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WFAA Sports BLOG |
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October 2008
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Bradley grounded into a double play, but thought he beat the Texas manager Ron Washington came out to discuss... Here the story form the AP: ARLINGTON -- Texas fill-in starter Dustin Nippert Nippert (2-4), making his third start in place of injured Frank Francisco worked the ninth to convert his fourth Now clearly out of playoff contention, the Texas Rangers have traded their closer. Eddie Guardado has been traded to the Minnesota Twins for minor league pitcher Mark Hamburger. To replace Guardado on the 25- and 40-man rosters, the Rangers has purchased the contract of left-handed pitcher Bill White from Triple-A Oklahoma. White will be available in the bullpen for tonight's game in Kansas City. Hamburger, 21, has s... The Mircale-Season-That-Might-Have-Been has become another Season-That-Wasn't for the Texas Rangers, through no fault of their own. Manager Ron Washington kept that team together using twist ties, spit and glue for about as long as he could; the injuries that kept piling up finally caught up with him. I still think that if the Rangers can manage a record near .500 (right now they are 3-under), Washington should and will get a lot of v... With the Texas Rangers' luck this season calling up position players from the minor leagues and seeing major league performances, Taylor Teagarden's week shouldn't be so surprising. Monday the catcher played in the 2008 XM All-Star Futures Game at Yankee Stadium. Wednesday the University of Texas and Carrollton Creekview High School product was named to the 2008 United States Olympic Baseball Team. Friday he was called... No matter how many times Michael Young came up in the All-Star Game Tuesday night and stretching past 1:30 Wednesday morning in New York you, or I at least, kept thinking Young would win it. He's simply clutch. I just didn't think it would take to the 15th inning. Two years ago Young was the MVP of the game when he hit a game-winning triple. This time it was a sacrifice fly that gave the Texas Ranger and the American League a ... I watched the home run derby with some friends and fellow sports fans last night, and a few things stand out... After his second home run in the first round, the one that hit the wall behind the right-centerfield seats, the crowd and players went so crazy that the contest was stopped down for a few moments. Again, this was after his second home run. When the first round ended, players from both leagues surroun... The Josh Hamilton story just keeps getting better. A walk-off home run for a Rangers win over the Angels last week, then Monday night he electrified Yankee Stadium with a barrage of long balls in the first round of the All-Star Home Run Derby. He was in a different league, seemingly at will powering towering blasts to right field, the upper deck and where few balls have ever been hit. He hit 28 total home runs in the... Ian Kinsler just extended his hitting streak to 25 games in the Texas Rangers Sunday game against the Chicago White Sox. That's impressive, but Kinsler may very well be on his way to earning MVP honors this season. There are a lot of interesting story lines on the Rangers this season. Of course Josh Hamilton's evolution from drug addiction to All-Star outfielder and Milton Bradley is having a career year as an outfielder/DH and doing i... I've heard some discussion on the radio about whether Michael Young's steal in the 9th inning last night was a good idea (Quick recap - Rangers were down 4-3, 2 outs, Young steals second with Josh Hamilton at bat). The debate centers around whether Young should have stolen the base, which opened up first base and gave the Angels the option of intentionally walking Hamilton (or pitching around him). Hamilton came through with a 2-run homer to w... For eight innings the Texas Rangers were just not quite good enough. They weren't good enough to hang with the A.L. West-leading Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Then Jamey Wright pitched a dominant eighth and ninth and in the bottom of the night Ramon Vazquez got a pinch hit walk and later scored on a Michael Young single, then Josh Hamilton delivered. A gusty 5-4 win. We use gutsy a lot with this team. It was somewhat... Matt Harrison wasn't supposed to start for the Texas Rangers Tuesday night. He wasn't supposed to make his major league debut in a crucial game against the A.L. West-leading Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He wasn't supposed to have to wait until 8 p.m. And he surely wasn't supposed to be as dominating as he was. In seven innings of maneuvering around an Angels lineup that torched Luis Mendoza for eight runs i... It's another difficult pitching matchup tonight for the Texas Rangers. In their second of four games with the A.L. West-leading Los Angeles Angles of Anaheim, the Rangers will start Matt Harrison. It will be his big league debut. Left-hander became a Ranger in the Mark Teixeira trade. Harrison, 22, is 6-3 so far in a season split between Double-A Frisco and Triple-A Oklahoma. The Halos, meanwhile, will send l... Texas Rangers outfielder Milton Bradley has begun blogging for the New York Times. He