Rangers Add An Arm; Feliz To Rotation?

Yesterday afternoon, the Texas Rangers acquired Clay Rapada, a left-handed reliever from Detroit, for cash considerations or a player to be named later.

Rapada is a sidearm pitcher who Texas is hoping will compete for a spot in the bullpen at spring training.

The move appears to be the Rangers' attempt to bolster the relief corps to the point that they could consider moving stud fireballer Neftali Feliz into the starting rotation.



Rapada, 28, appeared in just three games for the Tigers last season and is 3-0 with a 4.94 ERA in 27 1/3 major league innings. He has 21 strikeouts and 18 walks. Last season for Triple-A Toledo, he had a 2.20 ERA against left-handed batters with 23 strikeouts and six walks in 16 1/3 innings. That makes him a candidate for the situational lefty spot in the bullpen, a spot held down by Eddie Guardado. Guardado is expected to retire.

"Rapada's had quality success against left-handed hitters, mostly in the minor leagues," said Rangers GM Jon Daniels, who said Rapada switched from a more conventional pitching motion to a sidearm delivery when he was with the Cubs a few years ago. "Like a lot of guys, he scuffled early on in his career in the big leagues. He'll come in and compete for a spot."

To make roon for Rapada on the 40-man roster, Willie Eyre was outrighted to Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Rapada is also an affordable option for the cash-poor Rangers, as he's not arbitration-eligible and would make less than $500,000 if he's on the Opening Day roster.

Tigers Run It Up Against Feldman, Rangers

Every team is gonna have nights like the one the Rangers had Wednesday night against the Detroit Tigers. Scott Feldman who, up until this start, has been one of the better pitchers in the American League was shelled for 6 runs on 10 hits, lasting just 2 1/3 innings.

"It was just an all-around awful job," Feldman said. "Bad command cost me the most. I was not executing my pitches. It was just a frustrating night."

Feldman never did seem to find the 'feel' of his cutter, a pitch that has netted him so many soft outs throughout most of this season. The lack of touch resulted in several pitches outside of the strike zone, forcing Feldman to pull back and throw his fastball down the middle which is fine so long as his other pitches are working. When they aren't, a 90 mph fastball is little more than batting practice for MLB-caliber hitters.

"It wasn't our night tonight," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "They came out swinging the bats and never stopped. If you play enough games, you're going to have one like this. Tonight their bats were on. They got hits, all kinds of hits: doubles, chinks, broken bats. There was nothing we could do."



Despite 2 homeruns by Andruw Jones, the offense never really got on track, managing just 8 hits on the night while striking out a season high 18 times. Tigers starter Justin Verlander was dominant for most of the game, putting in seven innings of work en route to his 12th win of the season. Even when Verlander struggled, he was always able to work his way out of the jams.

"That's what he does," Byrd said. "He comes out throwing 90-92 [mph], then he gets into trouble and he's throwing 96-100. There is a reason why he leads the world in strikeouts. When he has guys out there with runners in scoring position, he steps up his game. You have to do that as well."

Despite scoring 3 in the bottom of the 5th, Texas never got close, allowing the Tigers to score at least one run in the first 7 innings of the game, ultimately dropping the final game of the series, 13-5.

"You gotta tip your cap to their whole team," Rangers third baseman Michael Young said. "Verlander threw a great game, they had, what, 19 hits. You just gotta file it away and move on."

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.

Texas' Big Game Hunter Nets A Tiger

Forgive the title...I couldn't resist.

Tommy Hunter's second pitch of the game sailed off the bat of Tigers All-Star Curtis Granderson into the right field seats, giving Detroit the early 1-0 lead. From there, Hunter pitched seven innings of shutout baseball, striking out six.

"Good job by Tommy Hunter," manager Ron Washington said. "We knew he could handle the baseball and manipulate it. He's got four pitches."

The biggest moment of the night came in the top of the 5th when, with the bases loaded, Hunter threw a high fastball by Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera, ending the top half of the inning in dramatic fashion.

"I think it was a combination of he pitched very well and we didn't swing too well," said Tigers manager Jim Leyland. "We've done this for months, to be honest with you. We've swung at balls and taken strikes."

"I was trying to throw strikes," Hunter said. "I gotta minimize the damage. It was fun. That was fun, puts a smile on your face. It changed the game."

Hunter's assessment was right on the money as in the bottom of the 5th, Nelson Cruz pulled Texas even with a monster 542-foot solo homerun, the 5th longest homerun ever hit at the Ballpark in Arlington.



The Rangers continued their march to victory in the bottom of the 6th, getting a lead-off double by Elvis Andrus who scored on a single by Michael Young. After a David Murphy walk, Hank Blalock drove both men home with a double down the rightfield line, putitng Texas up 4-1.

Detroit pushed another run across in the top of the 8th but was answered in the bottom of the inning via Michael Young's 14th homerun of the year. For the night, Young had three base hits, the 3rd consecutive game he's accomplished that feat.

In the 9th, C.J. Wilson came on to strike out the side, picking up his 11th save of the season.

