Post-Game Show: Rangers 6, Astros 5 (10 Innings)

I leave you to answer this simple question:

Which college-aged kid – 20-year-old Elvis Andrus or 22-year-old Derek Holland – had the better game and why?

The Depot: Rangers Live Game Blog, News And Notes

You’ll probably want to print this out as a souvenir of Derek Holland’s first major league start.

We’re about ready to go. Got a little more updating to do to the reporter’s notebook. We will alert you when that is completed. But, otherwise, it’s time to hop aboard.

7:10: One pitch, one out for the Rangers. 2B Ian Kinsler did not do his job to start the game. With a rookie on the mound whom the Rangers had never seen, it was incumbent upon him to make Felipe Paulino work a little, show the Rangers what he’s got, etc. Kinsler swung and popped out on the first pitch. 3B Michael Young followed with a walk.

7:23: Report on Derek Holland’s first inning as a starter: He threw two fastballs for balls to Michael Bourn to start the inning, then seven of the next eight for strikes to retire the side. Holland threw nothing but fastballs in the 10-pitch inning, averaging 94.6 mph on the Minute Maid Park radar gun.

7:29: Rangers Report updated with a note about Vicente Padilla’s assignment to the DL.

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Rangers Report: Rest For Weary Davis And Blalock Or An Audition For Andruw Jones?

Also in this report: Vicente Padilla heads to the DL; why the Rangers didn’t run in the ninth inning Thursday.

HOUSTON - Andruw Jones is starting at first base for the against a right-handed pitcher tonight. This is surprising, not only because Jones had never played first before this season, but also because the Rangers other two first base options are left-handed hitters.

It speaks volumes about the state of the Rangers’ situation at first base.

Though they have combined for 20 homers in the first 40 games, 1B Chris Davis and DH 1B Hank Blalock are struggling in every other offensive facet of the game. In at-bats that don’t result in a homer, the duo is hitting a combined .164 for the season. They combined to go 2-for-17 during the Rangers three-game sweep at Detroit earlier in the week. Davis’ .275 on-base percentage ranks 82nd among 87 AL qualifiers in the statistic; Blalock (.270) ranks 84th.

It raises this question: Are the two players simply getting a break or is Jones getting an audition for more regular playing time? It’s a question even manager Ron Washington declined to answer.

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Homer Pool And Rangers Lineup Note

To the question of who would the club sit when it got into an NL-rules game, DH Hank Blalock or 1B Chris Davis, the answer is both. Though they are facing a right-handed pitcher in Felipe Paulino, the Rangers are stitting both left-handed first base options, Blalock and Davis. Andruw Jones will instead play first. Think that’s more a reflection on the struggles of Davis and Blalock than anything else. The Rangers lineup vs. RHP Paulino:

2B Ian Kinsler, 3B Michael Young, CF Josh Hamilton (back in the lineup as of now; could change during BP); 1B Andruw Jones, RF Nelson Cruz, LF David Murphy, C Jarrod Saltalamacchia, SS Elvis Andrus and LHP Derek Holland.

Get your entries in now, before you leave the office for the holiday weekend. Or, if you have already left, get them in anyway.

Going Low at the Nelson

UPDATE at 5:15 p.m.
Just got word from tournament officials that play tomorrow will be pushed up to avoid the inclement weather they are expecting in the afternoon. Players will now go off in threesomes and tee times will start at 7:30 a.m. and go until around 9:30 a.m., depending on the number of players that make the cut. More information will be posted as it becomes available.

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The conditions that I thought would produce low scores yesterday have finally given way to the inevitable. We’ve seen three 64s today and local favorite Justin Leonard threw up a 63. Granted, Leonard shot 75 (5 over) yesterday, but he’s still got an outside shot if he plays well tomorrow, too. The cut line is hovering at -1 right now, so Leonard will have shot a 7 under and make the cut by one stroke. Pretty crazy.

There’s a phenomenon going on right now that I just don’t have an explanation for. The conditions are perfect out here, most of the pins are accessible and the wind is down. And yet I’ve seen Anthony Kim take a triple, Ian Poulter thin one out of a bunker dead right and take a double and several others players grossly underperforming. I can’t think that the the moderate heat and humidity are taking that much of a toll on their games, but that’s the only thing I can think of that would explain this poor play right now. Of course, Kim and Poulter are both struggling to make the cut today, so perhaps they are feeling the pressure of wanting a paycheck. Who knows.

The highlight of leader Rory Sabbatini’s round today was a par at the long par 4 3rd hole. I mentioned it earlier because they moved the tees well up from yesterday, but tucked the pin away in the back left corner of the green. Why was a par the highlight you ask? Well, he drove it into the water off the tee, then dropped and hit it into a bunker, then holed out his bunker shot for par. Routine. He then went on to birdie the next four holes in a row and had a great up and down out of a greenside bunker at 8 (which I saw firsthand) to preserve his good round. He is the clubhouse leader and unless McCarron, Mallinger or Howell III make a late push, he will take sole possesion of the lead into the weekend.

The conditions are perfect, the crowds are really beginning to swell and the course is in fantastic scoring shape. The only thing that can mess up the weekend at the Nelson is the weather. Pete Delkus, I’m counting on you to keep us dry. Don’t let me down.

Kicking Off the Second Round at the Nelson

UPDATE at 1:45 p.m.
Well, it took an extra day, but I finally got my 64. Two of them, in fact. Rory Sabbatini and Briny Baird both shot crowd-pleasing 64s today in superb scoring conditions. James Driscoll keeps flirting with the lead by himself, but he is currently tied with Sabbatini at -8 after bogeying the par 3 17th.

The course is not set up as tough as I anticipated today. There are several holes that have very accessible pins and the players are clearly taking advantage of that. However, there are other holes out there like the long par 4, 3rd. The tees were moved well up from where they were yesterday, but the pin placement is back left. It’s protected by a deep bunker left and a steep drop-off long, so the smart play is to the middle of the multi-tiered green. I saw three groups go through and not one guy got it within 20 feet with his approach shot. Several of the guys who played safe blew their putt past the hole and ended with the dreaded three-jack.

I walked across the first fairway to get to hole 18 earlier and I can tell you that the fairways are very firm already. The wind hasn’t picked up at all from this morning, but the air is still heavy with the thick humidity. I look for fatigue to play a part in the later holes with these afternoon groups, much more so than it did with the early groups out. I’m heading out to follow Colt Knost, who just went off number one tee, so more updates will come later on.

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NBA Playoffs = Fantastic

There have been years when the NBA Playoffs were not very good.

This would not be one of them.

The last 3 nights have provided some of the best NBA Playoff basketball that we have seen in recent years, and I hope you are watching. The Nuggets vs. Lakers in the West have played 2 instant classics in the first two contests of that series, and the largely anonymous Orlando Magic gave Cleveland its first loss of the post-season on Wednesday in Game 1 of the Eastern Finals.

After 2 rounds of weeding out the weaklings, we are now officially ready to rumble.

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Road To Arlington: Rangers Minor League Report (5/22)

Like T.S. Eliot, Engel Beltre believes that April is the cruelest month.

He promised “a new start.” I made no comment.

May is another story: 17 and counting.
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