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."

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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."

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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.

*ALERT* Vicente Padilla Designated For Assignment

Two days after hitting Oakland catcher Kurt Suzuki, followed by being shown on camera laughing after teammate Michael Young was hit the following inning in retaliation, Vicente Padilla has been designated for assignment.

"We're putting together a club and an organization that's pulling on the same end of the rope," Rangers General Manager Jon Daniels said. "It wasn't a fit for us anymore."

Texas now has 10 days to trade, release or send down the veteran starter. If a trade takes place, the Rangers would almost surely be forced to absorb a portion of his contract in exchange for some sort of prospect. More likely, Texas will have to release Padilla and eat the remainder of his contract.



This is just latest in what has seemingly been an ongoing series of unresolved issues between the pitcher and the Rangers. Things came to a head back in June when Padilla was pushed through waivers a day after hitting Yankees first baseman and former Ranger player Mark Teixeira twice in the same game. It was widely assumed that Padilla had pitched his last game with Texas then, but an apparent reconciliation bought the embattled starter some time.

After this latest flare up, it is apparent that Padilla's time is now up, at least with the Texas Rangers.

"When we have a disciplinary issue with a player, we talk to him," Daniels said. "It had gotten to the point where the club was better off without him."

Dustin Nippert will take Padilla's place in the rotation.

Feliz Impressive In Debut But Texas Falls Late

Believe it or not, this actually got worse after C.J. Wilson's 3-run, 9th inning meltdown which gave Oakland the 3-2 victory.

Following Rajai Davis' 2-run, walkoff triple, Nelson Cruz came up lame in right field and had to be asisted off the field. He apparently sprained his ankle and will probably miss at least the next few games. If it looks no better by then, Cruz make find his way to the 15-day disable list.

"The ball hit off the wall and I was trying to block it," Cruz said. "Then I tried to turn and the foot got stuck in the metal part of the wall. My ankle turned."

Cruz's injury could not come at a worse moment for an offense that has been struggling to find itself since the beginning of the season.

Dustin Nippert, again making a last second spot start, pitched very well for the Rangers, going five innings while striking out five and allowing just one hit. He left with a 1-0 lead.

Rookie sensation Neftali Feliz made his major league debut in the 6th inning, striking out the first four batters he faced, throwing a fastball that topped out at 101 mph. Overall, Feliz pitched two innings of hitless baseball.

"Pretty impressive debut," manager Ron Washington said. "Not so much the strikeouts but the way he filled up the strike zone with strikes."

"When I first got up there, I felt a little nervous," Feliz said. "But once I threw the first pitch, I knew what I was doing and felt comfortable."

The bullpen continued to post shutout inning up till the 9th, when C.J. Wilson came in and imploded, allowing four hits, including the game-winner by Rajai Davis.

"Sometimes you get beat by the long ball, sometimes you get beat by the short ones," Wilson said. "Absolute luck, that's all it is. All of them were lucky hits, dude. They didn't hit any of those balls hard."



Oakland rookie starting pitcher Brett Anderson dominated the Rangers for 7 2/3 innings, striking out 8 while allowing just two runs.

"Brett was great," A's manager Bob Geren said. "There's a lot of home run hitters on that team, and I thought he tied them down well. ... He was pretty pinpoint with his control, really. He commanded both sides of the plate. He had the perfect game plan, and he executed it."

Michael Wuertz picked Anderson up, pitching 1 1/3 innings of scoreless ball, nabbing his 6th victory of the year.

"That was a tough one right there," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "We had them right where we wanted them to be, and we had the right guy in the game."

Rangers Win Series In Kansas City

Game two in Kansas City featured a pitcher still finding his way in his first big league season. Game three featured one who may have finally found himself.

On Saturday, Texas sent rookie Derek Holland to the mound and, much like he's done since coming up from AAA earlier in the year, mixed moments of greatness with a little too much inconsistency.

After going just 4 2/3 innings, allowing 4 earned runs on 7 hits, Holland is now 1-5 with an ERA of 6.42 in nine starts.

"I saw fight," manager Ron Washington said. "But he still has to work on his commanding the baseball better. Derek had trouble trying to hit his spots from the beginning. He got through the first three [innings] but he still had trouble controlling the baseball."

