Rangers Hot & Cold, Recall Chris Davis From Triple-A

After splitting a 4-game series at home with the Minnesota Twins (a series many feel Texas should have swept) and dropping two of three in Tampa, Texas is making a move to improve an area of their team which, up until the last 5 or 6 games, has been a huge improvement over last season: their defense.

The much-maligned Chris Davis has been called back up from Triple-A Oklahoma City and will be in the starting lineup tonight in New York against the Yankees.

Hank Blalock had been the regular first baseman since Davis was sent down on July 5th, but is mired in a prolonged slump has seen his average dip to .238 for the year and .190 over his last 30 games. Blalock has only had just 3 walks against 43 strikeouts over the last 38 games.

"This is a situation where the organization has made a decision," Blalock said. "They think we have a better chance to win with other guys in the lineup; as a player, I have to deal with it."



During his time with Oklahoma City, Davis hit .327 (54-165) with six home runs, 12 doubles, and 30 RBIs in 44 games. He also had a .418 on-base percentage, a .521 slugging percentage and was hitting a robust .356 with runners in scoring position.

"He's staying inside the ball and using all fields," Washington said. "He's not trying to hit the ball out of the ballpark. And we all know how impeccable his defense is. We felt he was ready to come back."

Davis has made a couple of small adjustments to his batting stance. He's opened up his stance towards the pitcher. Davis said the changes have helped keep his head steady during the at-bats which has helped with his pitch recognition.

"I don't think it was anything drastic," Davis said. "But I'm seeing pitches better, and I'm laying off pitches out of the strike zone. Before, I was just setting up myself for failure."

To make room for Davis, Andruw Jones has been pout on the 15-day disable list for a strained hamstring. Jones reaggravated the injury Sunday in Tampa and is hitting just .189 in his past 59 games.

"We felt it was better to have some time off now, and get him ready for the stretch run," general manager Jon Daniels.

Ivan Rodriguez could end up with Jones at-bats as the everyday DH. Since being traded from Houston, Pudge is hitting .667 (4-for-6) with 2 doubles, 3 RBI and a walk.

Rangers Reaquire 14-Time All-Star

Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez is returning to Arlington.

Several media outlets are reporting that the Rangers have reached an agreement with the Houston Astros to bring the future Hall of Famer back to Texas for one more run.

The move is important for Texas because their regular catcher, Jarrod Saltalamacchia was recently placed on the 15-day disabled list with a sore arm and numbness in his throwing hand.

"We're excited to have Pudge," club president Nolan Ryan said. "We're looking forward to having him, and he's excited about coming back. He brings experience, he's a veteran player and he's been in the postseason. He brings a lot."



It is believed that Texas will be sending two mid-level prospects (expected to be Class A pitcher Matt Nevarez and Double-A infielder Jose Vallejo) to Houston in exchange for the 14-time All-Star. It was confirmed that Texas first spoke to Pudge to ensure he understands his role with the Rangers will be to act as a back-up for Taylor Teagarden before going ahead with the deal.

"I'm feeling great, feeling good. It's nice to be back to the place that I started," said Rodriguez, who waived his no-trade clause. "It's nice to be back there. It's also sad. I think Houston is a great team and a good group of guys. The fans are great, but business is business. You've got to prepare for anything. Especially being a veteran player, those things can happen.

"I'm going to move forward. It's a good trade. It will be nice to go there. ... I'm looking forward to going there and to do my best to try to help them win."

Rodriguez, a 13-time Gold Glove winner, former AL MVP, and the all-time leader in games played for a catcher, spent the first 12 seasons of his career with the Rangers. A career .299 hitter, Pudge is hitting .251 this year with 8 homeruns and 34 RBI in 93 games.

Rangers Fail To Reach Agreement With Top Draft Pick

As the midnight deadline to sign top draft picks came and went last night, it passed with the Texas Rangers unable to reach a contract agreement with top pick Matthew Purke.

Texas reportedly offered Purke a $4 million package. Purke's representatives were said to be asking for $6 million.

"It's disappointing," Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said. "We drafted a player we intended to sign, and for all the right reasons. We couldn't make it work."

Purke will now attend Texas Christian University and is not eligle to be re-drafted for two years. The Rangers will recieve the 15th pick in next years First Year Player Draft to compensate for losing this years pick.



"We'd prefer to get [Purke] in a Rangers uniform," Daniels said. "You'd like to add a premium talent, but this was one we couldn't afford to add."

When Purke was initially drafted by Texas and the idea of playing for his home state team (Purke attended Klein High School in Klein, Tx) was thought to appeal greatly to the young pitcher. Purke even went so far as to say he would be an "easy sign." He proved to be anything but.

