D

OK, let’s start another win streak!

and lets keep harrison’s scoreless streak intact!

@obagain: Plan is just to skip one start with Feliz. No mention of DL at this point.

Then a single scores him. Very nice start.

MOTHER OF GOD.

Evan, did you see that A-Rod hit the first pitch he saw out of the yard for a three-run bomb?

I don’t have the words for how much I hate him, and the Yankees in general.

Nice start tonight for your First Place Texas Rangers…

running wild!

Didnt they teach you timing is everything?

they’re about to call the bullpen in the first! oh. well i guess the double play helped them.

Now it’s our turn for a DP.

has salty said or seemed upset by the happy couple of teagarden and harrison? is he just happy to have a night off or does it seem to get to him? we’ve heard what wash has said…is salty buying it?

That wasnt how I thought it would go but I’ll take it.

The nam kid in hickory continues to impress.
In a spot start he goes 5 innings giving up 1 hit (a HR) with 5 K’s and 1 BB.

is that normally scored an error?

Way to go teagarden!

Is it too late to take Kinsler in the Bases-Loaded-Walk-Pool?

We got one and young has a good rbi chance here.

@becca: There has never been a starting catcher happy about the backup being matched up with somebody as a personal catcher. The player always looks at it as if its some reflection on him, rather than a compliment to someone else. Put it this way: I can’t be all things to all people on this little blog. Same thing goes for a catcher; he can’t be all things to all his pitchers. If the Rangers win with the Harrison-Teagarden coupling, then everybody should be happy about it.

If we keep scoring each inning I like our chances.

@evan: isn’t more common for a veteran pitcher to have a personal catcher? i can’t recall a situation like harrison-teagarden where a young pitcher just kind of fell into this. seems like in the past it has been a veteran pitcher actually requesting a pairing.

@traydog: wash said he wanted teagarden to be more than just a “backup”; I believe he said in spring training that teagarden would catch once or twice a week. he helped get harrison straight in that one game and no one has scored off of him since, so why change? it’s just a way to do what he wanted to do anyway.

OT: @evan, what is your gameday routine when you’re watching the action from home? I’m guessing it’s a little different than being at the ballpark…

i am happy that TAG is talking about throwing up. we don’t get that every game.

@evan: heard TAG mentioning canseco. i was wondering what your impression was of Juiced when it came out. did you think it was bs or that it had some validity?

Expecting Lewin to actually talk about the game is like expecting Hank Blalock to stop trying to pull everything. It is reasonable and would be great, but is completely unrealistic.

Here, btw, is a great parody of Lewin/Grieve by an M’s blogger who caught too many of their broadcasts on MLB Extra Innings:

http://www.lookoutlanding.com/2007/7/24/4140/13406

Hickory played a double header today.
Here are the era’s of the pitchers that saw action.
Font 1.89
Hamburger 1.64
neveraz 2.16
In the second game
Nam 1.10
Tufts 2.00
It doesnt get much better than that.

@evan – thanks! I was starting to feel bad!

Evan
How much longer does Davis have before he runs out of leash?

Small ball, score any way you can!

Evan, I just wanted to thank you for inspiring me to order Scalini’s tonight…Rangers, beer, pizza. Nice little Friday night going.

ha. think harrison is gonna start playing bean ball now? at least it was just his bottom.

@scooper – …I am doing everything in my power to avoid offensive post…time for me to scoot over to grubesismyleader.com and post it there….

@worls: agree wholeheartedly…you don’t do san diego charger play-by-play as well as mlb if you’re terrible…

man, as much as rangers pitchers have pissed me off (can i say that?) i never agree with booing them.

stay classy chicago.

Evan, you don’t have your butler or housekeepers take care of the dog while you’re gone? I’m shocked.

@evan: it was a super play, the kind a smart ballplayer makes. what’s your dog’s name, what breed, and how old. mine is Bernard, terrior/schnauzer, 8 1/2 yrs.

I have a 6 week old mini schnauzer at my feet right now.
My wife wants a dog and the dog wont leave my feet.

I love these quick innings.

@obagain: aw, c’mon! you know you love it! what’s his name?

@becca: I always thought the Hamilton thing was more ruse than anything else, but, yes, it was designed to at least make people think twice before over-shifting against him.

@Scooper: OK, first the disclaimer. The dog is a rescue. She is a black lab/spaniel/cur mix (we think). She came with the name Princess. I am comfortable enough with my (slovenly) masculinity to leave her name alone. But I do call her P-Nutty often. Also recently found a stray chihuahua wandering towards certain death on Northwest Hwy. Currently looking to find a home for her since nobody has claimed her. Have taken to calling her Nacho.

Likes Ranger baseball – check
Likes steak – check
Likes bacon – check

@becca – at least you’re not a vegetarian!

