Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Ranger Danger

Some thoughts on our roller coaster of a baseball team here, The Texas Rangers:

--This is by far the most important series of the season so far. The Rangers won another series against Baltimore and hosted the Al West-leading Angels last night. The Rangers came out confident, knowing that this series is a 8 game swing in either direction for the pennant race. Luis Mendoza was the starting pitcher against Anaheim/LA/Cali/Disney, and in just 1 1/3 innings, Mendoza gave up 8 runs! Needless to say, it was once again too much to comeback from, as the Rangers lost 9-6, and are now 8.5 games back from those pesky Angels.

--Let's try to take some positives out of last night's game...hang on, I'm thinking.
*Dustin Nippert endured a seven inning relief appearance on Monday allowing just one run while tying the team record for longest relief outing. It was also the longest relief effort of the majors this season.
*Max Ramirez, the backup to the backup catcher, had one of the most amazing plays by a catcher this season. It was #1 on Sportscenter's Top Ten this morning.
*Ian Kinsler went 4-for-5 to extend his hitting streak to a career-high 19 games. This kid is playing with some confidence I have never seen before. It has become a shock to not see Ian get on base after an at-bat.
*There are still 3 more games in this series, and the Rangers can still win this series. A simple 3 game winning streak cuts the Al West deficit to just 5.5 games. Matt Harrison will make his first major league start tonight for Texas, replacing the ailing Eric Hurley.

--The Rangers have 4, COUNT 'EM 4, players in the all-star game! Josh Hamilton will start in the outfield and Milton Bradley will start at DH, replacing the injured Big Papi. Ian Kinsler and Michael Young will be reserves. We all remember what happened with Young last year as a reserve. Hamilton will also headline in the home run derby, where we here at DD predict a WIN!



Enjoy the game tonight, stay tuned to DallasDedicated for all the latest!



--ND

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