McCarthy Out "Several Weeks" With Shoulder Injury

Texas found out today that starting pitcher Brandon McCarthy has a stress fracture in his right throwing shoulder. The injury is very similar to one that sidelined him for alomst a month back in 2007.

"It's not good," McCarthy said. "It's not what you want to hear at this point, but what can you do. It's frustrating because it's frustrating. I really don't care what the situation is. It's a pretty good kick to the gut."

McCarthy is 5-2 on the season for Texas and has shown flashes of the pitcher the Rangers thought they were getting when they traded for him three seasons ago.

"It's frustrating," GM Jon Daniels said. "I feel for him."



This will be McCarthy's fourth time on the disabled list in the past two seasons.

In other pitching news, Matt Harrison, who has been sidelined with a strained left shoulder, threw a bullpen session this afternoon and is expected to come off the disabled list. He's slated to start on Thursday against Toronto.

Also, Frank Franciso remains day-to-day with a sore shoulder. Jon Daniels has stated that he's been speaking with other teams about a possible deal from some bullpen help but wouldn't rule out the possibility of a starter if the right deal came along.

"I'm open to it," Daniels said. "It's something we'll look into, but it's easier said than done. My expectation is we'll go with the guys we have. If there is a quality guy available, we'll look into it, but it's easier said than done."

Texas Pounds Oakland, Takes Game 3 In Rout

Texas may find themselves wishing the month of May would never end.

Playing before a crowd in excess of 42,000 fans, Texas put on show, drilling Oakland for the third time in two days.

"A refreshing victory," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "We're having fun and it's easy to have fun when you're doing the things we're doing. We're pitching pretty good, catching the ball pretty good and doing enough to put runs on the board. Tonight we broke out a little bit."

With the win, Texas now moves to 20-8 for the month of May, besting last years mark of 19-10. They have won 14 of 19 games and find themselves atop the American League West.

"It all starts with pitching and defense," said third baseman Michael Young. "I know that sounds like a broken record around here, but that's why we're having so much fun."

Brandon McCarthy provided much of the quality pitching tonight, going six innings, allowing only one run, picking up his team-leading 5th victory of the season.

But the real stars of the night were on the offensive side of the ball, hammering Oakland pitching for fourteen runs on seventeen hits. Ian Kinsler led the charge with a four-RBI night but was backed up by nice offensive outings by several other Rangers, most notably Michael Young and Elvis Andrus, each of whom turned in 3-for-5, 2 RBI performances.



Nelson Cruz added a 445-foot blast in the bottom of the 5th inning, his 7th homerun in eleven games.

"Our approach has been a little off, so we've made it a point to have better at bats," said Michael Young.

Ian Kinsler echoed Young's thoughts adding, "If you're generating walks, you're having good at-bats and not swinging at bad pitches. That's what we need all up and down the lineup, just tough at-bats. Swing at strikes and take balls. If we can be consistent in that, our offense will be much better."

The Rangers are 13-2 against the AL West this season.

"I've always said that you want to play well within your division," Washington said. "If you win a lot within your division, the opportunity to be successful is much greater. We're winning in our division and we hope it continues."

It appears as though the fans are starting to believe in the success as well as Texas has enjoyed eight straight home crowds of 30,000 or more, the longest streak since 2005.

Long Ball Gives Rangers The Sweep In Houston

Texas jumped on Houston early as Josh Hamilton hit his 6th home run of the season in the top of the 1st inning. It proved to be all Brandon McCarthy would need.



McCarthy pitched a complete game shutout Sunday afternoon, both firsts in his career. Scattering nine hits and striking out six, McCarthy controlled Houston's lineup, walking only one hitter and working out of a couple of jams in both the 5th and 6th innings.

"They talk about his stamina," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "I think that question's finally answered."

"It's a confidence thing more than anything else," McCarthy said. "It's just knowing I can get through that deep in a game and still make quality pitches."

Ian Kinsler and Jarrod Saltalamacchia added solo home runs, giving McCarthy all the breathing room he would need to settle in and shut the Astros down.

"It gets a little discouraging when you are down three or four to nothing pretty early, from an offensive standpoint," Astros manager Cecil Cooper said. "We have to do a better job of holding the game close. Lately, we've been down pretty early, and it's hard to come back when you do that."

