Well, so far, the pitching staff has held up its end of the bargain. Now, if we can get a couple of timely hits... So much for timely hitting. Rangers leave 'em loaded in the 7th. That may very well come back to haunt 'em. Into the 8th and Ogando coming in to pitch. Kinda wish Wash wouldn't have done that as Ogando's been struggling mightily lately--would've preferred to see Uehara start the inning. Oh well. Sure could use a little of the 'ol Ogando magic here as he faces the 2-3-4 hitters (the first guy is hitting .219). Whew!!. Bullet dodged with Ogando. Has to throw 21 pitches to get out of the 8th, leaving a runner stranded at 3rd. Okay boys, let's get some runs in the 8th and shut 'em down in the 9th.
What is going on with our base running lately? Two guys have been picked off the base paths tonight-- Elvis in the 6th and Josh in the 8th after getting a lead off single. On to the 9th. Ogando back on the hill (yikes!). If it works, Wash is a genius (for at least tonight); if it doesn't...I'll keep about his bullpen moves (for at least tonight). Yes!! The A's go down in order, so no need to call the SPCA. On to the bottom of the 9th. Another walk-off win sure would be nice.
Danno, you realize you are bashing manager who is on verge of winning THREE straight Division championships?? You might cut him some slack. Hook'em!!!
^^^Not bashing anyone. I've just never been a fan of the way he manages the pen. Otherwise, I've got no problems with Wash. Back to the game. Rangers go quietly and quickly in the 9th. Extra innings, here we come.
Mark Lowe, who has now given up 6 runs in his last 1 1/3 innings pitched, serves up a lead-off HR to the No. 9 hitter with a .215 average. Ridiculous. I'd rather see Scheppers or one of the September call-ups pitch than Lowe at this point. Going to the bottom of the 10th trailing for the first time in the game, 4-3. Hitters 9-1-2 coming up, and probably against the A's closer, Balfour.
Rangers go down in order in the 10th. A's take Game 2 and magic number stays at 5. Sure would be nice if Yu could pitch tomorrow. I've got very little confidence in Perez's ability to deliver a quality start and match the pitcher the A's are scheduled to start tomorrow--that kid has been nails over his last 4 starts (including the last start in which he held the Yankees to one run in 8 innings).
Another tough loss, that is three in about a week and a half that are hard to swallow. Yu not pitching gave me a bad feeling all evening and even with a great preformance by the pen the bats couldnt help them out at all. Yanks lost so lead is still 2 for best record; 4 for west and 8 games to play. Need a big day today from bats and the pen if Perez starts.
I don't ever want to see Mark Lowe make another meaningful appearance in a Rangers uniform. He has big league stuff, but he is not a big league pitcher.
Totally agree Danno and PFD. We GOTTA win at least one of these two. Our bats have to come alive. If the right fielder hadn't booted that ball last night, Rangers would have been shutout. That shouldn't happen - especially in Arlington. Mark Lowe - PFD, why wouldn't you want a guy out of the pen that you can count on to give up a homerun in extra innings? Let's get'em tonight! Go Rangers! Hook'em!!!
Agree R's need to take at least 1 of next 2 - otherwise the A's have virtually caught them... after these next 2 games - 3 LAA @ home and 3 @ A's left. Yikes... time is running out on the season.
OK, Fellow Zealots, I have worked hard on a new recipe for mojo tonight - but the Rangers need all of us to pull together, whether in person or on the boob tube. I'll do what I can from Section 324 - you folks watching on the tube chip in, also. And since the Yanks own the tiebreaker for the season series, the Rangers need to finish with a clear lead for best record in the AL. HHD
HHD, can you pitch out of the pen? That might need to be one of the secret ingredients in your mojo recipe.
well terrible start for perez. all started by throwing 0-2 pitch right down the middle that was knocked to the wall for a leadoff double. 4 batters, 4 rockets. luckily 1 was hit straight to ian.
and i am correct. josh with an error and a misplayed line drive that would normally be caught... 5-0 A's, perez pulled in the 1sf.. well my night is officially ruined.
Well, I guess there could've been a worse way to start this game, but I'm not in the mood to think of any right now.
8 hits in just over an inning, and i think 6 of them with 2 strikes. infuriating. a miracle cespedes k'd on an 0-2 pitch.
9 pitches, 9 balls, 2 strike outs. nice josh someone needs to tell him to take until you see a strike or you're benched. Jesus H
You know things aren't well when the best thing about Drew's 2-RBI single is that Hamilton caught it. Hook'em!!!
Let me get this straight: The A's lead-off guy (a dude hitting .228) is 3-3 with 2 RBI and the A's catcher (and No. 8 hitter who is batting .194) is 2-3 with 2 RBI; Wash replaces Oswalt with a guy who promptly walks the first two guys he faces (one of whom was 0 for his last 29 ABs) and they both come around to score. On top of all that, through 4 innings, the team with the next-to-last worst team BA in all of baseball has 8 runs and 12 hits. As I mentioned in a previous post, I kinda expected to lose this one, but good Lord! Danno is so ticked it's not even funny.
Well, it looks like the Rangers are basically going through the motions now and looking toward tomorrow. With a loss tonight, the lead will be down to 3 games, magic number still at 5, and 7 games left to play (4 against the A's). They will also fall to .500 against division foes---the only division leader that will not have a winning record within its own division. Ridiculous. IMHO, tomorrow is as close to a must-win game for Texas as one can get if the plan is to hold on to the West title. Win-- and the lead is back to 4, magic number down to 3 with 6 to play (3 at home, 3 against A's), and at least one win in each series is all that is needed to win the West. Lose-- and the lead is down to 2 games, magic number is still 5, VERY little room for error the rest of the way, and the A's have all the momentum. Should the A's somehow manage to win the West, it would be one of the better Cinderella seasons in quite awhile--that's a story I do not care to read.