Her name is geegee, some soap opera person.
My wife is into those.

so…why’s young out?!?!

was giving sons a bath and missed the kinsler bunt. Saw sacrifice on CBS Sportsline and was wondering if a squeeze. Knew I’d get the skinny here. Nice work.

And, yes, I love it. But of course I do – Ian is the greatest living human being walking the face of the earth.

is the radar gun “inflated” in Chicago like it was in Seattle? They just clocked Harrison at 94 (so says Nadel)

@JackDaddy: you are right again! Ian is the best!

Our starting pitching makes me wanna cry. I almost can’t believe what I’m watching.

He is at 52 or so pitches, he is just getting warmed up.

Evan: How could you forget Doug Mirabelli and Tim Wakefield? On a serious note, where does Josh bat when he’s activated from the DL. I like the top three we’ve seen lately, and would like to see Josh at four, leaving the top three as is.

nice f-bomb.

Speaking of seattle, they are down 7-0 in the 5th.

bottom of the order starting to hit. good job teagarden.

@Jeffrey – I was at game last Sunday and Matty H hit 94 several times. From the stands, if you didn’t know the history of the pitchers, you would have absolutely came away from that game thinking Harrison had the better stuff and was the better pitcher. Danks hit 91 a couple of times but mostly sat at 90. I’m not sure if he was off that night or if that’s just how hard he throws. If it is, and he added the cutter after landing in Chicago, then I understand why JD traded him (though he does have a nasty change).

chicago announcers are saying Young left with back stiffness. If it were to be anything serious, who fills in at 3rd?

Should’ve bunted

you call up German Duran for 2 days (and send Golson down) until Hammy comes off DL

he’s had back stiffness before and I don’t believe that it was ever anything more than a day or 2.

Im ignorant when it comes to minors… but don’t they have a limit for call-ups before they have to clear waivers? whats that limit

@Evan – What do you think about Norm’s thought on the Rangers having Erik Bedard on the radar?

Red, that will never happen. Too many teams will be offering at that guy. We are in their division and there will be too many other teams making good offers.

Norm’s contention is Rangers have the better prospects

Pitching prospects would have to be involved and Daniels cannot afford to trade another one of those until the Rangers have some playoff cred.

I think Norm forgot his medication this morning.

He said you wouldn’t have to touch Holland, Feliz, or Perez or Smoak… I find it hard to believe myself but Norm knows best.

luv the DP and luv Vizquiel!

omar is looking quite spritely in all of his 42 years.

6 innings and only 70 pitches… great job… CG maybe?

@Red – Norm was crazy to even suggest that. Of course Seattle wouldn’t mind trading Bedard here. They’re get 3 or 4 really good prospects while the Rangers would have him for 3 months. Meanwhile the Rangers would potentially face those same guys for the next 6 years or so. It’s the Rangers that say no to any deal for Bedard unless Seattle takes Mike Ballard, Adam Fox and Nate Gold.

I love it that the Rangers have been scoring without hitting “as many” homers lately. Like Evan said, proving that you can knock in 1 run at a time inning after inning wears a team down more than anything.

Seattle down 10-0 in the sixth.
They are still in the race right now but they are fading fast.

Unfortunately Norm doesn’t know best anymore. Most of his baseball/Rangers ideas this year have been off the wall insane.

would they even bring up someone for experience, or could vizquel be an everyday guy for a few games? i guess experience for someone else in the minors is important. i don’t even know. i’m just going to go check on my laundry.

Don’t want Webb… Arm issues

@ALL, I’m not watching the game (don’t get it down here in SA, have to listen to it on MLB radio), so based on how Harrison’s looking, if he keeps it up will they let him go the whole game?

This year is not the right time to be buyers anyway. Let this chemistry cook for another year maybe two. Then we can start moving into free agent talk.

@Evan – what happened that the trainer had to come out to talk to Harrison?

Cruz is having a bad night. 3 breaking balls out of the zone for the second time. missed all 6 badly.

@Ryan’s Dad: basically, I agree. but, if we are in contention and can get an ace-type who will be here in 2010 (when everyone thinks we will contend) I’d have to seriously consider it.

Greg: Bedard has next year on his K. But I wouldn’t trade blue chip guys for him. 6 months ago, Seattle would have gladly dumped that K. I’m not a believer in trading blue chippers for pitchers, unless they are one of a handful of true aces. And I mean handful. Think 10 or so (Lackey, Felix, Verlander (maybe), Greinke (jeez, if we could have pried him away), Beckett (maybe), Halladay, Webb, Peavy (though a buddy of mine is tight with him and the guy can’t lift his arm for 2 days after his stars). That might be it for the veteran F.A. types. Harden is better than all of them, but wouldn’t touch him. Zambrano has warning flags. The other guys I like are young guys and would never hit market (i.e., Hamels, Billingsley, Josh Johnson, Gallerdo, etc.

