The Morning After: Rangers 5, Blue Jays 4

D-tails – Boxscore: Rangers 5, Blue Jays 4; Rangers beat Roy Halladay

Watching RHP Brandon McCarthy work his way towards a second consecutive quality start and his first road win since July 31, 2007, I couldn’t help but think of two words: Rick. Helling.

Like Helling, McCarthy is a flyball pitcher with what appears to be a fairly straight, average fastball. That wouldn’t seem to be the recipe for success with the Rangers. Nevertheless, Helling won 61 games over his final four seasons with the Rangers and pitched 215 or more innings in each of those seasons.

Now, I’m not suggesting McCarthy is about to roll off those kinds of innings. He’s going to have to put more weight on if he has any hope of that.

But what made Helling successful was a deceptive fastball that appeared to be coming out of his shirt sleeve, at least that’s the way scouts used to describe it. Made it hard for hitters to pick up immediately and it was on them quicker than would normally be the case for a 90 mph fastball. McCarthy is making use of his height and throwing the ball from a very high delivery point. It can have the same effect. Hitters aren’t used to it; takes a split-second to pick the ball up and it’s on them quicker than it should be. They get it in the air, but more often than not, it goes for routine fly ball outs.

I’m not ready to make McCarthy the new Helling, but just an impression from watching a couple of games live and one on TV.

One other similarity: McCarthy is allowing a lot of homers, but the majority of them are coming with no one on base. Helling allowed an average of 34 homers a season during his four-year run, but so many of the homers were solos, they didn’t cause too much damage. McCarthy has allowed five homers in 17 innings this season, but four of them have been with the bases empty (the other was a two-run homer).

• Time to stop wondering if RHP Frank Francisco can close games. Since taking over as the Rangers close, he’s converted all seven save chances presented to him. He’s not allowed an earned run as the closer – a span of 18 innings that dates back to late last August.

Opponents are hitting just .113 against Francisco since he became the closer. He’s averaging 12.5 strikeouts per nine innings, five strikeouts per walk and a very efficient 14.6 pitches per inning. It took him only 27 pitches to get five outs on Tuesday.

Because of his background as a middle reliever, Francisco shouldn’t have a problem getting more than three outs on occasion, but the club can’t do it to him regularly. If the Rangers have a lead Wednesday, I’m betting C.J. Wilson gets his first save chance of the season this year.

• 3B Michael Young made the defensive play of the game Tuesday, stabbing Rod Barajas’ line drive with the bases loaded in the eighth inning.

Not sure if Young makes the play last week, but he has made his first adjustment to the position. Young’s first step has always been to straighten up upon contact. At third, that fraction of a second can make the difference between catching a ball and having it go by you into left field for a hit. So Young and infield instructor Dave Anderson have been working on playing a step or two deeper. Because Young has such a strong arm, the extra distance on the throw isn’t a concern. Having him play deeper gives Young a fraction of a second longer to react.

• OF David Murphy, still 0-for-18 for the season, has started just one game in the last week. Starting to wonder if Murphy wouldn’t be best served by playing every day in the minors with OF Brandon Boggs coming up to serve as an extra outfielder and pinch runner. Boggs is a better defender than Murphy, is a switch-hitter and, at least in my opinion, slightly quicker.

Since Murphy is considered the more likely every day outfielder, going to Oklahoma City might allow him to rediscover his swing; in the meantime, Boggs would play the role in the majors for which he might be best suited.

• After his bat broke and smacked home plate umpire Kerwin Danley in the head, DH Hank Blalock was shown on the Rangers bench looking absolutely despondent.

Couldn’t help but think how many freaky things have happened to Blalock in the last couple of seasons. In 2007, he had to leave a game when his arm swelled up due to Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, which eventually required surgery. Last year, Blalcok missed a significant amount of time with an injury more likely to strike reporters: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

As he said last year: “I lead the league in syndromes.”

The guy has just had a run of unfortunate experiences.