will contribute occasional entries about his all-star experience. His first entry came this morning. Very interesting. ...Pete Incaviglia was a Texas Ranger for only five years (1986-90), but left a big mark on the bad news franchise and its fans. Know for towering homers, striking out and suspect defense, the personable personality was fan favorite known as Inky. Well now the former outfielder who played seven more seasons in the big leagues is the manager of the new Grand Prairie Air Hogs minor league team. George Riba caught up with h... A rought night for the Rangers as they lose 18-7. They were up 7-6 before falling apart in the seventh. More tomorrow. ...After rookie Warner Madrigal gives up six runs while recording just one out in his major league debut, the Rangers surrender nine runs in the seventh to go down 15-7. Yikes. It'll take a miracle for them to win their last game in Yankee Stadium. Here's to the mostly bad memories. What a way to enter the majors. Warner Madrigal came in to pitch for Rangers up 7-6 in the bottom of the seventh to face Bobby Abreu, Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi. He came in with heat; the gun registered 97 miles an hour. Madrigal, 24, was an outfielder just two years ago. Now he is making his debut in Yankee Stadium. Last year the right-hander was pitching in A ball. Now he is trying to battle against the... Texas Rangers shortstop Michael Young left Wednesday's game after the third inning with mild strain of his left groin. I don't know if any groin strain can be classified as mild, but that is what they're calling it. It sure seems like Joaquin Benoit is doing a lot of walking. The Rangers relief pitcher who has been erratic this season came in to the sixth up one run. He proceeds to walk the eighth and ninth batters. Problem is the Rangers have few other options this early in the game. Just called up Warner Madrigal is the only other fresh arm available. Sidney Ponson was a Texas Ranger, but personality issues forced him from the team. Rookie Chris Davis just forced Ponson from Wednesday night's game with a towering homer to center field. It put the Rangers up 7-6, as they look to sweep the Yankees in the Rangers final trip to Yankee Stadium. Milton Bradley homered just two batters earlier. The Rangers are three games above .500 pending tonight's game and they are do... I thought it would never happen. Mired in mediocrity for much of the past month, the Texas Rangers finally improved to two games above .500 Monday night and did it against the hated Yankees in the Bronx. The Rangers were previously 0-5 when they could go two games over even. What's more is the Rangers did it with pitching, including a bullpen that has overcome poor performances in recent weeks and a closer who has gone from e... Texas Rangers catcher Max Ramirez isn't really supposed to even be playing in the majors. After all the Rangers have Gerald Laird and Jarrod Saltalamacchia, but with Laird on the DL with a strained right hamstring, Ramirez was called up from Double-A Frisco. So in his first game catching for the Rangers, he hit his first major league home run and handled the pitching staff nicely in a 3-2 win. His work with the bat s... C.J. Wilson knows how to keep Texas Rangers fans on the edge of their seats. Wednesday night the closer came in to the bottom of the ninth with a 3-2 lead. Ty Wigginton proceeded to get a double to leadoff the inning. Then Wilson got a fly out and strikeout before walking Michael Bourn. So there it is bottom of the ninth, two outs, winning run on first. Then Mark Loretta hits a slow roller to third baseman Ra... Maybe it's just the same old story: Pitching, pitching, pitching. For a team that was without its top two batters, the Rangers needed dominance for the bullpen. Instead the got a lost Joaquín Benoit, whose ERA is now 6.10. It was his first appearance in two weeks. This follows last week's debacles by closer C.J. Wilson who blew a tie game then a save. His ERA is 4.88. The Rangers have been getting some solid starting ... To steal the old Sportscenter line Josh Hamilton is listed as day-to-day, but then again aren't we all. Hamilton has been playing at an All-Star and MVP level this season with a .310 average, 19 homers and 76 RBI. He is crucial to the Rangers having any hope to contend for a playoff spot this season. In Tuesday's game against Houston Hamilton was forced to leave with left knee inflammation. He had arthroscopic surgery on the s... The Texas Rangers head to H-Town tonight to resume to battle for the coveted Silver Boot. At least someone outside New York, Chicago and LA is excited about interleague play. David Murphy is one. Nolan Ryan is another. It's a game of firsts for both. For the legendary pitcher, it's his first return to Houston since leaving the Astros to become president of the Rangers. "It's a different perspective than any ... Rangers closer C.J. Wilson actually did what he gets paid to do... save a baseball game. Against the Washington Nationals Sunday, Wilson came in in the ninth to a 5-3 game and allowed just one hit and got a double-play for a one-two-three inning. In his last two appearances, he failed to deliver. A loss and no decision and what should have been a blown save while giving up five runs. His ERA swelled to 5.04. Manger Ro...
