Forget Fireworks Night; It Was Goose Egg Night Again As Texas Rangers Rough Up Dodgers, 6-0

+ Box score + In game blog

ARLINGTON - Beating the Oaklands and Seattles to build a lead in the AL West since early May, the Rangers went out Friday night and looked like a complete team in shutting out the team with the best record in the major leagues. In blanking the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-0, the Rangers tossed their second consecutive shutout, made nearly every tough play in the field and got production throughout their lineup.

Said manager Ron Washington: “We swung the bats. We played defense. We pitched. We did whatever the game asked us to do.”

And when the game was still in doubt in the fifth inning, winning pitcher Vicente Padilla made a change in the middle of an at-bat that might have played a significant role in the outcome.

(more…)

Depot: Live Rangers-Dodgers Blog, News And Notes

7:00: With SS Omar Vizquel one hit shy of tying the record for career major league hits by a Venezuelan native, Ron Washington said he wants Vizquel to break the record in Arlington and penciled him in tonight. Washington said he plans to start Vizquel once in next week’s homestand-ending series against Houston if he’s still short of the mark, before the Rangers head off to San Francisco and Arizona. (Becca has already picked tonight in her Vizquel Pool.)

(more…)

Sans Francisco: Frankie’s Better, Not Good Enough

ARLINGTON - After Rangers BP, Ron Washington said closer Frank Francisco’s throwing session this afternoon went well and he felt good but hasn’t reached the point that he’ll be available tonight. Still day to day, Washington said.

Pooling Your Thoughts Regarding Tonight’s First Home Run

ARLINGTON - Evan isn’t in the starting lineup in the press box tonight. Maybe he’s finally doing his taxes. But here is the Rangers’ lineup against Dodgers RHP Hiroki Kuroda, back in the rotation for a third start after going out in early April with a strained oblique. Overall, a 1.62 ERA and has allowed two earned in 11 innings since returning:

1. Kinsler 2B; 2. Young 3B; 3. Blalock (L) DH; 4. Cruz RF; 5. Murphy (L) LF; 6. Byrd CF; 7. Davis (L) 1B; 8. Teagarden C; 9. Vizquel SS.

Draft Q&A With Kevin Goldstein From Baseball Prospectus

Following one farm system closely year after year has taught me one thing above all else: the guys who manage to do so for 30 systems are supermen. And the guys who add amatuer prospects to their plate are insane geniuses.

Nobody I know has more propspecty information in his giant baseball brain than my friend Kevin Goldstein from Baseball Prospectus. KG was kind enough to share his thoughts on the Rangers draft with me over the phone this morning. Check it out after the jump.

(more…)

Ask Sports Sturm: Bethpage, August, and Cleveland

Before we get into some of the other items we have for today, I do want to offer you a picture and a thought about the rare Stanley Cup Finals Game 7 tonight in Detroit.

First, I am a big fan of the man with the beard on the left. Bill Guerin is one of the classiest humans I have ever met in pro sports. I want success to find him, and to get his name on the holy grail (again) would make me very happy.

Also, I am not a big fan of the Detroit Red Wings. They are my life-long hockey nemesis. I wish failure upon them and even more failure on their fans. It is very similar to my feeling about the Spurs, so before you email me and tell me how jealous I am – let me cut you off at the pass and admit it. I am. It doesn’t mean you have to be smug about it, and it sure doesn’t mean you have to win all of the time.

Anyway, now that I have declared my love for Guerin and my hate for the Wings, let’s figure out what the Penguins are up against tonight as they try to win a Game 7 on the road in the Stanley Cup Finals.

(more…)

The Godfather: Newberg On Rebuilding The Rangers

It’s sort of an oddity that the MLB club with probably the least glorious history has spawned one of the deepest, best and most passionate cyber communities and so many quality websites, but the reason is that the whole concept of thoughtful, well-written, analytical MLB fansites was developed by a Rangers fan.

When Jamey Newberg started sending out e-mails to a few of his friends (including me) back in May of 1998, he invented the genre’ of analytical fan site / blog. And pretty much every one of us who started writing about the Rangers as a hobby can trace our roots back to Jamey in some way shape or form. That’s why he’s The Godfather of baseball blogging, especially in Texas.

So as a guy who owes Jamey a lot, counts him among his closest friends and who has read virtually every one of his reports over these past 11 years, I can say with some confidence that he’s just unleashed his greatest report ever.

In the unlikely event you are not already on Jamey’s e-mail list, you must click here to read his massive report on how Jon Daniels and his deputy Thad Levine went about creating a blueprint to change the course of the Rangers franchise. It’s the must-read piece of the year.

Road To Arlington: Rangers Minor League Report (6/12)

A miserable night on the farm. Four bad losses with no offensive firepower to be found anywhere while sketchy defense and sloppy pitching performances littered the box scores. Not even Matt Harrison’s rehab start was as good as it looks at first glance.

(more…)

Top Ten List: Things That Stand Out About Texas Rangers 1-0 Win Over Toronto

D-tails: Rangers 1, Toronto 0
• Boxscore, Standings, Depot game blog
• Rangers sign “El Duque” Hernandez to minor league deal

ARLINGTON – Despite the tiny little score, there were plenty of story lines to come out of Thursday’s win over Toronto. We’ll discuss several of them in more depth Friday morning, but in the meantime, here are 10 things that really stand out about the game:

10. 2B Ian Kinsler and DH Andruw Jones both were 0-for-4 and the last month has not been kind to either. Kinsler is hitting .200 for the last 31 days with a .328 on-base percentage. Jones is hitting .180 with a .259 OBP for the same time.

9. 3B Michael Young did not reach base bia a hit or walk during the series, going 0-for-13 and watching his batting average slide from .336 to .318. You have to go back to a late July series against Seattle in 2002 to find a series of at least three games in which he recorded neither a hit or walk.

(more…)

Josh Hamilton Plans On Playing In All-Star Game If Asked

ARLINGTON – Josh Hamilton returned to the Rangers clubhouse on Thursday and indicated that he expects to be on the short end of the suggested four-to-six week recovery period from his surgery to repair a torn abdominal wall muscle.

Hamilton said he intendes to play in the All-Star Game in St. Louis if he’s voted on the team. The All-Star Game is 33 days – 4 ½ weeks – away.

“If I’m asked to play, I plan to play,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton started walking on a treadmill the day after the surgery in Philadelphia. He said doctors have told him he could resume baseball-related activities in about 10 days.

“I know what I’ve got to do to get back and I’ve got a plan of action to do it,” Hamilton said.