"The biggest issue was money. The communication was good. Both sides were clear as to what they wanted to do, it just didn't match up. I don't have any issues with how they handled it," Daniels said. "Every player and every family has to make a decision on how they value themselves and what they want to do with their careers. Matthew made a decision and we have no choice but to respect it."

Making The Case For Closer By Committee

Over the last 20 years or so, due partially to the creation of the bullpen specialist (i.e. Ray King), the role of the closer has become more clearly defined, perhaps overly so. This, coupled with starting pitchers throwing fewer and fewer innings, had placed more emphasis on having one, shutdown guy to call upon in the 9th to record those final three outs.

Texas has had a few of those guys; closers with the stamina and enough of a rubber arm to be called an 'ace'. Jeff Russell and John Wetteland were both All-Star closers for the Rangers in the late 80's and 90's, posting several 30+ save seasons. Frank Francisco was to be that guy for the Rangers this season.

After C.J. Wilson was lost for the season during the second half of the 2008 season, Frankie stepped in and was nothing short of dominant. His high quality of play carried over into this season, at one point running out an 18 inning scoreless streak.



But then Frankie's elbow started bothering him and he went on the DL for a 15 days. C.J. Wilson held down the fort while he was away, slipping effortlessly back into his role as the 8th inning set-up man when Francisco returned. Then Frankie went back on the DL for a tired arm. Wilson again came in and did the job until Francisco made his way back. But when Texas' oft-injured closer went on the DL for the 3rd time this season, this last time with walking pneumonia, I began to ponder the idea of the Rangers going to a closer-by-committee bullpen.

Let me first start by saying that I understand that most true blue, dominant championship caliber teams have that one go-to guy for the 9th inning, whether it's Mariano Rivera in New York, Francisco Rodriguez during his years with the Angels, or Dennis Eckersley during his Hall of Fame-like run with the Oakland A's in the 90's.

But there have also been instances where closer-by-committee has worked very well. In 1990, the Cincinnati Reds duo of Rob Dibble and Randy Myers combined for 12 winds and 42 saves, rolling all the way to a World Championship. Jesse Orosco and Roger McDowell combined for 22 wins and 43 saves in helping the New York Mets to the 1986 World Championship. Why couldn't it work here in Texas?

With roughly six weeks to go in the season, the combo of C.J. Wilson and Frank Francisco have a pitching line of 6-7, 31 saves, 3.26 ERA, 98 Ks in 85 2/3 innings, which projects out to 10 wins and 44 saves over the course of a complete season. The fact that both pitchers are power arms only adds to their probability for continued success.



Another set of stats makes the strognest case of all for having the duo split the closers role.

Take a look at opponents OPS (On-Base Percentage + Slugging Percentage) against Frank Francisco and how dramatically the numbers swing in the Rangers favor based on the number of days rest the reliever is able to get in between appearances:

0 days rest: .905 OPS
1 days rest: .682 OPS
2 days rest: .276 OPS

These are truly shocking numbers and give a very clear picture of just how much more effective the Rangers bullpen is when working with the two-headed monster of Wilson and Francisco, rather than going with the hard/fast rule of Francisco as the lone closer.

Whether Texas begins to lean in this direction remains to be seen. I'm unaware of how Francisco might react to splitting closing chores with Wilson but my feeling is that Texas' bullpen is a very tight unit and have enough veteran leadership out there to make it work.

Time will tell if the Rangers give in to the numbers.

Texas Takes Lead In Wild Card Race

Should we go ahead and finally admit that this Rangers team isn't like virtually every other Rangers team we've seen since they moved to town from Washington back in 1972?

After watching Frankie Francisco undergo a complete and fantastic meltdown in the first game of the Red Sox series, most longtime Rangers fans has to take a step back, let out an all-too-familar sigh and think, "There it is. There's the catostrophic moment. The season just ended."

I did. I admit it.

But whether it's the quality of the veteran leadership on this team, or maybe the beautiful ignorance of youth, or perhaps it's just the fact that for damn near the first time in the history of this franchise it's actually got some pitching, these Texas Rangers are not going away.

Texas controlled the series from the start, taking an early 2-0 lead in game one when Michael Young connected for his 20th homerun of the season.

But after the normally reliable (and often dominant) Frankie Francisco fell apart on the mound to the tune of six earned runs in 2/3 of an inning, it was hard to think anything but the worst.



But much like they've done all season long, the Rangers regrouped, came back out on Saturday night and, thanks in part to a big nights by a returning Ian Kinsler (2-for-3 with a solo homerun and a walk) and the ever-maturing Derek Holland (6 2/3 innings, 2 earned runs), dropped the Red Sox 7-2.

