Rangers Hammer Tigers, Take Control Of Series

Two nights ago, Vicente Padilla, still recovering from swine flu, informed the team he still didn't have his legs under him and should make other arrangements in case he was unable to go. The Rangers did just that, sending Doug Mathis to the mound for the spot start. Mathis, who has yet to allow a run in 20 innings of relief this season, managed four innings of work, allowing three runs (all in the top of the 2nd).

"Obviously I wanted to go a little longer," Mathis said. "I thought I threw the ball very well but that one inning got away from me. When I came out of the game, I wanted us to either be in good shape or having the lead. That's what happened."

In the bottom of the 2nd, Mathis' offense responded for him, scoring four runs off RBI doubles by both Elvis Andrus and Michael, and a 2-run triple by Ian Kinsler.



Josh Hamilton added an RBI on a bloop single and, with the way he's been struggling, you've gotta hope seeing something like like that drop in for him might mean the beginning of the end of his run of bad luck.

Doug Mathis was replaced by Jason Grilli, who entered the game in the 5th, retiring all six batters he faced over two innings of work. Grilli was not only pumped up having his father there in the stands watching him pitch but also because he pitched for the Tigers from '05-'08.

"I've spent some time over there," Grilli said after the Rangers' 7-3 victory. "It's bragging rights, playing against your friends. It's friendly competition. I've had great experiences over there."

Grilli was followed by Eddie Guardado and Darren O'Day, both of whom pitched an inning of hitless baseball. Guillermo Moscoso closed the game out with a scoreless 9th inning.

Overall, Texas' relievers were able to retire 15 of the final 16 batters they faced.

"The bullpen did a great job tonight," manager Ron Washington said. "We came back after we spotted them three runs. We were able to put together some runs."

The win moved Texas to 14 games over .500 and have now won six straight home games. They are 2 1/2 games behind the Angels in the West.

Rangers Make Mistakes On Way To Series Loss To Mariners

The Texas Rangers stumbled to the All-Star break Sunday afternoon, dropping the final two games of a 4-game set in Seattle. Winning just one of four dropped Texas 1 1/2 games behind the Anaheim Angels in AL West.

On Saturday, Kevin Millwood was rolling right along against the Mariners, allowing just one earned run over six innings of work. But in the 7th, perhaps all the battling finally caught up to Millwood, as a lead-off single followed by a 2-run homer by Seattle catcher Rob Johnson proved too much to overcome for the Texas offense.

His counterpart, Jarrod Washburn, looked great against Texas, going seven innings, allowing just one run.

"[Washburn] really did a phenomenal job against a good lineup," Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said. "He kept them off-balance. He threw several pitches that were right on the black. He didn't throw many pitches in the middle of the plate tonight. He did a phenomenal job."

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Despite 6th inning homeruns from Hank Blalock and Nelson Cruz which pulled Texas into a 3-3 tie with the Mariners, Texas' bullpen couldn't hold down the Seattle offense.

Four consecutive singles (one of which should have been ruled a throwing error on Elvis Andrus) surrendered by Darren O'Day and C.J. Wilson resulted in two runs in the bottom of the 7th, giving Seattle all they would need to hold the Rangers off, taking 3 of 4 in the series.

But it wasn't the bullpen that was the subject of blame after the game. Texas kept Mariners starter Erik Bedard in trouble for much of his 5 2/3 innings, but could never get that one big hit to blow the game open.

"We had Bedard in trouble all night," Ranger manager Ron Washington said. "We just couldn't punch anything across, and finally in the sixth inning, we finally tied the ballgame up. Then it was, 'Who's going to make the mistake first?' And we made one, and they punched a couple of runs across the board."

Regardless of the tough finish, Washington is still fine with how the first half of the season went.

"We've lost games before and bounced back, and we'll bounce back," he said. "Nobody feels good about coming up here and losing three out of four. We had a chance to even the score today. We didn't get it done. The four days we have are days that are on the schedule and there for a reason. I want them to enjoy it and come back Thursday, come back and get back to business."

Rangers Drop A Heartbreaker Late In Seattle

When you make your way from one side of a 162-game schedule to the other, it's guranteed you're going to have your ups and downs. The very best teams in baseball this season will still manage to lose roughly 35% of their games. With that said, some loses sting a little more than others.

In a game with plenty of quality pitching, it was a pitching mistake that ended up costing the Rangers a win Thursday night in Seattle.

