Interesting little stretch that the Rangers are going through right now.
After being swept by the Tigers, the Rangers went on the road and swept the Astros.
Some things of note about that series.
Kid Miracle (Derek Holland) got his first major league start against the Astros in the first game of the series. He really was excellent for 5 and two thirds, but he just had a problem with the next three hitters. Two fluky singles and then he left on hanging to Berkman.
Should have been a shoutout, but instead it was a 3 run day. Rangers were up 5-0 before the three run homer and the bullpen gave it up. Ended out having to finish it in extra innings thanks to Nelly Cruz's solo shot to right field.
Really wish Holland would have gotten the victory, but I like what he showed. He had a really nice fastball and his changeup was nice. He desperately needs a strong third pitch though. More on that later.
Frankie came back for that same game and got the save.
Scott Feldman put his 2-0 record up against the Astros in a Saturday game the next day. A very odd start to that game when Miggy Tejada was credited with a home run that didn't appear to be a home run. It looked to bounce off the top of the wall, but even after review was ruled a homer.
Feldman was good though. Again. He ended out dropping his ERA 4.04 after going 6.2 innings allowing just three runs. The second victory of the sweep brought his record to 3-0.
Nelly Cruz continued swinging the bat well that game going 2-4 with 4 RBI and 2 home runs.
And big hand for B-Mac! Brandon McCarthy with the first complete game of his career, scattering nine hits and allowing no runs. McCarthy looks MUCH better in his last few starts than he ever has as a Texas Ranger. Struck out 6 and thankfully only walked 1.
Big sweep and then the Yankees. Lost two out of three.
The first game I was in attendance for all of 4 innings. It was an ugly 6-0 game at that point, the Rangers couldn't hit anything, and it was hot. Really hot. I left early.
Matt Harrison got shelled and the Ranger bats could do nothing. Nelly Cruz hit a 9th inning homer (Continuing his hot streak) to end the shutout, but 11-1 is bad. Bleh.
With as good as New York is playing, I was happy to even get 1, which was Tuesday night's game. Kevin Millwood was on the hill and had his shortest outing of the year.
He had been hit in the finger with a baseball in the second (I think) inning of the game. I wonder if that messed with him at all. 5.2 innings, 9 hits, 4 walks, 3 runs.
He left in a 3-3 game and the Rangers went on to score 4 unanswered. Big 7-3 win for the Rangers. Frankie Francisco came in the game in the ninth, another scoreless outing. That's 29 consecutive innings without allowing a run. Simply amazing.
And me being the jinx that I am, I went to Wednesday night's game. Rangers lose 9-2.
Two cool things coming out of the evening.
1) I met Larry Brown, former Cowboys corner, in left field. I shook his hand, told him thank you for Super Bowl 30 and got him to sign some stuff. Best part of a rather lame evening.
2) I mentioned a little bit ago that Holland was working on another pitch. It's a curve. I had heard he was trying it out, but I didn't expect to see it in game.
Sure enough, there he was throwing it. Small sample size, as he only threw it three times that I could tell, but the first two times I saw it, it had one hell of a break to it. I mean a really, nasty, sharp cut. Looked like a 12-6 curve, but I was in the bleachers. Either way, I'm really hoping Maddux helps him out with it, because it looked to have real potential.
Two other quick notes in this very fast edition of the blog (Not much time, just wanted to update since it had been a couple days)
Feliz pitched in OKC again on Tuesday. Not a great outing. 3.2 innings, 3 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks and 4 strikeouts. Obvious control issues. Neftali needs to work on that.
The other note is a quick, but thoroughly interesting one.
The Rangers appear to be poised to sign a latin ball player by the name of Guillermo Pimentel.
Per Lone Star Ball...
Pimentel's tools had some international scouts giddy... He has a smooth stroke from the left side with plenty of leverage and enough raw power to launch balls over the wall... From looking at the video, you may see a resemblance in hitting mechanics to a young Barry Bonds. Again, we're talking tools and profile, not overall projection, but given the position, height, and skill set, that isn't a bad parallel to draw...
Young Barry Bonds? Exciting comparison.
Talk to you later, Dallas sports fans!
No comments:
Post a Comment