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Random quote from the game: “Eric Nadel: “Here comes Napoli, a one man wrecking crew the last week”. #Rangers”
Before the game started today, I got in the mood by playing my Texas Rangers playlist. Here’s the tunes:
Brother Cane – And Fools Shine On
Johnny Cash – Ring of Fire
Little Texas – God Blessed Texas
Merle Haggard – That’s the Way Baseball Go
Terry Cashman – Talkin’ Baseball
Al Dean & The All Stars – Cotton Eyed Joe
Pat Green – I Like Texas
Pantera – Walk
If you have Spotify, you can click here to check out the playlist there.
Once that playlist was over, it was time for the pre-game show on Rangers radio. Listened to that, and got my video stuff ready.
A few pre-game thoughts.. David Price has never beat the Texas Rangers, either post season or regular season. Colby Lewis hasn’t been as lights out this season, so I’m not so confident on our side. Hopefully I’m proven wrong.
The Rangers got a man on early with a single up the middle by Elvis Andrus, and he got to second on a play by Kasey Kotchmann where he ALMOST blew it and allowed Hamilton to reach. Kotchmann also robbed us right after that when he speared a hard liner by Michael Young, which would have easily scored the first run of the game. Nice to see us not being dominated by Price early on.
Rays started off with a 10 pitch at bat by Desmond Jennings. Didn’t lead to anything, as it was an 18 pitch 1-2-3 inning for Colby. Not too bad, given the 10 pitch inning early on.
Both sides had a play in the first two innings where the pitcher was late covering first and it almost cost them an out. Both plays resulted in outs, but it’s a bit of a surprise that both sides pulled the same thing and got away with it early on.
Colby’s looking pretty good through three. Perfect through the first three innings, throwing just 38 pitches (27S/11B). Price has allowed three hits, and no runs yet, but the Rangers seem through the first three innings just “this close” to breaking through against him.
His perfect ended there, as the first pitch of the fourth was a home run by Desmond Jennings. Can’t say I’m too surprised either, what with Colby giving up the most home runs by anyone this season. After the home run, Colby came back with a walk, but then got it together, and struck out the side after that. He followed that in the fifth with a seven pitch 1-2-3 inning. Colby, despite the home run, has looked pretty good today. Not liking we haven’t broken through against Price so far.
There was an issue with Price’s finger during the bottom of the fifth, which at the time the Rangers radio guys weren’t sure about, a blood blister, a fingernail, but the first batter of the sixth was a walk. There was then an infield single, and an out by Hamilton that took a really acrobatic play by Price or it would have been another infield single. We ended up not getting the job done though, left men on second and third. Sigh.
Eric Nadel was going on a lot about the positioning of the Rays fielders being a big deal as to why the Rangers weren’t getting much done through the first six innings.
Colby walked another runner in the sixth, but didn’t break, allowing just that.
In the top of the seventh, Mike Napoli jacked a two run home run to left center, which prompted me to say this on Twitter:

I think Mike Napoli has stolen Nelson Cruz’s #boomstick this year. It showed up again right there.