Seattle starter Felix Hernandez was electric, throwing 8 innings, allowing only one earned run (which scored on a wild pitch) and striking out seven. Hernandez allowed just five baserunners the entire game.

"[Hernandez] showed why he's an All-Star," Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said. "His sinker was absolutely unhittable at times. The one miscue, where he got two quick outs and then a walk and hit ... we'll take that any day of the week."

Rangers starter Tommy Hunter was also very effective, pitching six innings of shutout baseball before giving way to Darren O'Day, who also manage a scoreless inning.

Then the wheels came off.

In the bottom of the 8th and with C.J. Wilson on the mound, Ichiro worked a 2-strike double to lead off the inning. From there, C.J. recorded 2 quick outs, setting up a confrontation with Ken Griffey Jr., Wilson's boyhood hero. But after an 8-pitch battle which saw the count run full, Griffey worked a walk out of Wilson, putting the go-ahead run on base.

"I thought I had him on the last pitch, but it just was a little bit outside," Wilson said. "I thought maybe he was going to swing at it. I threw the ball where I wanted to throw it, within a couple inches, it just wasn't right where I wanted to throw it. It's pretty simple."



Unfortunately for both C.J. and the Rangers, Griffey was the out they needed as the next hitter, Franklin Gutierrez stepped to the plate and drilled a Wilson sinker over the left-center-field wall, giving the Mariners a 3-1 lead they would not give back.

"One hundred and ninety nine times out of 200, that's a ground-ball out," Wilson said. "First time I've made a mistake with that pitch all season. I've thrown 500 of those things, and it's the first time I've made a mistake."

"My hat is off to those guys," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "They won that game tonight. We didn't give it to them."

The loss was the first in five meetings this season against the Mariners.

Rangers Win In Extra Innings, Take 2 Of 3 In Arizona

Last night in Arizona, Texas put nine runs up on the board, the first sign of any real offense we've seen from the Rangers for virtually the entire month of June. Despite the offensive explosion, it almost wasn't enough.

Starter Scott Feldman again looked good for Texas, going six innings, allowing three runs on four hits. However, the usually reliable combo of Darren O'Day and Frank Francisco let a 6-3 lead evaporate into a 6-6 tie, thanks to a couple of big homeruns, including a 2-run bomb by D-Backs Third Baseman Mark Reynolds off the Rangers closer.

Ron Washington doesn't seem to be worried about Francisco.

"A good fastball hitter caught a good fastball," Washington said. "He threw him a fastball, and he got it. I thought Frankie's velocity was good and the ball was coming out of his hand good. Frankie is only human. That Reynolds kid has good power."

But in the top of the 12th inning, the much maligned Chris Davis picked up his fourth hit of the night, a big 2-run homer to give Texas the lead.



"[They] threw that first one by me, and I barely got it," Davis said. "I could hear his frustration on the mound. I stepped out and collected myself. Then he threw a changeup over the plate and I just threw my hands at it and hit it well."

Daivd Murphy followed Davis with a solo homerun and it proved to be a huge run, as Arizona fought back for a couple in the bottom of the 12th, coming up one run short.

"It's really nice to get out of here with a win regardless if there is a 'W' by my name or not," Feldman said. "A long plane ride home is better considering it was a battle, but we still pulled through."

Texas Ends Road Trip With Series Win In Boston

In a week where he found himself placed on waivers, Vicente Padilla mustered up some real guts, giving Texas a huge effort in their 6-3 win over Boston Sunday afternoon.

Padilla went seven innings, allowing only two runs, earning his fourth victory of the year.

"It's part of the game," Padilla said about being placed on waivers. "Baseball is a business, and that's the way it's supposed to be. I just have to keep working, and if I don't pitch for this team, I'll have a chance to throw for another one."



Nelson Cruz had a big day at the plate, finishing a single shy of hitting for the cycle. He finished the day 3-for-4 with a double, triple, and a homerun, his 17th of the year.

Michael Young hit his eighth homer of the year in the first inning to get Texas an early lead. David Murphy also had a big day, picking up two RBI on three base hits.

"I'm very happy with the way our guys recovered [from Saturday's 8-1 defeat]," said manager Ron Washington. "After every loss we've had, they've always recovered. That just shows how much character we have."

Darren O'Day shut Boston down in the eighth leaving C.J. Wilson to close the game out in the ninth inning, picking up his fifth save of the year.