@becca: these last couple of weeks just emphasize how important good pitching is (and defense!).

that would be gallardo

seriously chris davis?

@JackDaddy: don’t tease us like that! what do you know about Verlander that we don’t?

scooper!!! they just mentioned you on the broadcast!

Evan – i assumed Duran b/c I keep thinking about the talk on Arias shoulder. I know he started late in the Spring at 3B, but I assumed that was a ploy to drive trade interest. But I guess you are saying that Viz would start at 3B and Arias would be the backup for the weekend.

What has been the report on Arias’ throws at OKC? Is he playing ss or 2B?

A quick inning here and his era is under 5 witch seemed impossible a few weeks ago.

@All: I don’t want to discourage anybody on the ambitious trade talk, but if the M’s were to fall quickly, the bigger problem in consummating a trade within the division is that the Rangers would not want to see the guys they’d have to deal 19 or 20 times a year. And let’s just call it like it is: If you are going to acquire a legitimate ace this season, be prepared to surrender two from this group (Smoak/Davis, Teagarden/Salty/Max) plus pitching.

and murphy and teagarden have both hit tonight. those have to be considered the other 2 liability at bats. i don’t understand what davis is trying to do.

@becca: you didn’t know? I kick ***, too!

josh just mentioned he went all the way on a 2 hitter. That’s 16 straight scoreless innings. Was responding to my own post when I said I would MAYBE trade for him.

@evan: good point!

that was a close 1

Red, he has a hit tonight. He does mix some in but it is getting close to time to send him down and build some confidence.

consistency and command and tuff is what ace projection is all about.

Davis needs to get his head out of his…uh glove.

It wasnt pretty but no runs.
He is at 98 pitches, do you let him finish it out?

134ish

yeah maybe the Dodgers would trade for Andruw Jones.

Jack daddy, that is a tough one.
I would say yes but I believe you always go after pitching.

A nice long inning would help harrison here.

oh. maybe not.

Evan -Given the Rangers pitching prowess lately, should there be a pool for when the Rangers’ pitcher gives up their first hit/run? Seems their almost as scarce as Ranger home runs lately. And I mean that as a good thing.

You definitely let him finish it out. This is what Nolan has been preaching. he’s at 98 and hasn’t been threatened all night. they have one well hit ball. He can go 115-120 pitches.

BTW, Kins dropped that ball on purpose, just so Matty H. could fight through it and develop as a pitcher. Another reason why Kinsler is the best player in baseball.

didn’t we try to get Kershaw last year? I don’t think the Dodgers will trade him.

@James: Millwood’s option vests at 180 innings.

hmm. they said o’day was warming up. i think it wouldn’t kill me to see cj.

but on a short leash.

This is good baseball that is fun to watch.

can’t beat it!

here he comes! Go matty

meant sure WOULDN’T add him to Hammilton.

If none of you have seen Feliz, you can’t appreciate how effortless he looks pitching. Don’t we swayed by his control problems this year. The guy is filty.

Btw, say a few Novinas tonight when you go to bed that “shoulder stiffness” doesn’t translate to rotator cuff surgery. I swear, that would throw me into an unrecoverable depression. Hurley was painful enough. You just rarely come back from RC.

@gordosan: I don’t have a whole lot more to say about Harrison than you guys have all discussed. He’s worked quickly. That’s huge. Steve Busby discussed on pre-game show. Tom Grieve discussed during broadcast. Makes fielders happy and alert, makes batters uncomfortable. It’s been the singles biggest change in the staff. It should be noted that Harrison did have a complete game shutout of Oakland last September, too. The guy has ability.

Ugghhh

very nice

i sure hope he gets through this. cj’s warming up. and i said earlier that i’d be ok with him coming in. but just seeing him in the pen, well, it didn’t feel good.

@Jack Daddy: Rotator cuff not as traumatic as once was. But again, we’re going WAY, WAY, WAY down the line. For now it’s one skipped start for Feliz. No DL.

That was scary. Last thing we need is a line drive at harrison.

Evan – can you ask Matt next time you talk to him whether he mentally “filed away” Ozzie’s comments about him after the last game, where he essentially played down his start and his stuff?

Ryan, I do agree with you on that. But there is no doubt that the young guys are gonna look at what the vets are doing.

Great game!

a complete game and a shut out. by the RANGERS!

Do you ever let salty catch harrison again?

Feliz will need to be shut-down until his shoulder inflamation calms down, and then will need to start on a much more serious shoulder stablization program to prevent further problems.

I’m proud of Matty. Awesome!!

Evan – I hear you on the Rotator Cuff, but I think of Justin Thompson. I was also a high school buddy of Chris Holt and it ruined his career. I remember the doctors telling him that you can try to strenghten the muscles with weight traning, etc. but that the socket will never be as tight again. just scares the bejeezus out of me when I hear shoulder soreness.