Rookies Julio Borbon and Neftali Feliz added tot he big night by turning in huge performances as well.

Borbon, hitting leadoff, went 4-for-5 with 2 RBI and 4 stolen bases. Texas stole 8 bases on the night, keeping constant pressure on Boston's defense.

Neftali Feliz pitched two innings of lights-out baseball, striking out three en route to his first career save.



The win set up a huge final game on Sunday to determine who would take the lead in the AL Wild Card race.

Texas got another gutsy performance from Dustin Nippert who is really beginning to make believers out of a good many of the naysayers.

C.J. Wilson was an adventure in the 8th, allowing two baserunners before striking out the side and giving way to Frankie Francisco.

Itching to get back out on the mound after Friday nights debacle, Frankie came up huge for the Rangers, needing just 10 pitches to retire the side in order. The performance had to be a huge phycological boost not only for the closer, but for his teammates as well.

"I believe if I can go out there and spot my fastball where I want it, I can get any hitter out," said Francisco. "I just approached them the same way: Just try to hit my spots, and I did."



With the series win, Texas moved 1/2 game ahead of Boston in the Wild Card Standings and, with 6 weeks to play in the season, and with the way things seem to be coming together for the team, one has to figure that Texas will be in the hunt up until the end.

Rangers Roll On, Take 2 Of 3 In Cleveland

In game 1 of the series, Texas looked like a team feeling the effect of a tough emotional series with the Angels. The offense was terrible, swinging wildly at pitches way out of the strike zone. Even when they managed some sort of contact with the ball, it was far from solid. Texas made Indians starter Aaron Laffey look like an ace, doing everything in their power to ensure the loss.

Dustin Nippert, making his first start since officially being named to the rotation, looked fine save for one bad inning. In the 3rd, it all came undone for Nippert as he allowed a couple of bloop base hits to snowball, surrendering five runs before the inning was done.

"That third inning was a disaster," Nippert said afterward. "I have no idea what happened."

To his credit, Nippert hung tough, remaining in the game, eating up six innings while spelling the bullpen. In the process, he struck out a career high 10 batters and at times looked dominant.



Omar Vizquel and Josh Hamilton were the lone bright spots for the Rangers offense. Each player had two base hits on the night but it was nowhere near enough to overcome the entire lineup hitting 0-for-4 with men in scoring position.

"We were just a flat team coming off an off-day," outfielder Marlon Byrd said. "We have an offense that can come back and score runs and negate that one inning, but tonight we didn't do it. Tomorrow we just have to come out focused and score early."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Game two got off to a much better start as the emerging Tommy Hunter came out and set the tone on the mound for the night. After getting into a 1st inning jam, Hunter managed to get a double play to get out of the inning. He proceeded to toss another 6 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball, striking out five while not walking a single hitter.

"Tonight, Tommy Hunter was tough," manager Ron Washington said. "He had everything going for him. I don't think you expect him to throw 7 2/3 [innings of] scoreless ball every night, but you expect him to keep us in the game. He has shown the repertoire to keep hitters off-balance, and as long as he keeps it over the plate, he has a chance to keep us close."

"It's just fun going out there and winning," Hunter said. "It's fun going out there and being a part of something and know you had something to do with it."



Josh Hamilton continued his hot hitting by drilling a 2-run double in the gap in the top of the 3rd, giving Hunter all he would need to pick up his 5th career win.

C.J. Wilson came in to record the final five outs but all anyone, including Indians manager Eric Wedge, wanted to talk about was Tommy Hunter's performance.

"I thought he was real good. I was very impressed by him," Wedge said. "He threw his fastball where he wanted to. He worked both sides, he was down. He really worked his breaking ball early and mixed in his changeup as it wore on. We had a lot of quick outs and that was because of his command. Another thing that stuck out to me was his poise out there. He seemed very relaxed."

"It's the same thing he's done for us since he got up here," catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia said. "He battled for six or seven innings. We went with a lot of curveballs, but that's what was working. He got ahead of a lot of hitters and stayed ahead."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cleveland picked up a run early in the final game of the series but, much like he's done all season long, Scott Feldman simply regrouped and battled back to give the Rangers six innings of six strikeout, one run baseball.

"Their pitching the last couple days has been very good," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "I was really impressed with their pitching this entire series. They've always hit, but the difference this year is their pitching. It has to start with the starting pitching. We were able to shut them down and score a couple runs the first night, and that's exactly what they did to us these last two days."

Neftali Feliz came in and unleashed his 100mph fastball on an Indians offense that had been hitting close to .300 since the All-Star break before Texas came into town. Feliz pitched two innings of shutout ball, striking out five of the six batter he faced.