Craig Gentry got a single after the home run, and that knocked Price out of the game. Price won’t win against the Rangers again. The first batter after the pitching change to Brandon Gomes was Ian Kinsler, who walked. Followed in the next pitch by a double steal! Haven’t seen many of those lately.
“35k Faithful Rays fans” was uttered by Steve Busby in the 7th when Gomes was throwing balls. I dispute that. There aren’t any faithful Rays fans that total 35,000 based on the way their games are attended. Gomes ended up walking Elvis Andrus too, which led to another pitching change (JP Howell) and Josh Hamilton.
JP Howell was no better. He threw a strike, then allowed a single to Josh Hamilton, scoring Craig Gentry & Ian Kinsler. That was it for Howell. Just two pitches. Elvis got caught on a fake throw to second when Hamilton was stealing second, he was caught in a rundown, and got tagged out on the famous 1-2-5-2 play. :)
After that, Darren Oliver came in for the 7th. I would have let Lewis pitch a bit more, but I guess with the weapons we have in the pen, I can understand it, the playoffs aren’t the time for individual stats. Oliver did give the Rays a hit when he had the play where he had to quickly cover first, and he didn’t do it, allowing Johnny Damon to reach. It was INSTANTLY followed by a hard hit single to right field, bringing the tying run to the plate. I still would have left Lewis in.
Darren Oliver got knocked around a bit too hard. As of yet no hits, but they’re hitting him hard. The bases were loaded up by three straight singles. He came out and was replaced by Alexi Ogando. Oliver came out with one out and bases loaded. Not good.
The first Ogando pitch was popped up into foul ground, and both Beltre & Andrus missed the ball. Tough break there, it would have been an enormous help in that situation to get that second out on the first pitch. The Rangers did get the out, but it was a groundout to Moreland, which allowed a runner to score, making it 4-2. That was it. In an inning that made me fairly nervous, Alexi Ogando got out of it, and given they had the bases loaded with just one out, a single run scored isn’t too bad.
The Rangers didn’t do anything in the top of the 8th, and Mike Adams came on for the bottom of the 8th. He allowed another home run to Desmond Jennings, his second of the game. That’s a bit of a surprise, as he had just 10 of them all season. Lovely tweet by Evan Grant right after that…

From start of 2009 season with SD until traded to Rangers, Mike Adams allowed 5 HRs. Since traded: Four.

Bah. I felt a bit better after the Rangers pitched out with Longoria on base, and they caught BJ Upton on a caught stealing. But then Adams walked Longoria, so it’s a “seesaw” feeling of emotions in this game. Mike Adams’ command seems to be non existant this game. He gave up a home run, and then three walks. Bah again.
He’s replaced by former Pirates closer, Mike Gonazlez, who comes in and strikes out Johnny Damon. He’s immediately replaced by Neftali Feliz, who will come in to get a four out save, bypassing Koji Uehara, who had been warming up, ramping up the nervous factor in this game. Feliz came in and struck out Ben Zobrist.
The Rangers made no noise in the top of the ninth, well almost no noise – Ian got a double. But generally the Rangers went down quickly.
A thought as we start the bottom of the ninth as I harness my inner John Vittas… “It’s clench time”…
A second thought as we start the bottom of the ninth by me: “I see Bank of America is sponsoring the Game Breaks on TBS. Does that mean they’ll charge me $5 for each of those they show?”
Throwing over to first a few too many times, in my opinion.
We ended the game on a 5-4-3 double play!! It’s unclench time! Clapped my hands at home – what an exhale end to a really nervous game!
Rangers up 2-1. Possible elimination of Rays in Tropicana Field up tomorrow at 1PM.
Final word: David Price is now 0-6 against the Rangers all time.

From Joe: I was unable to attend or watch this game due to a personal commitment, so I had a good friend of mine Jeff Winget take his family to the game instead of me, and is sitting in on this commentary. Thanks to Jeff for going in my place last night!

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First and foremost, a shout-out to both Chevrolet and Joe Siegler for giving me and my family the extraordinary opportunity to attend this game. A million thanks is not enough!

So, having been given an extremely rare opportunity by Joe to attend this game, there was no way I could turn it down, and I was hardly disappointed by the baseball played on-field, not to mention the playoff atmosphere that was in the air. I always enjoy attending regular season games, don’t get me wrong, but there’s just something about a playoff game that really brings out the most energetic and hardcore fans. When my wife and I attended the ALDS game last year, we had a blast. And then my trip to the only World Series game the Rangers won was by far one of the best experiences of my life. But for some reason, I just don’t remember so much energy as there was tonight. Granted, I think that having the bases loaded – TWICE – probably had something to do with it (although the second time was due to an intentional walk). But overall I felt like the fans in that stadium tonight were a step above – and they were repaid by witnessing history by the Rangers, all 51,351 of them!

