Texas Rangers 2016 Thread

Rangers get a split of first two games in Houston and with Yu Darvish on mound today look to take that series and up the lead to a minimum of 7 games in the AL West. Beltran seemed to tweak his quad in the seventh when Spike Owen sent a runner home who would get thrown out at the plate for the second time on the night. Hopefully Beltran is ok and with a day off today will be back tomorrow (or maybe a couple of days since the Rangers are in Colorado with no DH early in week) at full strength.

Harrell was extremely wild tonight only going 3 2/3 and throwing 90 plus pitches but in one of those really strange type of games he only gave up one run. Bullpen has really been solid of late and that is a good sign with the four and five spots in the rotation being so hit and miss. Holland threw two scoreless innings in a rehab start Friday in Round Rock and should be back in few weeks though rumor up here is they wont bring him back until September 1 when the roster expands.

Meanwhile we have Good Shin Soo right now as he is on fire at the leadoff spot and doing everything that made him one of best players in MLB last August and September, if he can pull the same August-September magic this year it will be huge for the Rangers. After today there will be fifty games left and its almost time to start talking magic number.......almost.

 

Rangers really try to waste Yu's best start of the year as he goes seven scoreless and hands a 3-0 lead to the bullpen. But Jeffress with his worst outing as Ranger gives up two in 8th and then Dyson blows his third save giving up tying run with two outs in the ninth. One thing about Banni's clubs though they dont quit and the Rangers come back to get 2 in the 11th and with Bush throwing two scoreless innings the Rangers get the 5-3 win and take the series two games to one. They have won 11 of 13 over the Astros thus far this season. The lead only goes to 7 games though as Seattle jumps Houston into second place. Darvish has had 3 straight really good starts which bodes well for rest of season. Headed to Colorado and NL rules for two games to start this next week followed by 2 at home with Rockies. 50 games left in the year and Rangers have best record in AL at 65-47.

 

The only concern, other than no offense at all on Friday, was the Rangers' inability to score a run with the bases loaded and no outs in two of the late innings. A team that relies on offense to make up for a less than championship level pitching staff cannot afford a string of unproductive games.

 

Very nice comeback win in the top of nine in Denver. Hamels wasn't at his best, but he found a way to grind through and keep the team in the game. Gutsy call for the double steal in the ninth to put two in scoring position for Elvis, and he came through with the two-run single to tie it up before Moreland doubled to bring home the go-ahead run.

And the Astros have fallen to third in the AL West behind Seattle.

 

I was so pissed at the lack of offense in that stadium that I fell asleep at the start of the 9th. At least today's game is in the afternoon. The schedule is against the Astros who are now 8.5 behind the Rangers and 1.5 behind Seattle.

 

Rangers have a ridiculous record in one run games this year, the sort of thing the metrics guys claim is evidence they arent good just lucky and over 162 games that luck will run out. My one worry about this Texas team is that at some point that will even out, I just hope its not this season. I read an Astros blog article trying very hard to make the point that scientifically (ie wins above replacement, preponderance of one run wins, etc.) Houston is a much better team than the Rangers. But the fact is that sometimes science gets it right and sometimes baseball is what baseball is, a game that cant always be defined scientifically.

At 66-47 the Rangers sit 19 games over .500 and 7 up on Seattle (8 1/2 up on Houston). They are now 12-11 since the all star break, and need to go just 24-25 to get to 90 wins which should be more than enough to win the west this year unless the Mariners or Astros have a crazy run to finish the year.

 

Wow, top of the 9th rally and the good guys get a big 4-3 win over the Rockies last evening. Beltre and Moreland were the heroes. Rangers have more 1 run wins this season than any team in baseball.

 

Another late rally today as Rangers come back from 5-1 deficit with 1 in 7th, 4 in 8th and insurance run in 9th to win 7-5 and sweep two game set in Denver. Two more with Rockies in Arlington over next two days with Perez and Harrell on the mound for Texas. 20 games over .500 for first time since early July and lead is 7 1/2 pending the Mariners-Detroit game tonight.