But Ron Washington seemed to be most impressed with how his embattled starter came out and competed.

"It all centered around Padilla going out there and pitching well," Washington said. "He did a great job keeping those guys off balance throughout the game. Not many people can do that to those guys. They usually find a way to make pitchers work and get them out of the game.

"But today, he gave us exactly what we needed."

Millwood Dominates Boston, Pitches Texas To Victory

Reliever Darren O'Day made thing interesting in the 9th, walking the first two batters of the inning before retiring the heart of Boston's lineup (Youkilis, Bay, Lowell) in order.

Starter Kevin Millwood looked sharp, working out of an early jam in the 1st to go 7+ innings, allowing only one earned run. Boston's vaunted lineup was out of sorts for most of the night with Millwood mixing up his pitched well and getting a some quality defense him.



"I think any time you're confident in your defense, you are going to pitch better and you are going to be more willing to throw more strikes and not worry about letting guys hit the ball," said Millwood. "You aren't trying to strike everybody out, you're just trying to keep it off the sweet spot."

Ian Kinsler supplied most of the offense, drilling a 3-run shot over the historic Green Monster in left field.

"It's always a nice feeling to hit one over that big thing (the green monster)," said Kinsler.

Chris Davis also had a great game and is hopefully starting to round into form at the plate. He went 3-for-4 with a double and a RBI.

The win was Yexas' first in their last 9 tries in Boston.

Young's Heroics Not Enough, Holland Makes A Splash

Texas is certainly developing a flare for the dramatic.

After falling down 2-0 in the 2nd (off a 2-run homer by former Ranger Rod Barajas), Texas came back with a couple of their own in the top of the 3rd, thanks to a 2-run single by Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

But Matt Harrison was unable to do much of anything tonight, giving up three runs (including another 2-run homerun by Barajas) in the 4th.

The 5th inning was started by Scott Feldman, who continues to throw buckets of gasoline on fires, giving up two more runs in 1 2/3 innings.



Feldman was then pulled for Derek Holland, who was making his Major League debut and did nothing but impress, going 2 1/3 innings, striking out two and allowing no runs. Holland came in and threw strikes, showing poise on the mound, regularly hitting 94 mph on the radar gun.

Texas began to chip away, picking up one in the 5th, one more in the 8th, and three in the top of the 9th, the last run coming via a solo homerun off the bat of Michael Young.

But C.J. Wilson couldn't hold the lead and, after struggling through the 10th inning, allowed a lead off walk in the top of the 11th. The walk forced in the newly acquired Darren O'Day, who hadn't even been with the team long enough to get his own uniform (O'Day arrived roughly 20 minutes before actually warming up to enter the game), forcing him to wear Kason Gabbard's. Despite the situation, a moment of levity was offered when Ron Washington and the Rangers infield were seen standing on the mound laughing at the sight of seeing a pitcher that they'd previously never met running towards them from their bullpen.

The good feelings lasted all of one batter as Kevin Millar stepped up and did what he's done so many times in his career: drive in the game-winning run.

- Matt Harrison's struggles continue to worry many, his ERA now 9.20. He's been hit very hard and one has to begin to wonder how long they're gonna be able to stick with him pitching the team into early holes. However, with Kris Benson injured and Scott Feldman pitching no better, Texas may not have much choice than to let him see if he can pitch through his issues.

- Darren O'Day has allowed zero earned runs this season. He has, however, allowed five unearned runs. Not exactly what you want out of a relief pitcher.

Benson Back To The DL, Rangers Add An Arm

Rangers starter Kris Benson has been placed on the 15-day disabled list for what is being reported as right elbow tendinitis. This is the just the latest in a long list of injuries for Benson who has missed part or all of six of his eleven seasons in major league baseball.

Texas has sent Benson back to Dallas to meet with team physician Dr. Keith Meister and should rejoin the team in Baltimore.

Manager Ron Washington doesn't think Benson will miss much time saying, "This is just elbow soreness. [Benson] actually said he could take his start. This is us being precautionary."



Taking Benson's spot on the roster will be the newly acquired Darren O' Day, a relief pitcher claimed off of waivers from the New York Mets.

"He'll give us a different look out of the bullpen," said Washington of the sidearm pitcher.

To make room for O'Day Texas moved Dustin Nippert to the 60-day DL.

O'Day has a career 4.27 ERA in 34 relief appearances.