Tommy Hunter is now 3-1 with an ERA of 2.00. Offenses are hitting just over .200 against him.

The 5-2 win broke a string of seven straight loses to the Tigers.

"We had many opportunities to win against them in Detroit," Washington said. "Those guys don't quit. I remember four or five games in Detroit we would have won. They snatched them from us. Baseball does that."

The win give Texas a 33-19 record at home, 2nd best in team history and also moves them to 2 games behind the Angels in the AL West.

Swept In Detroit

The next time Texas sees a trip to Detroit on the schedule, they might wanna seriously consider just staying home.

After dropping the final game of the three-game series, the Rangers have now lost 11 games in a row in Detroit.

The Tigers' Miguel Cabrera had an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning, putting Detroit up 4-3. Texas wasn't able to overcome the deficit, dropping their third game in a row after having previously won seven straight.

Kevin Millwood pitched a complete game but walked four and allowed four earned runs, three via homeruns in both the 1st and 3rd innings.

"It's not like we're getting blown out every game," Texas starter Kevin Millwood said. "We're playing good baseball. We're just coming out on the short end. It's a good thing we don't have to come back here."



David Murphy and Nelson Cruz supplied all the offense for Texas getting little help from any other member of the lineup.

Rangers Shut Out In Detroit

It was bound to happen eventually.

Texas rolled into Detroit winners of seven in a row and met a buzzsaw in Tigers starter Dontrelle Willis.

Dontrelle looked like the Willis of three seasons ago, shutting the Texas offense down, keeping them off balance. After throwing 6 1/3 innings of shutout baseball (at one point retiring 17 betters in a row), Willis left the mound to a standing ovation from the Detroit fans. Willis was visibly pleased with the reaction, acknowledging the crowd and pounding his hand into his glove.

"This is a great city, a great sports town," Willis said. "I was excited when I got traded here. Through all the adversity I've gone through, I was excited to go out there and play and showcase my stuff."



"You got to give them credit tonight," manager Ron Washington said. "That don't happen to the Texas Rangers very often. ... I know [Willis] has been having some problems harnessing his control, but tonight, he made pitches when he had to make pitches."

Willis' replacements kept the dominance going, led by hard-throwing Joel Zumaya, who pitched a shutout 8th inning, striking out two.

The lone hit the Rangers managed all night was a double by Michael Young. Texas now has a nine game losing streak at Detroit's Comerica Park.

"I don't know what it is," Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler said. "Hopefully we can figure it out."

Texas Swept In Detroit

After dropping a close one to the Tigers yesterday, Texas got back after it today, jumping out to an early 4-0 lead, thanks to a pair of 2-run homeruns by Josh Hamilton and Ian Kinsler.

Kevin Millwood pitched another gem, going seven shutout innings, but C.J. Wilson came in to pitch the 8th, recording only one out while allowing 6 runs (3 earned) on a walk and 4 hits.



"I just couldn't stop the bleeding," Wilson said. "They got some broken-bat hits and some solid ones, but you don't always get those breaks."

This is the second erratic outing for C.J. Wilson so far this season. He's been wild in the strike zone and has paid the price, to the tune of 4 earned runs in 3 1/3 innings. If he's to truly nail down the 8th inning set-up man role, he's got to bring more consistency and throw quality strikes, especialy when entering with a lead. Nothing seems to kill a teams spirit faster than losing games in the final few innings.

Said Millwood after the loss, "This is frustrating, because we start with a sweep at home and then get swept here."

- Texas had 2 baserunners in both the 4th and 5th innings but were unable to push anyone across.

- After catching fire the last part of Spring Training, Chris Davis has opened the season stone cold, going 1-22 with 10 strikeouts.

- After thrilling in the first few games of the year, Elvis Andrus commited an error today that led to 3 unearned runs.

Blue Hats, 0-1

Kris Benson, making his first start in 2 years, was roughed up Friday to the tune of eight runs (seven earned) in five innings. The Detroit Tigers went on to a 15-2 victory. All-Star Miguel Cabrera, who had six RBIs on the afternoon, broke the game open with a fourth-inning grand slam that all but ended any chance Texas had of crawling back into the fight.

"It's their day, but we could have ruined it," outfielder Marlon Byrd said. "Oh well, nobody goes 162-0. We'll just have to settle for 161-1."

After drilling Cleveland to the tune of 18 extra-base hits in 3 games, Texas managed only 5 singles in seven innings against Detroit starter Armando Galarraga. Adding insult to injury, Galarraga is a former Rangers player, traded at the end of 2007 for what amounted to a box of baseballs and some hotdog mustard.

"They had a good day," Rangers third baseman Michael Young said. "They swung it well. They were aggressive. You could tell it was their home opener. Everything went their way. You chalk it up to that and come out tomorrow."

Benson gave up 10 hits and walked 2 but as poorly as he pitched, his relief was no better, as the combination of Warner Madrigal and Josh Rupe walked another 6 batters, hitting another, giving up 7 more runs in 4 innings.



The lone bright spot of the day came in the 9th inning when Nelson Cruz hit yet another homerun, his 4th in 4 games this season.