 

For the third straight game the Rangers rally to beat Colorado, this time the Rangers blew a 3-1 lead in the 8th but then rallied for 2 in bottom of the 8th when the Rockies intentionally walked Beltran to get to Beltre with the bases loaded and Adrian made them pay with a two out two rbi single. That pair of Beltran and Beltre are formidable at the 3 and 4 spots. With the 5-4 win, their fifth straight win, the Rangers move to 21 games over .500 and stay a minimum of 7 games up on the suddenly hot Mariners. One more with Colorado tomorrow as Harrell gets his third start as a Ranger still trying to see if the Rangers have a legit number five starter while we await the return of Holland and Lewis. On that front Cloby started throwing from mound this week so he is about a month away, Holland has his second rehab start later this week and is probably two weeks away.

 

Indeed a nice win for the Rangers. Seattle holds on to beat Detroit, so the lead in the AL West remains at 7 games over Seattle and 9 over Houston.

Regarding Holland - it's time for Derek to show whether he has a spot on the Rangers or not. The last two seasons have been a waste for Derek, and he's nearing the end of his contract. Early on we saw his potential, but we haven't seen enough lately (last two seasons) to justify keeping him. It's put-up-or-shut-up time for Derek. Frankly, at this point I have more confidence in Colby Lewis.

 

Exactly my thoughts HHD. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that Holland's best days are behind him... I hope I am wrong about that. We will see.

 

Rangers drop final game against Rockies in disappointing fashion blowing a late 9-7 lead and losing 12-9, but they bounce back to take opener against Detroit 8-5 though with more drama from the bullpen late and the error bug seems to have reappeared too. The bullpen is suddenly struggling and no lead seems safe but even with those problems the Rangers sit at 69-48 and 7 1/2 games up on Houston and Seattle. Cole Hamels goes tonight against the Tigers as Rangers look to clinch a win of that series.

Holland made his second rehab start Wednesday and threw three innings for Round Rock so he is getting closer to getting back and if Lewis can come back early to mid September the starting rotation will be solid for the late September run and into October.

 

Agree. Wanted to watch the whole game but with the 2.5 hour rain delay I was beat & finally turned off the game when the R's took a commanding 8-1 lead into the late innings. Glad they build up a big lead to allow for the bullpen's recent practice of surrendering late inning runs.

I have been wondering lately if the bullpen arms are starting to tire from so many of these late winning rallies and one-run wins? I hope not, because we are not quite to mid August and October is a LONG way off.

 

Good question, WorsterMan. It's very possible - and the key to remedy that is for the starter to chew up seven quality innings. Yu can't do that because his pitch count gets high with all the strikeouts. Hamels can. We'll see what happens when Derek and Colby return.

It would be very nice to have the AL West wrapped up by mid-September so Bannister can start pacing the pitchers a bit more. The Rangers will need all those good arms when they get to the playoffs. Wonder if any quality arms will come to Arlington when the rosters expand?

 

Exactly!

 

Lackluster evening for Hamels & the good guys Sat. night. The Tiggers take the second game of the series. Hamels was not as sharp as he usually is but the kept the score low - Ranger bats did not help him. Detroit had good pitching and the R's struggled to get men on base and get timely hits to get any runs.

Need to take the rubber game today.

 

It's extremely difficult to win a game in which you don't score.

 

Even against good pitching, 2 games in a row with 0 runs is VERY uncharacteristic of a power team like this.

 

Isn't that they truth!

 

Rangers go 24 plus innings without scoring and drop two to the Tigers before bouncing back to win opener against Oakland tonight. They are 3-3 on this homestand with two games left. On otherwise good news night (Perez pitched well, Beltre with bomb) the bad news is Choo fractured his arm and is out until the playoffs at the earliest and probably until next season. If he didnt have bad luck he wouldnt have any at all. Holland is pitching tonight in Salt Lake City and the rumor is if it goes well he could be back this Saturday.