The offense wasn't much better, scoring just 3 runs on 11 hits. Texas' 3 & 4 hitters, Josh Hamilton and Andruw Jones, went a combined 0-for-7 with 6 strikeouts. For the game, Texas struck out 13 times.

"When you strike out that many times, you're not putting much pressure on the defense," Washington said.

In the final game of the series, Dustin Nippert again showed that he may be finally reaching the level long expected of a player with his potential. Nippert, forced into the game after Kevin Millwood had to exit at the end of the 2nd inning with a strained left gluteus muscle, came up big for Texas, pitching 4 2/3 innings of one hit, one run relief, giving the stagnant offense just enough time to put a few runs on the board.



"I just go out there to throw strikes and keep us in the game," Nippert said. "Keep it close and help us win the game. Today I was able to keep the ball down and use all my pitches. I was throwing my changeup a lot and mixing speeds."

With the performance, Nippert picked up his 2nd win in 5 days, despite his offense doing everything in their power to prevent that. Luckily for him, the Royals defense proved slightly more inept that the Rangers hitting.

After being shut out for six innings by Kansas City starter and former Rangers reject Sidney Ponson, Texas finally got a bit of a rally started in the 7th inning as Andruw Jones banged a double of the wall in left field. A single by Nelson Cruz put runners on the corners with nobody out. Royals reliever Ron Mahay was replaced by Jamey Wright who promptly induced a groud ball by Jarrod Saltalamacchia to first baseman Billy Butler who threw out Jones trying to score at home. With runners at first and second, Cruz then stole third, but Wright got a big strike out of Elvis Andrus for the second out of the inning.

That brought Ian Kinsler to the plate, who quickly swung at the first pitch he saw, popping the ball up high into the air on the right side of the infield. Luckily for Texas, Royals second baseman Alberto Callaspo had trouble locating the ball, making a last ditch running stab at it, dropping it on the right field grass. The error allowed Nelson Cruz to score and seemed to suck the life out of the Kansas City players. Michael Young and Marlon Byrd both singled home runs making it 3-0.

"It always takes the emotion out of you when you give up three unearned runs in one inning," Royals manager Trey Hillman said. "That happens regardless of how you're going. But it happens even more so when you've only got a couple hits on the board and you're having a miserable time offensively."

Kansas City put a run on the board in the bottom of the 7th but it was quickly given back as Andruw Jones came up in the top of the 8th and hammered a homerun into the left field seats. Texas would add three more runs in the 8th, closing the Royals out with a 2-1 series win.

"It was a strange game," Young said. "The story of the game was Nip and the sun. We got the sun ball and after that we came alive. Give Ponson credit. He threw a really good game. He had a lot of life on his sinker down in the zone. We caught a big break in the seventh and took it over."

Texas Breaks Out The Brooms, Sweeps Boston Out Of Arlington

Don't look now but your Texas Rangers are starting to play some pretty good baseball.

After struggling against Seattle just prior to the All-Star break, then looking terrible against the Minnesota Twins after the All-Star break, many 'experts' began expounding on the demise of the Rangers.

Then the Boston Red Sox rolled into town.

Playing in front of huge crowds for the last three home games, Texas swept the Sox out of town, taking all three games in a variety of ways.

For game 1, Texas sent their ace, Kevin Millwood to the mound and he didn't disappoint, setting the tone for the entire series. Millwood battled for six innings against the high-powered Boston lineup, allowing just two run. The offense paid him back for his effort, exploding in the bottom of the 6th inning for five runs against former Cy Young Award winner John Smoltz, highlighted by three homeruns off the bats of Michael Young, David Murphy & Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

"Smoltz was throwing a great game," Michael Young said. "For a lot of us, it was the first time seeing him. He still has good life on his fastball and good bite on his breaking ball. He was throwing a great game. We were fortunate we had some guys string together some good at-bats and get a big inning going."



C.J. Wilson also had a big night for Texas, shutting Boston down for the final four outs of the game, striking out two on his way to his 8th save of the season. Wilson's stuff was just flat nasty as he overpowered the vaunted Red Sox lineup.

