D

  1. Find It
    Food & Drink
    Health Care
    Prof. Services
    Shopping
    Beauty
    Weddings
    Home & Garden
  2. Blogs
  3. Videos
  4. Buzzworthy
  5. Magazines

Live Blog Feed

  1. Blogs
  2. Best of Big D
  3. Restaurants
  4. Bars
  5. Entertainment
  6. Party Pics
  1. Home
  2. Shopping
  3. Home & Garden
  4. Real Estate
  5. Weddings
  6. Find a Doctor
  7. Find a Lawyer
  8. Giveaways

Post-Game Show: Padres 2, Rangers 0

Posted on June 28th, 2009 9:36pm by Evan Grant
Filed under Baseball, Post-Game Wrap up, Talkin' baseball, Texas Rangers

Three Up and Three Down from Rangers Ballpark in Arlington where interleague play came to another not-so-exciting end Sunday.

Three Up
• RHP Tommy Hunter made a strong bid to stick around for at least one more start by pitching into the seventh inning and llowing just a pair of runs. Hunter has made two spot starts for the Rangers this year and both have been more than adequate.
• There were a lot of cute dogs at the park for dog night.
• I’m dragging out dogs for the second point; you think I’ve got anything for No. 3?

Three Down
• The Rangers recorded one hit off Chad Gaudin in eight innings. Chad Gaudin came into the game 19-24 with a 4.90 ERA in his 61 previous career starts. He had been released by the Cubs at the end of spring training before catching on with the Padres.
• Andruw Jones, who hit into a double-play to end the game, was 0-for-4 and is hitting .206 since May 1. The Rangers need other options at cleanup; they are not getting production there.
• The Rangers are not taking advantage of a month spent mostly at home. They are now 5-7 in Arlington in June.

Bookmark and Share
14 Comments to “Post-Game Show: Padres 2, Rangers 0”
  • The Beer Guy @ June 28th, 2009 at 9:42 pm

    You have got to be kidding me. Absolutely the WORST series this season. There is NO WAY the ridiculously pathetic Padres should have won ONE game from us, much less take the series 2-1.

    Why in the world do we get shut down by scrub pitchers like this?? Willis, Gaudin, Janssen, Tallet…Good grief.

    I don’t know what else to say. This is inexcusable and these overpaid goons should be ashamed of themselves (Jones, Blalock, Kinsler, Davis…heck, most of the batting order!).

  • Greg @ June 28th, 2009 at 9:43 pm

    At what point does Smoak become an option to try and spark some life into this lineup? Or are they hoping Hamilton helps bring them around?

  • becca @ June 28th, 2009 at 9:46 pm

    third up: game over in time to be in bed at a decent hour? i’m stretching here.

  • Ryan s @ June 28th, 2009 at 9:54 pm

    Don’t look now but Seattle is closing fast. A bad series against the halos and we may be in 3rd place…

    Remember when everyone got upset about guys like Sosa and hidalgo being big off season moves. Does anyone think hank is an upgrade over Sosa? How about jones? He’ll, nelson cruz is showing why he has never played a full season above AAA.

    On a positive note, I brought my dog to the game and he qualified for a quality start, he lasted 6 innings and only barked at 3 people. Had to leave in the seventh as he was about to unload a pile in section 6.

  • Little O @ June 28th, 2009 at 10:35 pm

    Speaking of dogs… how about that potent Rangers offense???

    It’s not the end of the season yet but some quality at bats sure would be a good start. Whatever happened to the offense from the first part of the season that was pulling off double steals, laying down sacrifices, getting walks and timely hits?

  • Jack Daddy @ June 28th, 2009 at 10:59 pm

    Just got back from game. This is an official word from the VOICE OF THE FAN:

    Get rid of Andruw Jones and Hank Blalock NOW and pull up Borbon and (as soon as he’s ready) Max Ramirez. Smoak up on September 1.

    I have no problem being patient with struggling YOUNG hitter (Elvis, Salty, Davis, Cruz) – you expect that they (and you) will be better for it. Why are we riding out 3 months of below average play by tthese downside veterans? In the words of Blake Beavan – our youngs guys couldn’t do any worse.

    I have lost my patience with these guys. We aren’t slumping – this is what it is. The OBP of these guys is putrid. In hindsight, keeping Jones AND Blalock over Pussy Cat was a terrible move. I’m not blaming mgmt for that decision – I am getting hot under the collar for making it worse by not acting.

    Borbon is a HOT hitter right now and brings things that this offense NEEDS. Plus, Byrd is being exposed as an over -exposed 4th OF. Byrd, cruz and Murphy should be splitting LF and DH (with Hammy in right). PERIOD. Not willing to debate it. we need to prep for 2010 NOW.

  • Jack Daddy @ June 28th, 2009 at 11:13 pm

    ok, now that I have ranted, I can dig a little deeper and expand, making essentially the point that Ryan S did.