"I go out there, pitch six innings and get five or six strikeouts," Feldman said. "He matches me in two innings. Pretty impressive."



Josh Hamilton continues to make huge strides in his attempt to shake off what had become a season-long slump. Hamilton went 4-for-4 on the day with a couple of doubles and two RBI. He is now 9 for his last 10.

"This was a good series," said Hamilton. "[The Indians] have been playing well. Hopefully we can go back with some fire under our tails against Boston."

Frank Francisco pitched a scoreless 9th to notch his 16th save of the season.

Texas will have Friday off as they head home for a 3-game series with Boston, followed by a big 4-game home series with the Minnesota Twins.

Rangers Dominance Of Angels Continues

The Anaheim Angels have beaten up on pretty much everyone they're run across this season but, for whatever reason, cannot seem to buy a win against the division rival Texas Rangers.

Texas rolled into Anaheim losers of 3 of their last 4, down a #2 starter (after Padilla's dismissal), and knee deep in the Josh Hamilton relapse news. Throw in the fact that the offense seemed to have once again left the building and things looked good for an Anaheim team that has been white hot over the last month.

But the longer this year goes on, the more it seems that this team is not going to fade like so many other talent-laden Rangers teams of past seasons.

The Texas offense exploded in game one of the series, pounding perpetual Rangers punching bag and Angels starter Joe Saunders for five runs in just 1 2/3 innings, highlighted by a big 3-run, 1st inning homerun by the suddenly hot Josh Hamilton.

The homer was his first since July 17th against the Twins.

"I was joking with [Andruw Jones] on the bench saying it has been awhile and I needed to hit one," Hamilton said. "So yes it feels like it has been awhile."

Hank Blalock followed Hamilton with his 22nd homerun of the year.

Omar Vizquel went 4-for-6 on the night, driving in 3 runs while hitting a solo homerun in the 5th.

"I was happy I finally got a home run," Vizquel said. "I didn't want to leave this year without hitting one. It's been awhile. It's always good to hit one so you know you can hit one out at the big league level."



Scott Feldman picked up his 11th win of the year, going six innings while allowing 4 runs.

Game two of the series had all the makings of a pitching duel and neither Kevin Millwood, nor Angels starter Jered Weaver did anything to prove otherwise.

Millwood, making his first start since missing two starts because of a muscle strain, pitched well in his return, going six solid innings, allowing just two runs and leaving the game tied 2-2.

As good as Millwood was, Weaver was just a little bit better as he dominated Texas for 7 1/3 innings, striking out 11 while allowing just two runs, both coming off a 2-run blast by Hank Blalock, his 23rd homerun of the season.



After Eddie Guardado surrendered a solo homerun to Erick Aybar in the 7th, the Angels bullpen combo of Kevin Jepsen and the much maligned Brian Fuentes came in to shut the door on the Rangers, protecting the 3-2 win.

In typical classy fashion, Guardado says to put this one on him.

"Fastball up," Guardado said. "What else? Behind in the count to a non-home run hitter. What else could go wrong? No, I just got a fastball up. No matter who it is, home run hitter or not, you make a mistake against a good team like that and that's what happens."

Texas rolled rookie Derek Holland out for the final game of the series. Two starts prior, Holland had dazzled, throwing strikes, maintaining his control, and coming just one out from his first career complete game. On Sunday, Holland not only nabbed that but tacked on a shutout for good measure, pitching all nine innings while striking out 8 Angels batters.

"He came at us," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "It wasn't any secret. He threw a lot of first-pitch fastballs and did as good a job of getting two-pitch outs as we've seen in a long time. He was ahead in the count all day long. That's partially due to us trying to work pitches early, and he was coming right after us.

"He pitched a terrific game."



Holland didn't allow a hit for the first 5 2/3 innings he pitched and walked just one batter all game long.

"It was just a big game and I wanted to win," Holland said. "I needed it. It was huge to get my confidence back up. I had my team working behind me and I just went out and attacked the strike zone."

Angels starter John Lackey seemed up to task of going toe to toe with Holland as he retired 10 of the first 12 batters he face. But with 2 outs in the 4th, 2-run error in right field by Bobby Abreu got Texas on the board. Lackey, a very emotional player who at times allows those emotions to get the best of him, kept his wheels on, pitching 6 2/3 innings, striking out eight. But with Holland pitching lights out, a typically 'good' performance by Lackey was not going to be enough.

"[Derek] was throwing first-pitch strikes all game," catcher Taylor Teagarden said. "He was commanding his fastball and getting ahead of hitters to get to his offspeed pitches. He had command of his offspeed pitches down in the zone and on both sides of the plate. He was ahead of just about every hitter."