Michael Young was back in the linep after taking yesterdays game off to rest a sprained ankle. He went 1 for 4 with a double and a run scored.

"The doctor told me it (ankle) was a Grade 2, and it's pretty much up to me whatever I can handle," Young said before the game. "I went out there and it was good enough for me, so it's time to play."

Texas now only needs one win in the final series against Houston later this season to retain the Silver Boot Trophy for the 2nd consecutive year.

Rangers Walk Off For Two Straight Games

Attention all Rangers fans...enjoy it while it last.

The final two games against the Seattle Mariners have been nothing short of amazing.

After a back and forth game which saw both teams matching the other run for run, Seattle looked to have sealed up the win in the top of the 11th as they got to C.J. Wilson for one.

But in the bottom of the 11th, both Michael Young and Josh Hamilton reached base and Texas looked to have a rally on.

"After you see Michael Young get on base and Josh Hamilton walk, you start feeling it in your body," Andrus said. "You start feeling it that you can get the win, you feel that we can come back right there."

Come back, they did as Hank Blalock stepped to the plate and drilled a double to right center field, scoring both men and giving Texas the dramatic 6-5 win.

"Wow ... what a ballgame," Rangers manager Ron Washington said.

What followed was a home plate dog pile celebration that left at least one player a little light-headed.

"I don't remember what I was doing," Kinsler confessed. "I get so excited that I black out."

"My first beer shower," Blalock said. "It feels great. We were frustrated as a ballclub early in the game. We kept leaving guys on base. But we did a good job of grinding it out, putting it behind us and focusing on our next at-bat."

Another positive that caem out of the game was the way starter Brandon McCarthy battled, going seven innings, his longest outing as a Ranger.

"We did a great job fighting tonight," Blalock said. "We got down early and did a great job of grinding it out. It was a nice win."

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In the final game of the series, Texas again needed some last second heroics. Down 2-0 in the bottom of the 9th, last nights hero, Hank Blalock hit a solo shot to put Texas down one.

After Nelson Cruz flied out, David Murphy kept things going with a double setting up Chris Davis to hit the biggest homerun of his young career.



"It's just an unbelievable feeling," Davis said. "I've been a part of so many moments with this team. We feel we can come through at any time. We're always coming through for each other and picking each other up. It just feels great to be the guy who comes through and picks them up."

The homer was Davis' 4th in nine games. It was also the 1st walk-off homerun of his career.

"It's awesome," Davis said afterward in a beer-soaked T-shirt. "It's awesome to be in the middle of that. It's fun when you're on the outside. But it's awesome to be in the middle and everybody jumping up on top of you."

Matt Harrison continued to pitch well, thorwing his second straight complete game, picking up the victory. He also ran his scorelss innings streak to 22 innings before allowinf 2 runs in the 4th inning.

"Our psyche is already high but that just continues to reinforce what we're trying to do," manager Ron Washington said. "Play nine innings, keep it close and see what happens. We never think we're out of a ballgame. You keep going out there and getting people out, making plays and getting guys on the bags and you never know what will happen."

Texas Fights Off The Rain, Wins Another Series

After dropping a tough one 4-3 to Chicago in the first game of Texas' 3-game set, the Rangers got after in strange game 2.

With thunderstorms covering up the night skies, the Rangers and White Sox were forced to sit through three seperate rain delays.

Down 1-0 in the bottom of the third, Hank Blalock (perhaps taking a cue from Rangers play-by-play announcer Tom Grieve who correctly predicted the outcome) clubbed his 7th homer of the season, a 3-run shot into the bullpen that gave Texas a 3-1 lead.



Texas then came back in the bottom of the fourth and put another six run on the board, thanks to key doubles by David Murphy (who continues to hit his way out of a slump), Nelson Cruz and Chris Davis. Ian Kinsler, Omar Vizquel, Hank Blalock and Marlon Byrd all added RBI hits in the inning as the Rangers built a 9-1 lead.

"It was a situation that we wanted to go out there and score as many runs as we can," Blalock said.

Play was halted once again as the rain began to fall, forcing everyone back into the dugouts.

