Little bit of a gut check, having your stopper blown out last night and a spot starter tonight.

Lets go Rangers. Davis is 3 of 4 with a double and triple in AAA.

@Scooper and others: Yes, aware that we are loading slowly. I’m told it has something to do with the weather feed that is on the main D page. Our folks are aware of it and have been trying to work it out.

My apologies. Hope you will bear with us.

The Holland move seems more of an endorsement, at least temporarily, of Hunter than an indictment of Holland.

Way too slow…. not expecting many comments tonight.

@Rangers Fan: They may also be looking for a better left hand option than eddie out of the pen. If Hunter is reliable starter than it gives them that option.

@Rangers Fan: Really? Ugh. He needs to be in the rotation.

@fox [cough, cough] that’s what I get for not reloading the page before finally posting…

Have no fear, NIPPERT is here.

@Fred,

Think Evan is just trying to stir up a conversation… it was mentioned early today that Halladay could go to the Rangers and I think the quote was “rich prospects, no money”.

The irony of all this is if Hicks had the money many teams are “sellers” and would want to get out of salaries and would not demand much in prospects. The irony, or as Col. Kurtz would said “The Horror… the horror”.

The part where they seem to screw up is they say he needs to work on his secondary pitches. Then say he will be better in the pen cause he won’t need secondary pitches as much. SO WHENS HE SUPPOSED TO LEARN?????????

I think the Rangers have the best farm in all of baseball. It’s stacked. But the question is if this org. knows how to develop them. That is something I have very little confidence in.

@Fox- I completely agree. We know he has power. He doesn’t need to show us that.

The Rangers are at an interesting point where the talent is almost but not quite MLB ready and the veteran talent is lacking. They dont have the luxury of being the Red Sox where because of the talent at the ML you can almost wait until a prospect is “more than ready”. So the question is do they bring these guys up before they are a finished product or keep sending out the vets like Eddie.

Another fly ball for Kins. How many in a row is that?

I’m happy to hear that about Davis. I hope it is a good sign of things to come.

We might as well trade the kids, they are going to be abused because the manager does not want to play them.
We have an owner that wants to build from within.
we have a president that wants to build from within.
we have a gm that wants to build from within.
we have a manager that doesnt want to play the kids,
what part doesnt fit?

In other OKC news…Feliz pitched the 9th with 14 pitches (11 strikes and 3 balls) 2 strikeouts and gave up a double.

Feliz pitches the 9th and strikes out the side.

Well I for one am against child abuse.

Hopefully Kins was watching. Thats how a leadoff hitter hits the ball.

@All: Let’s be clear that trading for Roy Halladay would in no way be a dumb trade. True ace-caliber pitchers are rare in baseball. You have the chance to grab a guy like that, who would also sit at the front of your rotation in 2010 and its not something you can easily walk away from. Yes, the Rangers may have an ace somewhere in their system, but chances are they don’t. With the playoffs on the line, there is a real difference-maker now available.

The problem is not that Halladay isn’t worth the package. The problem is the Rangers simply don’t appear to have the finances to afford Halladay.

In years past, they’ve talked of payroll flexibility, but either lacked the results or minor league talent to acquire a difference maker. This year, they have both the results and the inventory of talent; they simply can’t afford to pay the difference-maker.

@PTRF- haha we were saying the same thing last night and didn’t know it.

Guys – I’ll repeat what I said last night re/Wash playing kids. And remember, I am the biggest Holland fan in this city and I venture the only one wearing a Holland Jersey right now, so yes, I’m bummed. BUT, the pitcher taking Holland’s spot in the rotation is a rookie (tommy hunter), unless you figure he’s taking harrison’s spot. In which case its Nippert (who is also young). so, I don’t think its a refusal to play the young kids. We have a rookie and a second year guy in the rotation (2 once Harry gets back). We have a rookie starting at ss. Murphy and Salty are in the 2nd full seasons (really, the first one that salty started in the bigs). The backup cather is in his 1st full year. the RF has less than 2 yrs experience.

So let’s be a litte fair here. They want to develop pitchers but they are trying to balance the fact that they are IN FIRST PLACE. They can’t ignore that. If they think Hunter/Nippert gives them a better chance to win WHILE THEY ARE TIED FOR FIRST, they should go that route.

I hate seeing Blalock and Jones getting ABs (particularly Jones), but Davis had to go down.

But again, I’m bummed Holland won’t be starting and I would suggest sending him to OKC to go every 5th day.

Jones should not be in there. I have a bad feeling though that it is going to take a really bad streak on his part to get Washington to agree.

@JackDaddy: I think Wash has shown he will play young players. IE: CD all year I would be totally fine if they said we want Holland to go down and work on his pitches and pitch every 5th day. But what they are doing isn’t very productive in my opinion.

aflac trivia Q? Nolan Ryan?

