D

Cleaning Up: Hitting Fourth, Nelson Cruz Pushes Short-Handed Rangers To Win Over Houston

D-tails: Rangers 6, Astros 3
Boxscore; Standings; Depot live game blog

HOUSTON – On Saturday morning, the Rangers faced a short-term lineup crisis, namely how to fill out a batting order that didn’t include either Michael Young or Ian Kinsler.

The long-term significance of the day, however, may be not who was missing, but who was moved.

Manager Ron Washington decided to go with a “gut feeling,” and push Nelson Cruz into the cleanup spot for the first time since opening day. Two homers and a 6-3 win over Houston later, the manager was left to ponder whether Cruz in the fourth spot might be more than just a one day experiment.

“I just figured I’d try something different,” Washington said. “When I sat down to try and figure out lineups, Cruz’s name just came to my mind first. It was a gut feeling. And usually when I have a gut feeling like that, I’m right. We’ll just have to see how my gut feels [Sunday].”

The truth was that moving Cruz into the cleanup spot was not impacted in the least by the absence of Kinsler, who was given his first day off of the season, and Young, who was dealing with a sprained ankle. It was about getting more out of the No. 4 spot, period.
Hank Blalock has been the regular No. 4 hitter this season. Throughout Blalock’s career, managers have given him chances at the cleanup spot and, for the most part, they’ve come away thinking he swings too wildly when he hits fourth.

Statistics certainly underscore those feelings. Blalock has a career .765 on-base-plus-slugging percentage in the cleanup spot. Among the 67 active players with 500 or more plate appearances in the fourth spot Blalock ranks 65^th in OPS (.765).

Recently, the numbers turned even uglier. Blalock entered Saturday having just one hit with runners in scoring position – albeit a game-winner – in the last three weeks. His .209 batting average with men on base ranked 116^th among 131 AL qualifiers and his .660 OPS in those situations was lowest among Rangers regulars.

The gut feeling to come from those numbers: Indigestion.

That has led Washington to search for different answers. He gave Andruw Jones his first career start at first base Friday in an effort to get him into the cleanup spot.

Cruz’s recent rediscovery of plate discipline made him an option, as well. When Cruz can identify and pass on breaking balls, he is an extremely dangerous power hitter. But his career has been marked by long struggles with that problem and very short spurts when he is locked in.

This season, however, the long droughts seem to be shorter and the times when he is locked in seem to last longer.

The first two weeks of the year, he hit six homers and walked seven times. And then, for some unexplained reason, he started chasing the breaking balls again. The next three weeks were marked by 18 strikeouts, just one homer and three walks.

“You just get in slumps and you have to be patient to work your way through them,” Cruz said. “It’s a battle. You chase one bad pitch and then you are chasing a lot of them.”

Over the last week, he’s seemed to find another fix for the problem. Perhaps it began with a walk he took against Los Angeles last week or because he’s identified and stuck with a more structured pre-game routine.

Whatever the reason Cruz has stopped chasing and forced pitchers to throw him fastballs for strikes. When he makes pitchers throw him fastballs, Cruz can cause severe pain to the baseball.

That’s exactly what he did in the fourth inning, giving the Rangers the lead for good. With two on, he fought Brian Moehler to a full-count, then drove a two-seam fastball into the stands to give the Rangers the lead for good. It was the sixth time this season a Ranger hit a three-run homer or grand slam; only one of the previous five had come from the cleanup spot.

Two innings later, Cruz jumped on a first-pitch fastball from Moehler and drove it off the concrete façade behind left field. Blalock followed with a homer of his own.

“He’s just trusting his approach,” hitting instructor Rudy Jaramillo said. “He’s got a good plan when he goes up there and because of it, he’s able to execute.”

For the last four games, Cruz is 7-for-15 with four homers, eight RBIs and a pair of walks.

They are the kind of numbers that will leave a manager with a very comfortable feeling in his gut.