outfield to the disabled list faster than any other in history. Ugh. While Cruz & Hamilton are on the mend, with Cruz returning possibly in Philadelphia, it’s not a good thing to have this many people on the DL at once!
That issue aside, the game went quite well for the Rangers. Alexi Ogando did well again as a starter. 6.1 innings, five hits, five punchouts, just one walk, and one run. Came out with 99 pitches in the middle of an inning. Fortunately the bullpen didn’t blow it – both Eppley & Oliver held the game, and got it to Feliz, who closed it out. In fact, of the three relievers, only one walk was allowed. No hits. The walk came from Feliz.
The really cool thing about this is that we got to Jered Weaver for the win. Weaver’s been pretty darned hot this season, although we managed to get to him just enough. It was a pretty concentrated offense. We had seven hits. Three guys (Andrus, Kinsler, Young) all had two hits each. The other was Adrian Beltre. Just seven hits in all, and more than half were extra base (2 2B, 2 HR).
Elvis Andrus going yard was a surprise. That gives him two for the year, and one off of Weaver is a good one to get.
Ogando is now 4-0. I’d say he’s in the rotation to stay at this point. Not unless he tanks, but it doesn’t seem like he’ll do that.

Unlike most rainouts, this game got started. We were doing quite well. The Rangers were up 7-0 in the fourth. The game was stopped due to torrential rain, and they waited a few hours. Called the game. Since it wasn’t official, nothing counts. That’s fairly irritating.
Not only did it take away a win we had going at the time. It also took away the first career grand slam by Mitch Moreland. And some nice numbers for a couple of my fantasy teams, too.
Was the first rainout at the ballpark since Sep 11, 2009. The game will be made up the next time Oakland comes to town in a doubleheader, but the precise date hasn’t been picked yet.
The Rangers have looked a bit better the last few games, counting this aborted one. Hopefully we can get Harrison & Holland back on track, and put some wins together. We also need to get Nelly Cruz & Josh Hamilton back on track. Things aren’t as bad as they seem. I’m writing this two days after the rainout, and going into action on Friday night, the Rangers are back in second place (after having briefly dipped into third). We’re only a game and a half behind the Angels, who come to town this weekend.

When I was doing this commentary, I had to double check that the Rangers actually did beat the A’s by the same score the A’s beat us the night before by. I’ve made that mistake a few times in the past when writing several game recaps at the same time. :)
Colby Lewis has put together a few good outings now after the birth of his kid, and he’s looking like the guy from the latter part of the 2010 season again. 7.1 innings, five hits, only one run, and just one walk. No strikeouts, but the bottom line is runs, and he only allowed one.
Fortunately, the bullpen didn’t blow it for him. Darren Oliver threw the rest of the 8th, and was perfect. Neftali Feliz came in and threw the ninth. He allowed two walks, but that was it.
Michael Young continues to be on fire. 3-4 with two RBI’s, and two runs scored. He came up in the bottom of the 8th with a shot for a cycle, just needing the home run. Didn’t get it. Still, he’s now at .349 for the season, and looking quite good. There’s an article on the Rangers site at the moment titled, “Young joins list of best deals never made“. Think of it this way. Had we moved Young, we’d be utterly crap for offense at the moment, as Young is the only person really hitting regularly at the moment. Probably good he stays. This is the month where he gets his 10-5 rights, although I don’t know the specific day.
This was another good spread out offense. Everyone but Andrus got at least one hit. Mitch Moreland went 2-5. Adrian Beltre got another home run. The guy hits everything incredibly hard. He just needs a few more well placed balls. Beltre also had an error, I believe his first of the year. But given how many more he has gotten to this season so far than Michael Young would have.. It’s OK. :)

CJ Wilson battled this game, but couldn’t match the effort of his last outing. He went seven plus innings, allowing just two hits, but oddly enough five runs. The reason for that odd number discrepancy is that he allowed five walks. Additionally, he left the game with two men on base, and they both scored, thanks to Ryan Tucker. Anyway, CJ only had two strikeouts, and 109 pitches through 7+ innings. He certainly didn’t have the command he did last time. The hits weren’t a problem, but he walked too many, struck out too few. That all adds up to “not great command”, which is what did him in.
Not only did Tucker allow two of CJ’s inherited runners to score, he allowed two of his own. He didn’t get anyone out, faced four batters. The four batters went walk, single, double, walk. This was after CJ started the inning with a hit batter and a walk. Six straight guys reaching base like that will never be good news if you’re the team in the field when it happens.
Brett Tomko came in and put out the fire, throwing two scoreless innings. In fact, they’d be perfect, but he walked one guy. So that was a good ending.
However, the Rangers couldn’t push any runs across to win the thing. In fact, after the seventh, we had just one unearned run score.
But Mitch Moreland had another home run! That’s gotta count for something, eh? At least made the girls run around on Greene’s hill. :)

As is my policy for the last few years, I do not write about losses to the Yankees.

Michael Young rocked the Yankees this game. He went a perfect 4-4 – one of which was a home run. The others were singles, but Young was batting 1.000 this game. He also drove in two, and scored on the home run ball (obviously). It raised his batting average to .348, and he’s by far the best hitter on the team at the moment.
Not too far behind him this game was Mitch Moreland, who went 3-4 with a double, scoring twice. David Murphy & Julio Borbon also got two hits. The offense finally clicked pretty good this game. 14 hits in all, just two walks from the Yanks. Was a good spread out offense.
Only one of the starting nine took an ofer. That’s Ian Kinsler, who seems to be reverting back to his “Capt. Uppercut” persona. I hear the stuff about he’s trying hard not to, but man – everything is up. Hits and outs. Hard to think anything otherwise.
Derek Holland is starting to look like the guy who will come out of the rotation whenever one of our other guys is ready to come back. He startd out of the gate good, but has hit quite a rough patch here recently. I don’t think we need to sit him down just yet, but this outing wasn’t good, either. Three innings pitched, 4 hits, FIVE walks, four earned runs. And 77 pitches over three innings. Bah. Not good at all.
Still, a win is a win, made that much better than it’s over the Yankees.