@Ryans Dad: I couldn’t agree more. He wants to pull everything, which exacerbates (sp?) the problem. He even does his little hip twitch when he’s getting set in the box like he’s practicing opening up to pull. Drives me nuts.

He even admitted, when someone asked him about a ball he hit to right field, that it was a mistake. Said he tries to pull everything.

@rangers fan. agree.

Does anyone else agree that Byrd’s swing lacks lower body? I contend that his power #’s could be higher………..

the one thing andruw jones adds is power, which this offense doesn’t need. i sound like a broken record. there is a fascination there that I don’t quite get. My sense is that if we were cut, you wouldn’t see 5 teams try to sign him.

@B-A-S: yes, have always wondered how he gets production. But it seems to work for him.

We will see how he is used in the pen, my bet would be they put him in a bad situation, bases loaded with no out, that seems to be the mo when he was in the pen earlier.
If the rangers announce he can only command the fastball he is in trouble, what do you think the hitters will be sitting on?
How will he learn those seconday pitches when they will ask him to throw mostly FB from the pen?

Jack Daddy i bet unless someone got injured no one would sign AJ.

@Evan: Wouldn’t you agree that that 1b would have to be Smoak? I don’t think Davis would get that done.

What are the odds that if Juan Rivera gets on he will make a baserunning mistake?

Never mind.

Man, Rivera is fast becoming my mortal enemy

RF, smoak needs to hit AAA pitching before we decide he is the answer up here.
Davis is building confidence and if he hit like he did in the first 2 games for a couple of weeks you could see davis, feliz and moscoso all come up about the same time.

Evan i do that deal as long as the catcher is not Teagarden.

@Jack Daddy: “Its almost as if he bet somebody…” That’s funny, and maybe the only explanation. It was crazy what he did here after what he had built in Cleveland.

ryan’s dad.
guardado is released.
Mathis is sent down.
Jones or hank get traded.

good luck trading jones. you couldn’t get a bag of balls for him.

hi everyone. sorry i’m late and wasn’t here last night. not that i’m sure you all cared, but my softball team had our playoffs and won both! so the standings for next week are teams placed 1,3,4 and us which = 8th! hooray! we’re still celebrating

and all i have to add right now is that west coast starts mess up my sleeping time. but i fight through it. and nippert looks good. but the angels are still ranger killers.

and i don’t like the move of holland, the dutch oven, to the bull pen.

oh, and i still think with moving murf to 1st means they’re ready to get rid of hank. which = ok with me.

If you can bring in Doc Halladay for beavan, davis and teagarden/salty (while shedding padilla and blalock’s salary), you absolutely do it.

You just drafted Davis (the 3B mendonca), beavan is tommy hunter and you have catching depth (and neither is an all star caliber player).

Becca, where do you play ball?

glencoe park. off greenville and mockingbird. we aren’t good. which is why it’s fun we won. i made a few base running errors and now my team calls me ian.

lackey’s not burning this 3-0 lead. ball game

I am so confused….

Holland comes in after 3 and 2/3….to relieve Dustin NiPPERT! <——who??

Jones is starting at DH, while CRUZ is on the bench.

And we can’t score again!

@DC: it’s probably his day to throw anyway. he can come in for a few pitches.

btw, its somewhat a relief to understand why Max hasn’t been hitting. Now let’s get the wrist healthy.

I’ve been wondering when folks would catch on that Saly looks a lot like Davis when he flails. He’s a liability against LHP, but fans a lot from the other side, too. Uncharacteristic (this year) brain lapse in the 2nd, when looking at the runner.

PTRF, throwing a BP session is way different than pitching in a game.
Dont understand the pitching situation here.

@obgain: i am also terrible at batting. might not be the girl to try out a fancy bat. i use the same one i used in high school. wasn’t great then either.

but being down 3 in the 5th isn’t horrible. i have faith! they can beat these stinking angels.

@obagain: it is not unusual for teams to do this, though I don’t think he’ll go very long.

Evan, that is the confusing part of Wash’s treatment of the pen. It is all over the place and it does not follow any pattern. Mathis should of been used earlier last night so Grilli can be in the game right now.

every game there’s at least once i say ‘thank god michael young is on this team’. his consistancy just rocks my balls.

I predict Jones k’s.

oh my…Andruw Jones…

And now there’s nobody to drive these two guys home in the middle of the lineup.

still don’t like him

@Fred: Salty does not look good hitting but he will get a longer leash because he is a catcher as opposed to a 1B. Great things hitting is not expected.

I guess thats why AJ is in there.

@dc: me too

As I realize I have been watching the game :40 behind everyone else.

ha and lols @ ryans dad. i believe i was calling for hanks head in may. so yeah, it’s ok to be wrong. makes the baseball even more fun

Looks like lackey has run out of gas.

Hey, if my misplaced sarcasm creates moments like that, I’ll gladly play along.

for real though, if MY hadn’t be able to some how stay alive, next inning i truly belive would have been jones and hank starting out with two strike outs. that guy has something in him that just just doesn’t translate to stats.

everyone knows that the HR from AJ means more AJ, right?

