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New York, New York: Yankees Win Two Of Three After Rangers Fail To Make Early Lead Stand Up

D-tails: (Yankees 8, Rangers 6)
• Boxscore, Standings, Depot live game blog
• Radio voice Eric Nadel to miss time with torn retina; Nadel’s email

NEW YORK - It is entirely possibly the ball New York outfielder Melky Cabrera hit for a game-changing home run Thursday was one of those that got caught in the freakish jet stream that has made new Yankee Stadium a home run haven.

Yeah, and like that meant a lot to C.J. Wilson, who authored the eighth-inning changeup that became the difference in an 8-6 Yankees win over the Rangers.

“It was a bad pitch,” Wilson said, perched atop the chair at his locker. “The stadium doesn’t matter. My main goal was to make a good pitch and I didn’t make one.”

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Update: Eric Nadel Out With a Torn Retina

Ouch. Just got off the phone with Eric Nadel who had eye surgery this morning and is already back on his couch in Dallas. It sounds like Eric could be out of the booth for two weeks. Ouch, again. He sends this report:

I had laser surgery this morning in NY for two tears in my retina. The surgery was successful, but I will have a follow-up tomorrow in Dallas and maybe more lasering.

This all came on very suddenly. Yesterday I was seeing black dots circling my head with my right eye, then eventually the vision in my right eye got very cloudy. I broadcast most of the game from Yankee Stadium last night off the tv monitor. By the end of the game, I could barely see the ball when I looked at the field, and the players were very blurrred. (more…)

Linkin’ Park: Lurking Around The Web For You

So far, the 2009 season has provided remarkably few causes for complaint for Texas Rangers fans. Through 49 games, the Rangers were 30-19, holding the best record in the American League, the second best in the majors, a 5.5 game lead in the AL West, and some of the best pitching they’ve had in years.

But then they ended arguably the greatest month in franchise history with a heart-breaking 5-4 loss courtesy of Adam Kennedy, who may or may not be distantly related to Bucky Dent. That was followed by a 12-3 pounding in new Yankee Stadium complete with a game of beanball and a Mark Teixeira at bat that had lip-readers everywhere covering their eyes. And now reports are surfacing about the potentially serious nature of Josh Hamilton’s injury and that he may be out until September. So yeah, it hadn’t exactly been the greatest three days of Rangers baseball this year.

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The Depot: Live Game Blog, News And Notes

In this edition: A.J. Burnett suspended; Vicente Padilla fined for Monday night’s actions. … Josh Hamilton on surgery possibility. … Angels hold off Blue Jays.

10:27: The home run pool is open for your enjoyment.

10:28: Matt Harrison is off to make a rehab start for Double-A Frisco on Saturday. He had no residual problems after throwing a bullpen session on Wednesday. Harrison is eligible to come off the DL Wednesday and it appears he could very possibly meet that schedule as long as he encounters no problems on Saturday. He’s likely to throw 50-60 pitches in that rehab outing.

10:33: In case you haven’t heard, Rangers radio voice Eric Nadel is out of action after undergoing emergency surgery to repair a pair of tears in his right retina. The prognosis is good, but its uncertain how long he will be out of action.

11:20: MLB has suspended Yankees RHP A.J. Burnett for his buzzing of Nelson Cruz on Monday, which was retaliation for the two times Mark Teixeira was hit by pitch by Vicente Padilla earlier in the game. Padilla was fined an undisclosed amount.

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Home Run Pool: Will Anybody Ever Win Again?

No winners last night. C’mon peeps.

Here is your Rangers lineup vs. Chien-Ming Wang, against whom no Rangers have ever homered:

2B Ian Kinsler, 3B Michael Young, DH Hank Blalock, RF Nelson Cruz, LF David Murphy, CF Marlon Byrd, 1B Chris Davis, C Taylor Teagarden, SS Elvis Andrus and pitching for the Rangers … RHP Brandon McCarthy .

Eric Nadel Out With Torn Retina; Send Get Well Wishes Here

Rangers radio broadcaster Eric Nadel will be out of action for an indefinite period of time with a torn retina. He is currently in surgery in New York and will return to Texas after the surgery, but will have to be basically immobilized while the surgical area heals.

Nadel, who just turned 58, has broadcast 3,176 consecutive games over the last 20 years. He last missed broadcasts from May 29-June 2, 1989 after the death of his father. This is Nadel’s 32nd year of broadcasting Rangers games.

Eric is a long-time friend – best friend-caliber – and has been an ardent supporter of the blog. I’d like to think that when he’s able to look at his computer again, I can direct him to this site where he can read any number of get well wishes from the fans.

UPDATE: Nadel is out of surgery and headed back to Texas. Surgery went well, he texted. No word on how much time he’ll miss.

The NBA Finals Have Arrived!

Ah, yes. The time has come. The wonderful first few weeks of June where every Thursday, Sunday, Tuesday, until we have a team win 4 times, we have NBA Finals basketball.

It certainly wasn’t the match-up everyone expected. The Lakers are the people’s choice, but the surprise guest is the Orlando Magic. When they lost their point guard (against the Mavericks, you may recall) Jameer Nelson, many thought that they went from a dark-horse to a team with no real chance. But, they scrambled, and have received huge efforts from various points, and between “Skip to my Lou” and the under-valued Hedo Turkoglu they have figured this thing out a bit.

To knock out the Cleveland Cavaliers in 6 games is impressive enough. Now, can they continue this run and grab their first O’Brien trophy with a shocking win over the L.A. Lakers?

I would certainly not pick them, but after that display, they should be treated with a great amount of respect. This is a dangerous team with a very impressive young stud in Dwight Howard, who has gone from a prospect who dominates the dunk competition to a guy who now deserves a spot in the “Top 5 players in the NBA” discussion.

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Road To Arlington: Rangers Minor League Report (6/4)

He didn’t figure in the outcome, but with another strong outing yesterday we here at Inside Corner are becoming increasingly impressed with Blake Beavan’s 2009 season in the Advanced-A California League.

The Irving native and 2007 first rounder went six innings last night, allowing one earned run on seven hits and a walk while striking out six.

On May 2, Beavan surrendered eight runs on eight hits in 2.2 innings at Stockton and his ERA rose to 7.88.

Since then, he’s reeled off six straight quality starts and his ERA during the run is 2.39 (knocking his overall ERA down to 4.41).

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Scott Feldman, C.J. Wilson Beat Alex Rodriguez; Rangers Beat Yankees

D-tails: Rangers 4, Yankees 2
• Boxscore, Standings, Depot live game blog
• Rangers place Padilla on waivers, seek trade

NEW YORK - There are many possible creative approaches to attacking the New York Yankees lineup. Facing Alex Rodriguez over and over with the game on the line, that’s probably not one of them.

But, hey, it worked for the Rangers Wednesday night.

In a 4-2 win over the Yankees, RHP Scott Feldman and LHP C.J. Wilson faced Rodriguez three times over the final six innings. Each time Rodriguez came to the plate, he had men on base. And each time the Rangers danced out of danger by getting Rodriguez.

The win helped the Rangers (31-21) reclaim the best record in the AL, percentage points ahead of the Yankees.

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