    Doesn’t 3 months of performance constitute enough? How much longer do we go with some of these guys? Sosa, SOSA! performed better than this and everyone realized THAT was not going to cut it. We ran off Broussard, Wilkerson, Hidalgo, etc. At some point (its the end of JUNE!!!), performance has to count. Like I said, its not the same analysis as it is with our younger guys. You ride them out because that is the RIGHT move. Blalock and Jones won’t be here next year. Its a sunk cost on Blalock. Move on. Start the Major League learning curve NOW on Borbon and Max so you have it out of the way next April. I realize Max hasn’t done anything, but that appears to be wrist related and he is pulling out of it.

    I also know you might not want to put too much pressure on Borbon — fine, wait until Josh comes back next week. That should be a double move. Activate Josh as the RF/DH and promote Borbon. He could give the same boost that Jacob Elsb. did in 07. Their minor league #s are very similar. This move NEEDS to happen.

    Then you bring up Ramirez to DH as soon as he starts clicking. I’m not insistent that Smoak come up. I woudl be fine leaving him down there all year, though I would think a 9/1 callup would be in order.

    That’s probably it, though I am very intrigued by the absolute mashing that Mooreland is doing at 2 levels now.

    DON’T touch the pitching. Leave Holland in every 5 days. Leave Hunter in until McCarthy comes back (or Harrison). Leave the bullpen alone, though I don’t understand why you wouldn’t get Murray up to see what you might have for next year.

    But you must address the offense. Its so one dimenension and below par right now.

  • Jack Daddy @ June 28th, 2009 at 11:17 pm

    One more thing – the fact that we lost this series is a disgrace. This lineup was a joke and they were partying until 5 a.m. each night. Trust me, I know. I have a close friend (best man at wedding close) that knows a very prominant member of team. They partied like it in the movie The Hangover every night (including after getting drilled Friday). Their own pitchers think their hitters are a joke.

    Chad Gaudin? Really? That was the worst showing I have ever seen by this team at the plate. But should it be surprising? 2 of the 9 hitters are a joke. Add that to 3 very young hitters and the 4 balls that were hit hard going right at somebody, and the recipe is one for disaster.

    Bottom line and the cold hard truth? This offense is very poor. Josh will help but he won’t cure.

  • Chris @ June 29th, 2009 at 8:02 am

    FIRE RUDY JARAMILLO.

    BEFORE he ruins our young hitters! I am sick of hearing how great he is, when the results are horrible. he has no idea how to teach a batter to play the count, or small ball. GET RID OF HIM!!!!

  • Casey Abell @ June 29th, 2009 at 8:40 am

    What’s the big deal with Borbon? He puts up a pretty batting average, which means nothing. Meanwhile, he draws no walks and hits with no power. He’s taken a big step backwards this year at AAA with a .746 OPS. He might do .690 in the majors, at best. The belief that he’s some kind of savior for the Rangers offense is delusional.

    Smoak offers far more potential with a .941 OPS at AA. But he’s very young and might well struggle if you leapfrog him over AAA. Ramirez has just been awful at AAA this year (.633), as even the previous poster admitted.

    The blunt fact is that there’s no quick fix for the Rangers’ offense in the minors. If the team falls out of contention over the next 7-10 days against the Angels, you may well see the kids brought up. But don’t expect any kind of offensive turnaround as a result.

  • haiku man @ June 29th, 2009 at 9:08 am

    bats are M.I.A
    what happened to our “O” face
    T-ball quality

  • Jack Daddy @ June 29th, 2009 at 11:23 am

    @Casey:

    Borbon’s OBP is .365, which would immediately vault toward the top on this team. We don’t need a slugger to come in here. We have those. We need somebody to come in here and get on base.

    Furthermore, you can’t just look at Borbon’s slugging% in isolation. You have to figure in the impact that SBs would have on it. For example, if he singles (or walks) and steals second, that is as good as a double. I would be curious to see the impact of the suggling % adjusted for both steals and caught stealing. I would suspect that you would see quite a jump.

    Not to mention, going from 1st to 3rd on a hit.

  • Jack Daddy @ June 29th, 2009 at 1:07 pm

    When you facor in Borbon’s net steals, his slugging % is .437 and his ops is .802

  • Casey Abell @ June 30th, 2009 at 7:15 am

    Borbon’s OBP is okay at AAA, though it’s nothing special. But he shows little plate discipline, which major league pitchers will work all over. He has no power and will be lucky to get to a .690 OPS in the majors. That won’t help this team, no way no how. Right now this team DOES need sluggers, and badly. Nobody’s hitting the ball much at all.

    As for stealing a base every four or five games, big deal. Stolen bases are the most overrated part of offense and contribute little to the bottom-line run total.

    Borbon’s “efforts” is his first game will be all too typical, I’m afraid. Yeah, I know it’s only one game. But it exposed all his weaknesses: no strike zone judgment and no power. He’s another Andrus at the plate, with even less pop in the bat. And you’ve seen how much Andrus has helped the offense with his .696 OPS.

    The Rangers will probably be out of contention shortly, after they drop most of the upcoming games to the Angels. Borbon will get playing time, I guess, but he won’t help the offense much at all.