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The Depot: Live Game Blog, News, Notes And Alex Rodriguez Update

ARLINGTON - The newest round of Alex Rodriguez allegations are out. Get ready for a whole bunch more of these as the May 12 publication date for Selena Roberts tell all book on Rodriguez nears. In short, this round of allegations suggests he used steroids in high school, used them after his trade from the Rangers to the New York Yankees and that while with the Rangers he “tipped” opposing hitters to the pitch that was coming.

An excerpt from the ESPN story:

A-Rod “pitch tipped” when he played for the Rangers by letting opponents at the plate know which pitch was coming in lopsided games. A-Rod expected players he helped would reciprocate when he was having an off night and needed to get his batting average up.

Ran this by Michael Young, who played with Rodriguez in the middle infield during Rodriguez’s entire time in Texas, and got the following answer.

“No,” Young said. “When I played with Alex, all he wanted to do was win. This is getting ridiculous. When he was here, the media gave him heat for trying to help our catchers out by helping them call games. And now they are saying he was helping the opponents out, too. This is just getting completely out of hand.”

Also checked with Eddie Guardado, who was playing for Minnesota at the time. Guardado said he never heard any such rumors about Rodriguez.

1:25: Another good day of eatin’ in the press room. BLT without the “T”. Piece of pizza. Delish. … In the meantime, RHP Kris Benson’s bullpen session went well and he is expected to make a rehab start on Sunday for Double-A Frisco. If that goes well, he’ll probably make another start for the RoughRiders on Friday, May 8.  So RHP Scott Feldman gets at least two more starts.  … Also RHP Dustin Nippert’s back is not responding to back treatment. He will receive a second opinion tomorrow. Don’t expect Nippert to be an option for the bullpen for at least a month.

1:40: 1B Chris Davis walks.  This may be a sign he’s starting to figure things out with his swing. Davis walked twice in the first 15 games, but has walked three times in his last four games plus one at-bat.

1:44: C Taylor Teagarden has entered for Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who struck in his first at-bat. More dizziness for Salty?

1:46: A look at the Rangers’ stats today indicates that these are the six lowest batting averages on the team entering today’s game: Hank Blalock (.271), Elvis Andrus (.264), Josh Hamilton (.242), Chris Davis (.194), Taylor Teagarden (.158) and David Murphy (.097). That the list would include a 20-year-old rookie (Andrus) and the backup catcher (Teagarden) should surprise nobody. You know what’s remarkable about the rest of the list: It’s all of the Rangers’ left-handed hitters. The Rangers are hitting just .257 against right-handers this season, which ranks 11th of 14 teams in the AL. This club was supposed to have issues with left-handed pitching because the lineup might be a little too left-handed. The struggles of the left side of the lineup against right-handers, however, is perplexing. The Rangers began the day 4-1 vs. lefty starters and just 6-9 vs. right-handers. Guess it’s a good thing that today’s Oakland starter, Dallas Braden, is a lefty and that the Rangers will face two more lefties (Mark Buehrle and John Danks) this weekend.

2:00: Jarrod Saltalamacchia left the game with eye irritation.

2:13: Has anybody had any problems voting or viewing the results of the vote in our poll?

2:30: A note on plate discipline. First, I must couch this by saying the Rangers have taken three walks in the first four innings against Dallas Braden, but for most of the first month, this team has been far too imptaient at the plate. Consider this: Entering yesterday’s games, the Rangers had faced a 2-0 or 3-1 count, counts that heavily favor the hitter, only 170 times. That was tied for 10th worst in the AL with the Chicago White Sox. Only Oakland (163), Minnesota (161) and Seattle (151) had been more impatient.

2:33: Also worth noting is that the L.A. Angels had seen only 171 such counts. Why is that worth noting? Because among the AL West teams, the Rangers seem to be pretty darn patient. To win the division, a team need not necessarily be patient within the West.

2:39: Second and third, nobody out in the fifth inning. Nos. 3-4-5 hitters up. Oakland starter Dallas Braden at 99 pitches. Rangers MUST score here.

2:44: And there is your wasted golden opportunity right there. Second and third, no outs and no runs scored. Bases loaded and one out and no runs scored. DH Hank Blalock waved wildly at teh first pitch he saw from tiring Dallas Braden and eventually popped to second for the second out. Nelson Cruz swung at three straight pitches to end the inning.

3:00: With Taylor Teagarden’s sixth inning strikeout, the Rangers have 179 April strikeouts. It’s the seventh most April strikeouts since the team moved to Texas in 1972. The  record, which seems untouchable without lots and lots of extra innings, is 196. The thing is that the Rangers are playing only their 21st game in April. In each of the six seasons with more April strikeouts, the team played at least 25 games.

3:25: I can understand the frustration that Eddie Guardado displayed that led to his ejection (after he had already been removed from the game), but I just don’t think Guardado had much of a case. The frustration comes from his inability to retire left-handed hitters, which is now his sole job. He’s allowed three of the last four he’s faced to reach and lefties have a .571 on-base percentage against him after Jack Cust drew a four-pitch, bases-loaded walk. Guardado, on his way back to the dugout had a long jawing session with home plate umpire Angel Campos before getting ejected. But I thought all four pitches were wide, at least from up high in the press box (never saw TV replays of pitch locations). Guardado threw his hat and glove into the stands after the ejection, which I think is bound to get him disciplined. Not sure if it’s a suspension or not, but there will some kind of pennance.

3:52: No HR Pool winners today. Sorry. Thanks for playing. Maybe tomorrow. Everybody picks guys in the early innings, nobody ever goes for the later innings. Hmm, new strategy any one?

4:05: Ryan Sweeney takes home run away from Ian Kinsler and I’m suggesting it is, overall, a better play than Gary Matthews Jr.’s legendary catch against Mike Lamb. Matthews went higher and was twisted more, but the game was already out of hand at the time that catch was made. This catch came with two men on base and two outs in the bottom of the eighth. If Kinsler homer had fallen over the wall, the Rangers go from being down 3-1 to up 4-3 with three outs to play before clinching a winning April.

4:13: Thinking I’m heading over to Post-Game Show.