On the teams first trip to Washington, D.C. since leaving as the Senators in 1971, the Texas Rangers got to meet with the ... For the first time since the then Washington Senators left for Arlington in 1971, the Texas Rangers are going to the nation's capitol. The Rangers begin a three-game series against the Washington Nationals tonight. Of course the Rangers aren't the only former Senators who still play in MLB. The now Minnesota Twins left Washington a decade before the new Senators made the move the Texas. And the current team in Washin... The past two games have been tough for Rangers closer C.J. Wilson. Wednesday he comes into a tie game and gives up three runs then Thursday afternoon he enters a 4-2 game and gives up a run before being pulled (two charged to him). Jamey Wright then gave up a run. Luck for them Ian Kinsler and Michael Young came through with a double and game-winning hit, respectively. There aren't a lot of options for the Rangers. In the off... Michael Young knows how to break out of a slump, batting just one for his last 32, Young came up with an out in the top of the ninth and Ian Kinsler on second and drilled a low drive to right that was enough for the speedy Kinsler to score. Rangers win 5-4, after relievers C.J. Wilson and Jamey Wright couldn't close out the top of the ninth. Guess what... Rangers are at .500 again. Let me know if you've heard that before. Jamey Wright couldn't save it either, giving up a sac fly that scored a run, but both he and struggling closer C.J. Wilson might need to thank Ian Kinsler, who just hit a lead off double to start the Rangers half of the ninth. ...Sporting a newly shaved head, Rangers closer C.J. Wilson was pulled with one out in the ninth inning after coming in with 4-2 lead. Here is how his inning went: Jamey Wright called in from the bullpen... Maybe C.J. Wilson just isn't ready to be a major league closer. Coming in to a tie game last night, he proceeded to blow the 2-2 game, in a 5-2 Rangers loss that again puts them below .500. It almost looks like he can't control himself. He has to make the play. Instead of letting catcher Gerald Laird field a bunt up the first base line he tried to make the play spin and throw the runner out, rather than let Laird make the pla... Now 71 games into the MLB season the Rangers are 35-36 and 5-5 in their last 10. So despite the poor start and strong May, the teams is mired in mediocrity. The question becomes then are the strong performances by Josh Hamilton, Milton Bradley and others on offense good enough to get through poor pitching to get this team into contention this year? Every time it looks like the Rangers will really make a move in the AL West, they drop ... For some reason this season it's always the same story for the Rangers. They win games one and two of a series, but can not complete the three-game sweep. It happened again today in Kansas City. Up 5-4 in the eighth, reliever Frank Francisco gave up two runs in inning and the Rangers failed for three again. By my count, it's the sixth time the Rangers have failed to sweep after a 2-0 series lead. This is a relatively ... I had a chance to read the Sports Illustrated article on Josh Hamilton... Not a whole lot of new stuff that we haven't already told you here on channel 8, but its worth reading to get a refresher on all the obstacles this guy created for himself, but has managed to overcome. The one thing that sticks with me after reading the article is Hamilton's post-game rule about restaurants. He says he never eats with his teamates. I un... With their win last night, the Rangers are back to even, with a 25-25 record. I don't know if even the die-hardest Ranger fans expect it to last, but for now, it's nice that they aren't already out of the race for a playoff spot, which is what it felt like last year at this time. Also, how about the year Josh Hamilton is having? Anything I say here will only be repetitive -- the guy's statistics speak for themselves -- except maybe th... I just turned on the Rangers game at the office, they're up 4-0 in the bottom of the 2nd in Minnesota. I love afternoon baseball. It makes for a good background while at my desk or in the edit bay. Baseball is like a good friend. It doesn't demand much from you; it doesn't require a whole lot of attention. You can have a game on while working, or at home while you're reading or on the computer, and it just makes pleasant company. And t...
The good news is the Rangers broke their five-game losing streak. The bad news is it took them 14 innings and they nearly blew another late lead (5-2 in the eighth). Still they showed some resiliency. They also ... The Texas Rangers announced today that Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Pitcher Kameron Loe have been optioned to the Minor Leagues. Saltalamacchia was beaten out by Gerald Laird, the third time that he has been the teams opening day Catcher. Loe has struggled with an ERA of 6.59, in just 13.2 innings of work. With these moves, the Rangers now have 33 players on the Spring Training roster, including 5 non-roster invitees. That figure... Long suffering Ranger fans are bummin' again, they're team can't even get spring training right. G.M. Jon Daniels said the most important thing for the team headed into the season would be the health of the starting rotation. Ouch Jon! I feel your pain, and unfortunately so do many of your other starting pitchers. Nothing MAJOR yet, but they are the nagging type of injuries that'll steal much needed prep-time, and with this team, ... |
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