Now, on to some real substance. The first inning started out rocky for Holland, which I expected considering the circumstances and his youth. But after loading the bases as the result of a walk, and then walking the runners around the bags, Holland managed to close out the inning with a fielder’s choice. The next couple innings for Derek were rather effortless, but in the 4th, the Rays extended their lead with a rather deep homerun from Joyce. Holland worked one more inning after that, then Washington called upon the bullpen for the 6th.

Fortunately, after Joyce’s homer, the Rangers came roaring back in the fourth, scoring 5 runs off good hits and solid base-running. After Elvis was beaned by Sheilds (three HBP for the Rays in a single game), the Rangers managed to make it all the way back to the top of the order with hits from Hamilton, Young, Napoli, Murphy (as the result of a strike-out that got away from Shoppach), and Moreland (sacrifice). During this inning, while the bases were loaded, is the loudest I can remember hearing the fans be at the ballpark – period. It was sensational.

After a fairly quite fifth inning, Washington called on Ogando to take the reins from Holland. Ogando performed very well, making quick work of the pinch hitter, and finishing the inning by causing Joyce to ground out. The Rangers came to life again in the bottom of the sixth, scoring two more runs on a double by Kinsler. Texas again loaded the bases, and again the fans went wild cheering, clapping, and shouting. Unfortunately, this inning would be cut short by a strikeout for Young after Hamilton was intentionally walked to load the bags.

In the seventh, Ron Washington made another pitching change which I very much disagreed with. Seeing Uehara come into the game turned my stomach, as I’ve seen him perform very poorly in some situations where we have a seemingly comfortable lead. My suspicions were confirmed when he opened this inning with a walk to Jennings, followed by a BJ Upton single, moving Jennings to third. Then, Evan Longoria stuck a knife through the heats of Ranger fans with a deep shot to left-center field. After pandering around for a few moments, Washingon (thankfully) emerged from the dugout, and Koji’s night was finished. In came Darren Oliver to quickly finish things off in order, leaving the score at 7-6, Rangers leading.

The bottom of the seventh and top of the eighth were rather uneventful, with Gomes quickly retiring the batters he faced in order, and Mike Adams taking care of another pinch hitter, followed by Kotchman and Joyce.

In the bottom of the eighth I just so happened to have my camera out, snapping away pictures of my daughter, when BOOM, I hear the crack of a bat, and the place goes nuts! I had an inkling that he would be the guy to do it, and since he only went 1-3 the whole night, he made that one hit count. If there were any fans starting to get distracted by things other than the game, Moreland’s solo shot to right field certainly brought them back. At the longest home run hit tonight, Moreland’s run added insurance to the Ranger’s slim lead.

In the ninth, Feliz came on to finish the job, and while he did walk the second batter he faced, Upton, Feliz did great work, and after only 15 pitches, the game was over. A much needed win, as I would not have felt very comfortable traveling to Tampa down 2-0 in a 5 game series. Now, with the series knotted, it’s really a best-of-3 with the Rays having home-field advantage, if you can even call their paltry attendance numbers and “advantage”.

Again, I want to extend my thanks to Joe and to Chevrolet for their kindness and generosity. Ballgame!

A note for Rays fans written after the game:

Dear Tampa Bay Rays,
Please note that we allowed you to win game 1 so that you can return home for 2 games and experience the same crowd in those 2 combined as we have on a Tuesday afternoon batting practice. Revel in this win, there won’t be any others!
Sincerely,
50k fans per game

