Well, I guess we got tired of one run losses (and there’s been a lot of them). In fact, I decided to look up the one run losses so far this season:
Apr: 5 (15 total)
May: 3 (16 total)
Jun: 4 (13 total)
Jul: 2 (4 total so far)
My count appears to be off one somewhere on total losses (I counted 48 and there’s 49), but you get the point. 14 of our 49 losses have been by a single run. If we had those back, we’d have a much different record and be in a way different position. The bulk of those can be summed up as bullpen.
Anyway, this game was pitched well by Kenny Rogers, who will probably be traded, even though I don’t want that to happen. He made a most specactular play on a ball, diving into first base to make a putout. He’s one of the best fielding pitchers I’ve ever seen with my own eyes. Arod had another home run, and Raffy had a few RBI doubles led the way to the 8-1 win. Was nice to get one of these, but given the way we’ve been playing, I doubt it will translate into much beyond today.
Additional game commentary is available here.

Oh look. Another Rangers loss. And by the same score as the previous night’s game, too. :(
The most exciting parts of this game for me were the home run by Arod (which is always great to see), and the almost inside the park home run by Pudge. However, Pudge appeared to totally run out of gas around third, and it appeared like he was almost stopped coming into home. Too bad, as once it got by Hunter, I thought Pudge’s ball was a sure inside the park home run.
However, we managed to overcome that disappointment and tied the game up in the ninth. Unfortunately, we blew it again against our usual nemesis, “extra innings”. That Extra Innings guy really has it in for us, and we never can seem to beat him. Methinks the blowup of the team will be happening shortly.
Additional game commentary is available here.

Not discussing the All Star game, as there’s been a ton said. I absolutely agree with the decision made to stop it. No more pitchers, time to stop. The fans really irritated me, and I felt Selig didn’t deserve this. I’m no major Selig fan, but I don’t see what other choice he really had. Biggest mistake was announcing it DURING the bottom of the 11th inning. Wait till it was over, and then make the decision. Whoever decided that was an idiot.
As for last night’s game.. I thought Chan Ho Park did pitch better than he had been. He went 6.1 and gave up 3 earned runs (4 in all). Not bad. Technically a quality start, but he’s still got a lot of work to go. His out pitch seemed to be good yesterday, and while he wasn’t dominating, it looked good. Combined with the start before this being about the same kind, and it appears he’s headed in the right direction.
Major roster overhaul yesterday with a total of 7 moves (although one was a rehab assignment). We brought up troubled CF Ruben Rivera who got a hit last night, and showed why I call Carl Everett “Slow Ass”. It was nice to hear Jerry Narron say that Rivera will get the bulk of the playing time in center given that I want Everett released. I suspect the Rangers do too, but I’ve bought into the notion I’ve read that the Rangers are waiting to see if the players strike. If the players strike, then we can save a few bucks on Everett’s release. Anyway, Rivera made a spectacular catch up against the baggie in right center that Everett wouldn’t have gotten anywhere near. That play alone showed why we can’t have Everett in the field, and with him batting less than .200, we can’t have him at the plate, either.
Kevin Mench had a huge home run early, but then had a major base running blunder late when he got picked off trying to make it back to first on a wide turn. He was removed from the game, but I don’t feel there will be any permanent repercussions from that. Eric Milton was extremely good from the third inning to the sixth, striking out 6 Rangers in a row, and a total of 10 for his 7 innings of work. That was really spectacular to watch.
I know the Rangers aren’t going anywhere, and given we’re playing one of the contraction teams, I don’t mind losing to them, because it helps them. Still, I’d like to see some wins – we had better beat up KC when we get there Monday, or there probably will be even more roster overhaul.
Additional game commentary is available here.

N/A

Great ninth inning win. Felt like a playoff game, actually! :)

My wife and I have been at the last 4 or 5 July 4th games in a row. This year we decided to stay home. Should have gone, it was a great game. Anyway, as my wife & I just hung around the house for the evening doing things like drinking beer, sitting on the patio watching the world go by, etc.. I didn’t start watching the game until it was over (on my TiVo). Anyway, after the top of the first, I was disgusted. Down 6-0 before we even batted. Needless to say, I skimmed through the game, not actually watching the Devil Rays bat at all. Just watched the Rangers bat – and also skipped the stuff between pitches, too. Watched the game in about 45 minutes that way. :)
This was the longball night, with a total of 5 home runs for the Rangers (total of 7 if you count the two by Tampa). We had home runs by Kevin Mench, Todd Greene, Arod, Pudge, & Raffy – with Raffy’s winning the game in the bottom of the 8th. I suppose I would have been more into this if we were there. But the best part I think was Rob Bell settling down and not giving up anything after the horrid 6 run first inning. Quite surprised to see him out there in the second, but nice to see that he stepped up and carried the team from that point.
Three in a row, and while it’s just Tampa Bay is nice to see. Unfortunately, we can’t gain any ground on Seattle. :(
Additional game commentary is available here.

A very thrilling win. A game that we won clutch in the end, that we shouldn’t have had to win. We started off big, putting up a four spot in the first – it could have been more, but Arod was thrown out at the plate during the first. Pudge capped the four run inning with a two run home run. It felt good after the first. However, Tampa’s pitching shut us down for almost the entire rest of the game. We didn’t have any runs (or much else) after the first, and didn’t score again until the eighth. However, Tampa did. They picked away at the lead (including a couple of home runs – one from Ben Grieve), and in the top of the ninth, tied the game 5-5.
Then Pudge stepped up in the bottom of the ninth, and jacked a home run ball over the fence for the win. It was really nice to see the Rangers come out and mob him at home plate, all jubilant (except Carl Everett, who probably thought that was beneath him and was being Mr Slow ass even there).
A really nice win over Tampa Bay. Ismael Valdes had to come out of the game early, which is not a good sign. Especially if we’re trying to trade him. I don’t want to, but we may end up doing so.

Before the game started, I told my wife that this is a game we should win. By 2002 standards, we were tossing our best pitcher out there, and TB had their worst. Of course, whenever I say that, we usually lose. And given the way Tanyon Sturtze pitched, we should have lost. Sturtze pitched an 8 inning complete game loss, giving up just 9 hits (mostly scattered), and three earned runs. He really deserved better, and is probably a better pitcher than his 1-9 record says he is.
On the other hand, he did give up three, and Kenny Rogers gave up just one – a solo shot to David McCarty. Our pitching was better than theirs, and that combo will win you a lot of games – unfortunately we usually can’t say that. Even Rocker was good. :)
This was a game of solo home runs, mostly. McCarty had one for Tampa, and we got ones from Juan Gonzalez & Rafael Palmeiro. Arod also had an RBI elsewhere in the game. A nice game to watch – crisp, moved quickly, too. What a shock. :)

I was at this game. Sat there two hours and got rained out. Can I get my parking fee back?