Rangers are 70-50 with 42 to play, I keep saying that 90 wins should be enough but it may take 91 or 92 the way Seattle is starting to peak so going at least .500 to finish season and getting 91 wins is likely needed and if the Rangers can go 22-20 or better that would be optimal.

 

Seattle is on a hot streak - hope they cool off pretty soon. Rangers may need 92 or 93 wins to lock up the West. It would be even better to end up with the best record in the AL and tie up home field throughout the playoffs.

Losing Choo will hurt. Bannister is going to have to find someone who can fill the leadoff spot and get on base to start the offense without Choo.

 

This and a third started for the playoff's are the key. We will be out there tonight vocalizing every straight pitch that Harrell throws.

 

Except for the last 5 minutes or so a game to forget for the Rangers. Harrell's balls (and there were a lot of them) were what I call "lifeless" balls - not a hint of being a strike. At least if you are throwing balls throw over and around the batter - make them at least think.

If JD doesn't find Bannister a solid lead-off guy, it is going to be a long last 6 weeks of the season. Profar didn't get the job done last night.

That all said, I cannot remember if I have ever witnessed an extra-innings walk-off HBP. Odor literally took one for the team.

 

Viper, I'm with you. I have seen (in person or on TV) a walk-off walk, a walk-off balk, and a walk-off passed ball, but I think last night was the first time I ever saw a walk-off HBP. Oh, well - not a thing of artistic beauty, but it does go into the Win column.

Who would ever believe the Rangers could be 21 games over .500 with a +3 run differential! Looks like they win close games and lose blowouts.

 

Rangers record in one run games is so out of whack with what statistically it should be that they are living on borrowed time. I just hope the reversion to the mean comes next year and not this. Holland is getting one more rehab start so Nick Martinez has been called up for Harrell's next start as he struggles with groin injury and may be headed to 15 day DL. Profar and Deshields are going to platoon lead off based on lefty/righty matchup. WithSeattle's loss last night the Rangers sit 6 1/2 up on them and 9 1/2 up on Houston, a team that seems to be falling apart.

 

Rangers complete the sweep of Oakland as Darvish goes seven plus to get his fourth win of the year. Lucroy with another bomb and Elvis with a big night in the 6-2 win. With two off days in the next 5 days the Rangers are apparently going to skip Harrell's next start and just use Martinez for long relief so that Holland can have one more rehab start and still slot into the next scheduled start for the Harrell which would be next weekend. Seattle won last night so lead stays at 6 1/2 but the Astros continue their free fall with their fourth straight loss to fall to 10 back. Rangers now sit at 72-50 with 40 to play. Just .500 ball gets them to 92 wins. They are ahead of Cleveland by two games for best record in AL though tied in loss column since they have played 4 more games.

 

Oakland - how sweep it is !!!

Pleased to see Darvish get 7 quality innings and his FIRST victory over the A's last evening.

These 2 days off in 5 days is really needed. I think all arms need a rest, especially the bullpen, plus it helps with the jockeying of the starting pitchers. Ranger's really need Holland to come back strong and pitch well - bring some stability back into the rotation. I am really more anxious for Lewis to get back.

With 40 games left they can do it... have faith fellow zealots.

 

I'm with you, WorsterMan. Just hope they can continue this to the playoffs. Once in the playoffs, the rotation of Darvish, Hamels, and Holland/Perez/Lewis (pick one) is good enough for a shot at a championship. The offense has certainly showed the ability to scrap and fight for enough runs to win close games.

 

Agree with HHD about 2/3's of the rotation. Lewis might be fine by 01 October, but at his age and increasing injury issues not so sure; Holland cannot be trusted; which leaves Perez. The offense might have to carry the team for more than a game during the ALCS and WS. The last couple of games have shown what the bullpen can do with proper rest.

 

Agree.