Enjoyed the game, IC crew. Good stuff.

So now Matty is giving Franky a run for his money with the scoreless inning streak – after tonight its 19 innings in a row.

New record on the # of comments… Congratulations Evan.

Side note, I HATE trades when you are giving up such young and promising prospects for an ace. It took SOOOO long for this organization to get so deep, keep the prospects and play this year for a so-so maybe good year and really look forward to next year and beyond.

HAHAHA got the treatment

methinks the increases in comments had at least some correlation with today’s ticket radio appearance

@Ryans Dad: Glad to have you. Hope you won’t be a stranger.

Hmmmmm, might have a good point JB…hint Evan!

how nice of a guy. saying yes sir and everything. it is fun to see any ranger pictcher throw a complete game. but one who shook off some missteps, got confidence back. it’s great. you have to root for guys like that.

back to Feliz for a second. As a general rule of thumb, I wouldn’t trade a pitcher that Nolan Ryan gets legitimately excited about.

And talent Red, and talent.

Never overlook the obvious. It’s what gets good people in bad situations.

If anyone wants to be bored by a long discussion of rotator disease and shoulder instability, I can provide a much needed nap.

Back to tonite. No question that the Harrison/Teegarden connection deserves discussion. I’m impressed enough to suggest that Tee. should be given an opportunity to catch McCarthy in addition to Harrison for a couple of outings, and see what the results are.

Good stuff, Evan. Keep it up!

Evan, I have a question. I remember McCarthy throwing 95 when he was with the White Sox. And now he barely hits 90. Is that due to the arm problems he’s had in the past or to the tweaking of his mechanics?

Didn’t the great Greg Maddux have his own personal catcher in Atlanta?

I don’t recall who it was earlier that mentioned The Trade, but: Elvis, Salty, Matt, Feliz . . . looks pretty good!

hey Teagarden showed he could hold his own with the bat last year.

If this is really Taylor making this kind of difference (rather than Matt just pitching well), I don’t care about his bat. If a catcher can make that kind of difference in a pitching staff, he’s worth his weight in gold. this team will always be able to hit.

dont forget beau jones, he is still a promising reliever.

It just dawned on me that Harrison’s last start was also against the WhiteSox. So that’s 14 scoreless innings in a row against the same team in back-to-back starts.

could be more than a promising reliever … could be up in the majors soon …

@scooper: i agree. but the powers that be seem to really be happy with salty. and i think they don’t want to upset him.

how many decisions are made on ego/keeping someone happy? yeah, it’s still too early to knock him out of starting. i’m not saying that. sheesh. again. i don’t even know.

On a side note, I think the return of Hamilton might spell the end for Davis, for at least right now.

Stat boy Ha Ha

and then max and pina too in the wings.

Hey, now! Catchers can be extremely important. but they are like umpires, when they do their job well, you barely notice them. Salty’s been doing fine, and I think most of the Harrison stuff is just Matt pitching better. I’m just saying … if it IS Taylor doing a great job, you’re doing the team a disservice if you don’t give him a chance.

so much of pitching is confidence … if Matt gains one iota of confidence with Teagarden at the plate then there you have it; a personal catcher …

Salty has been playing well … he has handled Millwood … and he has been doing ok if you ask me …

@Auditor: everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

just BLASTED through 300!

JD is going to be a great GM, he is learning on the job and not making the same mistake twice. I could only be so lucky in my line of work.

anyone know how seattle did tonight?

They were losing 11-0 in the 7th last I looked.

did the post-game show on tv offer any updates on m. young? I know evan said not to be worried, but i am curious

@Jeffrey: I didn’t hear an update, but evan is probably right. MY has had this before and it’s never been more than a day or 2 (as someone who is way past 30, I speak from experience … still backs happen as you get older!)

well wish I could stick around, but the nite is young and so am I. Until tomorrow ladies and gents

Just noticed that Texas has a winning road record. Anyone have any idea how long it’s been since that happened? That is all pitchin brutha.

while i don’t put much stock in the dmn these days, I still read it daily. check out the chat with JD. Its great. The guy is open and frank. I don’t see how anybody could not like the guy. He is bright and he listens to his advisors. Good stuff if you have 10 minutes to read through it.

btw, I misspoke earlier on Peavy – he can lift his arm after starts. Its after the season that he can’t lift it for a couple of weeks. I still am with Auditor though – rarely does the trading of prospects for the veteran work out.

Evan – you paint a boring picture, but trust me, there are many a day that I would LOVE to have the house to myself, with my recliner, a stiff drink (or 4) and the Rangers!!

Good night everyone.

Harrison has now gotten in the groove of the groove he got in last game……that means he’s really really in a groove…….15 wins? and he’s moving up on the pitching chart food chain I think…….and boy does he hide the reality of the bullpen……..