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Post-Game Show: A’s 5, Rangers 4

The Rangers finish May with a 3.57 ERA, the second best ERA for a month they’ve had since moving into The Ballpark.

I’ve really got nothing until I get back from the clubhouse, unless, of course, it’s that this loss felt like the kind of loss a playoff team suffers.

Josh Hamilton Groin/Abdomen Update

Partly because his soreness has migrated from his groin to his abdomen, Josh Hamilton will see a local sports hernia specialist on Monday to try and eliminate that as a reason behind his pain. Hamilton, who is out of the lineup today,is expected to undergo an MRI exam. Rangers GM Jon Daniels said that there is not much comparison between the pain that Ian Kinsler felt last year after suffering a sports hernia and the pain Hamilton is dealing with. Kinsler was simply unable to play; Hamilton has played for the last week with whatever the injury is. For now, unless told otherwise, the Rangers are operating under the notion that Hamilton is dealing with a strained groin/abdomen area.

The Depot: Texas Rangers Live Game Blog, News And Notes

I’m back and refreshed. Hopefully, for the Rangers, Josh Hamilton will get the same benefit from his off day today.

Just read Brad Townsend’s piece in the DMN on Dirk Nowitzki’s scammer/fiancee Cristal Taylor. If you ever see a Brad Townsend byline, do yourself a favor and read the story. The guy never misses. It’s also a reminder to me just how off base Gary Cartwright was in Texas Monthly in what reads like a bitter old man screed about today’s sportswriters. But if you read Cartwright, you owe it to yourself to read Houston Chron columnist Richard Justice’s rebuttal. Good Sunday morning stuff.

11:52: 1B Chris Davis is sitting again today, second straight day. This is elongated break (he’ll have three days off with tomorrow’s off day) is the most recent attempt to “fix” his swing. He is expected back in the lineup on Tuesday. … That said, things can always change. You come out of the lineup and people who fill in step up, there is no guarantee you will get your spot back. … Davis did arrive in the clubhouse today in a sporty fedora. If he turns things around, I expect he’ll be wearing that daily. … I still believe there is one more step beyond this rest period the Rangers could take and that’s to drop him to eighth in the lineup behind Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Davis has had a lot more at-bats with runners in scoring position, i.e., pressure situations than Salty has. Maybe one way to relieve the pressure is to reduce the number of pressure situations.

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Homer Pool: Take Your Marks; Josh Hamilton Out Of Rangers Lineup

Having already clinched a winning home stand, the Rangers will try to finish off their first four-game sweep of Oakland in more than 20 years. This is the lineup that will take the field against Oakland LHP Dallas Braden:

2B Ian Kinsler, 3B Michael Young, DH Andruw Jones, RF Nelson Cruz, 1B Hank Blalock, CF Marlon Byrd, LF David Murphy (oops, almost forgot him), C Jarrod Saltalamacchia, SS Elvis Andrus and pitching for the Rangers … RHP Kevin Millwood.

You will notice the absence of Josh Hamilton from the lineup. He’s resting a sore groin that has been balky since he ran into the outfield wall two weeks ago. Manager Ron Washington said he hopes that taking today off, in combination with tomorrow’s off day should get Hamilton refreshed. Washington said a second trip to the DL is not currently on the table. Hamilton is 8-for-36 (.222) with two walks and one homer since returning from the groin strain on May 22.

“Sometimes when you are battling injuries, you just can’t drive the way you would like,” manager Ron Washington said.

Update On Texas High School Heat

Brownswood senior RHP Shelby Miller threw a three-hitter and struck out 16 (and hit a three-run homer) in the Lions’ 3-1 win over West High in the Region I-3A semifinals on Saturday. Klein senior LHP Matthew Purke’s team didn’t make the playoffs, but Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle has a good look at him (probably not around when the Rangers draft at 14, depending on Purke’s signability.) Miller has signed with Texas A&M, Purke with TCU.

Rangers’ ERA Is Falling Like Stock Prices; In Baseball, However, This Is A Good Thing

If you are heading to Rangers Ballpark in Arlington today – or if you are listening in the garden or watching at home – you may want to keep this in mind: You may be witnessing the culmination of the greatest month in Rangers history. The team can tie the 1978 club, which won 21 in September (and one in October), for the most wins in a month. A win today, however, would make this the winningest full month (more than 25 games) in club history. It would push the monthly winning percentage to .724. A fan could get used to this kind of thing.

But more amazing is the way the Rangers are doing it: With quality pitching performance after quality     pitching performance. They enter today with a 3.511 ERA, technically two-thousandths of a point worst than the Ballpark era (since 1994) record for best monthly ERA. If Kevin Millwood and company can combine to allow three or fewer runs today against Oakland’s woeful hitters, it would drop to at least 3.496 or, for those rounding up, 3.50. Nevertheless, it would stand as the best ERA in a place where it was said ERAs went to die.