Back to the regular game update:
This is an interesting way to “watch” a game. Given I can’t get TBS to watch the game properly, I’m having go a different route. I bought the postseason.tv package, as I thought it was a way to watch the TBS feed online. That’s not what it is. It’s basically video clips and whatnot. I’m not too mad about that, as it was only $6, and if I went to a restaurant to watch the game, I’d spend WAY more than that. So I’m sitting at my computer with two monitors, ready to go. At least I’ll get to see the Rangers on FOX for the second round. :)
I have MLB Gameday up on Monitor #2, and the audio stream from the Rangers radio guys. I’ve got the postseason.tv video up on the other monitor. So I’ll have that covered well. I’m also going to be scoring the game on my iPad. The kid I was in the 70’s might not recognize this way to “watch” a baseball game. Would probably seem too complicated to old school baseball people, eh? I even grabbed a beer for the start of the game. Not quite the same sitting at the park with a beer, but since I can’t be there (thanks again Rangers ticket lottery), having a beer and a great radio man like Eric Nadel in my ear is a good substitute.
UPDATE: I forgot about slingbox, a service that lets you watch video from a TV remotely. So I am getting to see the TBS feed, although the video’s not the same cuz it’s over the net. But hey, at least I can watch. I have Eric Nadel doing the talking over TBS video feed. If you’re curious, here’s a screen dump showing what all of this looks like. Click on it for a much larger version in another window.

OK, but what about the game?….
The game started off smoothly, with both teams not making much noise in the first. Josh Hamilton however, got the first single, a slicing hit to left center, dispelling the fact that he can’t hit a lefthander in a day game. :)
There was a 2010 playoff flashback in the second. Johnny Damon had a borderline check swing, and then in the same at bat after that, he hit a home run. Reminded me a lot of the same thing that happened last year with Michael Young in Tampa.
The third was ugly. CJ threw over 30 pitches, gave up three runs, and then Moore came back in the bottom of the third and got a 1-2-3 shutdown inning, including a strikeout of Nelson Cruz that looked pretty darned ugly. The fourth wasn’t much better. After one out, the Rays had two guys on, and we had to get Scott Feldman up in the pen. Not good.
Didn’t get better, as Kelly Shoppach hit a three run home run to put the Rays up 6-0. Ugh. Big time ugh. Didn’t think CJ was coming back out for the fourth, but he did, didn’t give up anyhting.
The Rangers first extra base hit of the game was a double in the bottom of the fourth by Josh Hamilton. But he had a stupid baserunning blunder, and was tagged out on the basepaths when Beltre was on base when he ran when he shouldn’t have. Hope that kind of move isn’t an omen.
Random Comment: Screw Kelly Shoppach, even if it was a Rangers fan as a kid. Blah.
Random Comment 2: Time to put the horse out there and pitch.
The third home run (and the second by Shoppach) happened after an error gave the Rays an additional out in the inning. Bah bah bah!
After Kinsler grounded into a force play, I actually exhaled a loud sigh at the end of the inning. Good thing I didn’t pay big bucks for the playoff tickets. Sorry Mike G. :)
In the bottom of the sixth, Josh Hamilton turned in what can only be called a true “WTF Moment”. He bunted (poorly, too) while down eight runs. What the heck was he thinking? As I saw from a friend on Twitter, “Bunting while down 8 is a sure sign you’ve given up”. Gotta agree with that.
Random Announcer Note: In the 7th, while down 8-0, Steve Busby read an ad copy for 2012 Season Tickets for the Rangers. I know they’re obligated to read that, but when the team is playing a crappy game, I can’t imagine that advert working on anyone. :)
I lost my connection to the slingbox I was watching the game on in the bottom of the seventh. I think the Slingbox was trying to prevent me from seeing any more!
Matt Harrison on in the ninth? WTF moment two!
The Rays scored their third unearned run on a ball that I scored an error, but officially was called a single – it wasn’t officially unearned. I thought it was an error by Elvis Andrus. Whatver it was, it was the Rays’ ninth run. Gah.
This game was a sloppy mess that I kind of saw coming very early even before the Rays scored anything. CJ looked not all there, and our offense couldn’t get anything going. Three runners reached second base, and one reached third. That was the extent of our offense. Wasn’t there. Only the third time we’ve been shut out at home all season. Figures it would come in a playoff game.
Hopefully we pick it up against tomorrow. One cool thing though. The son of the guy who died falling from the stands earlier this season threw out the first pitch.

Thanks to Jeff W for that quote at the top. :)

No commentary by me for this game.

No commentary by me for this game.

No commentary by me on this game.