When play resumed, so too did Brandon McCarthy's dominance of his former White Sox team. After all was said and done, McCarthy went five innings, allowing only one run, striking out three and retiring the final 12 batters he faced.

"I think I finally settled in and attacked the zone," McCarthy said. "I just let the ball go. I was just pitching for contact and attacking the zone."

Texas reliever Luis Mendoza allowed a grand slam homerun in the 6th to Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski but they were albel to get no closer, falling to Texas 9-6.

"That was a long one," third baseman Michael Young said. "It's good to get out of there with a win. When the game got tough with the rain delays, we had some relievers who had never been in that situation before."

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In the rubber match between the Rangers and Sox, Matt Harrison turned in his 2nd consecutive quality start, giving Texas five innings of shutout baseball and picking up his 2nd win of the season.

"He made pitches when he had to make pitches," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "Give them credit. They made him work. He only gave us five innings, but they were five pretty good innings."

Harrison was spotted a lead early as Ian Kinsler lead the game off with his 9th homerun of the season.

"I'm not trying to hit a home run in my first at-bat," Kinsler said. "I'm trying to drive the ball every single at-bat. I like doing that, though. Hitting one out of the ballpark in the first at-bat takes some air out of the other team and helps your starting pitcher relax, knowing he already has a 1-0 lead."

Kinsler added a RBI single later in the game and is now hitting .337 on the season.

Michael Young broke out of a mini-slump, adding an RBI single of his own. Nelson Cruz had a three hit night and Elvis Andrus added 2 base hits and sacrifice. This was the fisrt night Andrus hit in the no. 2 spot in the batting order.

"I like it," Andrus said. "All my career I have been hitting second. I feel comfortable there and we got the win."

The win over Chicago had to be particularly sweet considering the pitcher they defeated: former Rangers top prospect John Danks. He he is now 1-2 with a 5.30 ERA in three career starts against the Rangers.



"It's always been just another start," said Danks, traded to the White Sox after the 2006 season. "I have more at stake than worrying about what these guys are doing or thinking or trying to impress someone. I have my own career to worry about. I really don't care what these guys think. I'm just going out there to try to give us a chance to win."

Texas pulls to 12-12 on the season and now heads to Seattle for a two game series with the Mariners.

Rangers Pitching Lets Another One Slip Away

In the top of the 5th inning on Sunday, both Hank Blalock and David Murphy hit homeruns, driving in three runs and giving Texas a 5-1 lead. In the bottom of the same inning, starter Brandon McCarthy gave all three runs back to Baltimore, letting them right back into the game.

"To me, that's the game right there," McCarthy said. "I couldn't be more disappointed with what happened in the fifth. They gave me three runs, and it's time to get a shutdown inning. Giving up those runs, that's unacceptable. That's the tipping point that could have pushed us in the right direction or the wrong direction."

Manager Ron Washington couldn't disagree.

"The fifth inning killed us," Washington said. "Once you get that lead, you want to shut them off and keep that momentum."

"I just wasn't comfortable throwing strikes," McCarthy said. "I just didn't feel comfortable mechanically. I don't have an explanation. It's something I have to figure out immediately.

"I was fighting myself. I was putting myself in bad counts, and it got to the point where they were excited to face me. You can't let that happen. You can't let a good hitting team like that be hungry and excited to face you."

Regardless of the poor outing, McCarthy did leave with a one-run lead. Reliever Jason Jennings made sure they didn't stand up, allowing a 3-run homer in the bottom of the 6th inning to Adam Jones. In six games this season against Texas, Jones is now 11 for 28 with 3 homeruns and 12 RBI.



"We didn't want to lose three games to these guys," said Jones. "We know we are a good team. We have to go out there and do it."

The homerun by Jones gave Baltimore a 7-5 lead and their bullpen made the lead stand up, throwing 5 scoreless innings and not allowing a baserunner until Andruw Jones got on in the 9th.

"It's a great win for us," said relief pitcher Danys Baez. "We went through a lot of things in the past couple days."

Texas Heads North, Starts Road Trip With A Win

Making their only trip across the Canadian border this season, Texas hit Toronto riding relatively high after the Mike Young walk-off homerun victory against Kansas City a few days ago and for their trouble, ran into buzzsaw ace Roy Halladay.