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In game 2 Texas took on one of the best big game pitchers in baseball, Josh Beckett. And Boston's ace lived up to his press clipping, pitching a complete game and, at one point, retired 14 hitters in a row. Unfortunately for Beckett, Texas may have found themselves a gem in young starter Tommy Hunter.

Hunter was clutch for the Rangers and, after being given an early lead thanks to a 2-run single by Hank Blalock in the bottom of the 1st inning, pitched six innings of one run ball. He also allowed just four hits, keeping Boston off balance the entire night.



"That was great," outfielder Marlon Byrd said. "Beckett was Beckett -- just like he always is. To beat him, you have to have your pitcher go out there and match him, and that's what Tommy did."

Jason Jennings and Darren O'Dat followed Hunter with scoreless innings of their own before giving way to C.J. Wilson who came in and shut the door on Boston, nabbing his 9th save of the year.

"It's a huge win, because they're a great team," Rangers outfielder David Murphy said. "We've played great the last three days, but definitely this series. It just makes a statement that we're here and we're for real. People want to count us out, but we're still playing well. We hit a little skid [losing four straight] and the Angels are playing good. We're not in first place, but we're for real."

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In the final game of the series, Boston sent top prospect Clay Buchholz to the hill while Texas countered with Dustin Nippert. Both starters were late additions as Boston scratched Tim Wakefield due to back issues, while the Rangers were forced to go with Nippert as a replacement for Vicente Padilla. Vicente, along with several other members of the pitching staff have come down with the flu.

Nippert, who has struggled in each of his previous starts, gave the Rangers a gutsy performance, holding Boston to just one run over 5 2/3 innings.

"This shows what character this team has," outfielder Marlon Byrd said. "We went out and played. We didn't care who we were playing -- we just went out and played. The way our pitchers are pitching, if we can play good defense and score a few runs, we're going to win a lot of games."

Not to be outdone, Nippert gave way to Doug Mathis who went the rest of the way, pitching 3 1/3 innings of shutout baseball.

"I just wanted to execute my pitches, make them swing the bats and put the ball in play," Mathis said. "I wasn't worried about going 3 1/3 innings. I was just trying to get guys out, win the ballgame and finish the game."

With Eddie Guardado and Frank Francisco sick and Darrne O'Day and C.J. Wilson unavailable for the game, Mathis' effort was a huge boost to a suddenly short bullpen.

On offense, Texas got a big blast from Ian Kinsler in the 3rd, his 23rd homerun of the season. In the 4th, Texas would find a way to manufacture a few more runs. Nelson Cruz led the inning off with a single followed by another base hit by David Murphy. With both men in socring position, Cruz was able to score on a ground out by catcher Taylor Teagarden. Elvis Andrus then brough Murphy home with a perfectly executed suicide squeeze.



Texas kept constant pressure on Boston's pitchers and defense, stealing six bases, staying very aggressive on the basepaths.

With a 3-1 lead, Texas broke out the gloves, playing great defense behind both Nippert and Mathis. The biggest defensive play of the night was also the funniest as Nelson Cruz and Josh Hamilton both tried to chase down a deep fly ball off the bat of Dustin Pedroia. Cruz got their first and made the catch but ran straight into Josh Hamilton who wrapped him up into a bear hug.

"We're two big boys," Hamilton said. "We were running after the ball, both calling it, and we both couldn't hear each other because of the crowd. At the last second, I looked at him out of the corner of my eye and backed off."

"That was a big play," Washington said. "If that falls, we don't know how it would've ended."

With the sweep, Texas has now taken 5 of 6 against Boston this season and currently sit three games out of first place in the AL West.

Kinsler, Bullpen Come Up Big Against Minnesota

Hopefully, last nights game for Ian Kinsler was a microcosm of how his entire season will go.

Mired in a huge slump, Kinsler led the game off with a solo homerun, giving Texas the early 1-0 advantage.

Derek Holland gave the lead away in the top of the 3rd, allowing a solo homerun to Nick Punto, his first homerun of the entire season. Holland's struggles continued in the 4th inning, as he allowed two more run to cross the plate, thanks in part to a fielding error he committed. He went just 4+ innings and seemingly never regained his composure post-error.

"In the first two innings, he was mixing his pitches very well," manager Ron Washington said. "Then he didn't catch the ground ball. He was erratic after that. When he left, we were in the ballgame."