Brandon McCarthy went six innings, allowing only three runs before giving way to Eddie Guardado and Jason Jennings, both of whom held the lead for Texas. C.J. Wilson again didn't manage to do his job, allowing an rbi single by Jose Batista. This is becoming habit for C.J. and has got to be a serious concern for Texas.

Luckily, Halladay wasn't his normal self and, despite striking out nine and going eight innings the Rangers managed 2-run homers by Nelson Cruz and Ian Kinsler, and added an rbi single by Chris Davis, giving them just enough for the 5-4 victory.

In a scary moment, home plate umpire Kerwin Danley was hit by a broken bat after a swing by Hank Blalock, knocking him to the ground, sending trainers from both teams
to his aid.



Danley remained conscious but motionless and was eventually carted off the field by paramedics. He was then taken to the hospital for further examination.

Rangers Relievers Let Another One Slip Away

Over the past two seasons Brandon McCarthy has done little live up to his live up the amount of promise heaped upon him early in his career. But after spending most o fthe last few years injured, McCarthy appears to be finally rounding into form, going six strong innings tonight, surrendering three earned runs and striking out five hitters. However, once again a quality effort by a Rangers starting pitcher is spoiled by the bullpen as tonight it was Eddie Guardado's turn to come in and hand the opposing team another win.

Texas opened the game with a series of solo homeruns by Michael Young, Nelson Cruz (who only seems to hit them when no one is on base) & Chris Davis. McCarthy wasn't perfect, surrendering a few solo homeruns of his own to Aubrey Huff and Luke Scott, but left with the score tied 3-3.



C.J. Wilson came in and went 1 2/3 innings, striking out two before once again getting into trouble with a couple of walks, eventually giving way to Frank Francisco who again looked dominant, going 1 1/3, striking out two.

But Texas was unable to push across baserunners in both the 7th and 8th innings, leading to extra innings where, in the top of the 10th, Orioles CF Adam Jones took an 0-1 pitch out for a homerun. That was followed by a Nick Markakis single and, after an Aubrey Huff fly out, a Ty Wigginton walk. Luke Scott then doubled to center, scoring both Markakis & Wigginton.

In the bottom of the 10th, Texas started off hot getting singles by Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Omar Vizquel, Ian Kinsler (scoring Salty) and Michael Young. Josh Hamilton then grounded into a fielder's choice, scoring Vizquel. But, despite a couple of good hacks, both Hank Blalock and Nelson Cruz (again coming up short with men on) flied out to the warning track, ending the ballgame.

Final Score:
Baltimore - 7
Texas - 5

Texas Sticks With Red, Wins Again

Proving they never should've made the switch in the first place, the Texas Rangers once again donned the red hats and, after completing a sweep of the Indians, now find themselves 3-0 for the first time since 1996.



Last night, Vicente Padilla struggled with his control but made clutch pitches at clutch times, picking up his first win of the year. Nelson Cruz clubbed two monster homeruns, rookie sensation Elvis Andrus added the first of his career, pacing Texas to an 8-5 victory.

This afternoon, Texas (for the 3rd straight game) got the scoring going early, taking to Cleveland starter Carl Pavano, who lasted only 1+ innings, surrendering nine earned runs on six hits, while walking three batters. Andruw Jones, making his first appearance for the Rangers, went 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored hitting in the cleanup spot and Marlon Byrd hit a three-run homer and had five RBI. Omar Vizquel made his first appearance of the season as well, adding a pair of hits, an RBI and a run scored for Texas. Ian Kinsler added a homerun and three RBI in the victory.



Brandon McCarthy, who's spent more time on the disabled list than on the mound the past 2 seasons, went 5 innings, giving up three runs and striking out seven. Though the bullpen gave up five earned runs in 4 innings, the offense put up enough of a lead to ensure another big win for the Rangers.

The red hats are 3-0 and seem to have several of the players believing in their magic.

"It's the red hats," said C.J. Wilson. "I love the red hats. It makes us more aggressive and more manly. Red is the power color."

Added Jason Jennings, "We like it. I'm a big believer in if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Ride her until she bucks us off."

Initially, the red hats were only going to be worn for special occasions but seem to be gaining in popularity with each passing day.