Down 3-1, the Rangers bullpen stepped up big time, shutting the Twins out the rest of the way, giving the offense a change to scratch and claw their way back. to a 3-3 tie.

"The bullpen came in and they continued to grind tonight," Washington said. "[Doug]Mathis saved us. [Dustin]Nippert saved us. Nippert was on fumes. He was the last guy standing."

The game went extra innings with both teams getting quality pitching from their bullpens. In the bottom of the 12th, Jarrod Saltalamacchia singled and was sacrificed to 2nd base by Elvins Andrus, setting up Ian Kinsler's heroics.



With former Ranger pitcher R.A. Dickey on the mound for Minnesota, Kinsler took a fastball out to left field for a 2-run, walk-off homerun.

"Ultimately the pitch rests in my hand, and I threw the wrong pitch," Dickey said. "That's all there really is to say about this one. I cost us this one, no doubt about it."

"It was a fastball that he tried to get by me," Kinsler said. "He had a good fastball before. He's tough with that knuckleball floating in there. If I was surprised, I wouldn't have hit it over."

With the late-inning win, Texas managed to prevent the Twins from leaving town with a sweep. However, despite the feel good moment, the Rangers continue to struggle at the plate and are now just 1 for their last 20 with runners in scoring position.

Regardless, Ron Washington and Co. are just happy to get themselves a win.

"What a win," said Washington. "They never quit, and tonight was an example of it. It was great. We needed it."

Hamilton Stays Hot, Rangers Outlast Angels

Sometimes all you need is a little hustle.

Down 3-0, with 2 outs in the 5th, Michael Young legged out an infield single, just beating out a throw from Angels shortstop Erick Aybar, keeping the inning alive. It proved to be the key base hit of the game.

"I just think it's the right way to play," Young said. "You hit the ball on the ground, and you run as fast as you can. I hit it off the plate, so I knew there was a chance, but they have a great infield, so I knew it was going to be bang-bang. We definitely caught a break there on a hit that's not the way you draw it up."

Said Angels starter John Lackey, "He's a guy I've faced probably 100 times. It's always a tough at-bat. He's a professional hitter. He gives you a tough at-bat, plays the game the right way. He's a guy I'd pay to see. Erick did everything he could on that play. Young just beat it."

"Michael Young, this guy's a baseball player in every aspect," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "That's how he plays the game. You expect that from him. We just didn't close it out."

Josh Hamilton followed Young with a hard single (one of three hits on the nights) into center field setting up a huge, cluth homerun by Andruw Jones, tying the game.



"I was looking for something over the plate, and he threw one down but over the middle," Jones said. "Everybody came through for us tonight. After I got that big hit, everybody seemed to relax, and we got things rolling."

Hank Blalock followed with a base hit. A visibly uncomfortable Lackey then walked Marlon Byrd and David Murphy before uncorking a wild pitch, scoring Blalock from third. A Jarrod Saltalamacchia single scored Byrd and Murphy, capping the scoring and giving Texas a margin the Angels could never make up.

Spot starter Dustin Nippert went just 3 2/3 innings but was back up by a very impressive 2 inning performance by Derek Holland.

Jason Jennings came in with one on and two outs in the bottom of the 6th hit Mike Napoli and walked Erick Aybar, loading the bases for Chone Figgins. After walking Figgins, allowing a run to score, Jennings pulled things together and got a big strikeout of Bobby Abreu.

"I'm not going to be at my best every night, but at least I was able to make a pitch when I had to," Jennings said. "Right there, if he hits a ball in the gap, they take the lead, so I had to keep the ball out of the middle of the plate. But I got a couple of fastballs inside on him to take it to two strikes and then got him on a slider."

Darren O'Day also struggled but was picked up by C.J., who pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball.

Frank Francisco came in to putch the 9th, allowing a homerun to Juan Rivera before shutting the door on the Angels offense, pulling Texas back into a tie with Anaheim for the AL West.

"The wolf-pack mentality was really awesome tonight," Wilson said. "We knew that Dustin had a limited pitch count, so everybody was on high alert. But we came up big because everybody did their job. It was great to get out of those jams."