PTRF, yea that bought him 2-3 more 0-4 nights.

that was one ###%@@%!!! AB by murph.

@jack daddy; and i’m ok with that. he’s become a force at the plate. he seems like one of the smarter batters on the team. and i like it! even if he is from baylor

I have no confidence in Salty right now.

Question for the hockey Ranger fan: Would you agree MY is to the Rangers what Modano was/sorta is to the Stars. Put up all-star numbers every year, maybe not MVP numbers, but to his team what he plays with every night doesn’t show up in the box score but simply makes the team go and elevates everyone’s game around him so much better.

salty has to feel a lot of pressure now that davis is gone. all the focus was on davis while he was here and not too many folks talked about salty’s batting. now we kinda have to face it. i think now would be a good time to give teagarden some more starts.

but of course i’m not asked.

and then BAM he hits a double!

wow. my baseball pants are getting tight.

Wow, 3 down to 3 up in 1 inning, you think the angel fans are screaming for the manager to yank lackey 3 batters ago?

WOW!!!!!!!!!

@obagain: You’re right. That was outstanding baserunning by Hank. Too many guys don’t get a big enough secondary lead and don’t read that play quick enough. Great job.

And big hit from Salty. Rangers showing some moxy.

I should get a radio talk show NOW. Only the best radio hosts could be so wrong about so many things in such a short amount of time.

Now we are into the Angels bullpen. I like our chances of bullpen vs bullpen.

really great at bat by Salty

11:03: I ask you this: Was the top of the 5th, the best inning of the year for the Rangers? They erased a 3-0 deficit, chased John Lackey, took a lead and here’s the part I like best: They had seven consecutive batters reach base with two outs.

I love the way Tag says every 3B has a gun. He’s right. Because every 3B does have a gun. But I like pooh pooh though. He’s awesome. But he did make a good point, Figgins can toss it. Too bad Beltre is hurt. Guaranteed we would have gotten at least 3 “Beltre’s got a gun”. And he does.

I’m not even drinking tonight.

Evan, I would have to think but so far with what is on the line I would say that was the best inning.

@evan – tied for the best inning with the 9th against the Ms in the King Felix start (the Davis walkoff). Still get goosebumps (of course, I was on the 8th row behind the dugout).

Holland’s yakker to start off Vlad teh Impaler was filty.

Nice shut down inning there, maybe this kid can pitch.;)

@Evan: Best inning of the year? During the pitching change, I told my wife that that was the best inning of the year. Then I took the dog outside. Then I came into my office and took the laptop off standby. Then I saw your question.

So I just think that… yeah.

I don’t know if it was the best inning of the year, but it sure felt like the longest.

I’ll say it again the best thing for Kinsler is to not make the allstar team.

@Rangers Dad: I think are right about MY. I hear some negativity towards him and I dont always understand it. He is a stand up guy, a professional hitter and is willing to do what the Rangers need him to do to help the team. I hope he is rewarded like Modano, that will be great for everyone.

becca i kinda do since i was born in june.

@rangers fan – just busting your balls. I enjoy playoff hockey (i suppose). but don’t care for either basketball or hockey regular seasons. complete waste of time.

I love football, but I lust after baseball.

My second favorite qoute of all time was by tracy ringolsby (and i’m paraphrasing) when he said that he would rather watch a spring training baseball game between 2 bad teams than the super bowl.

My favorite quote of all time, by the ways, is this:

“Gambling’s not illegal, it’s frowned upon, like… masturbating on an airplane.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s illegal too.”

“Yeah, maybe after 9/11, where everybody got so sensitive. Thanks a lot, Bin Laden!”

@Jack Daddy: The Hangover is great.

Also it looks like Holland is using all his pitches

Holland is a beast. You all need a 45 jersey. He’ll be a top 10 pitcher in bb in 4 years.

Salty has to turn around on that play.

@DC: Couldn’t agree more about Kinsler. He was other-world in spring training, and maybe started thinking about how he could have won the MVP last year. He just totally lost track of what brought him to the dance.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Please Welcome Salty to a lifetime of seeing himself on Baseball’s Most Embarrassing Moments.

becca deal

A Ranger pitcher just threw 19 pitches and only two were “called” Balls. I have entered a parallel universe somehow and don’t want to go home.

Yes, Jennings stinks

@Rangers Fan: I’m sure the only reason he took Holland out is because he was on a very strict pitch count.

I think pulling Holland was more of just plain ole Washington lunacy. This could get real ugly.

That wash is a genious.

I think Wash is one of, if not the dumbest manager in baseball, but you had to get Holland out of there. He’s on two days rest.

I’m sure Wash just wanted him to get out of the 4th, but he did it so quick he left him for the 5th. He got through that so quick he left him for the 6th, but he wasn’t going to let him go more than 20 pitches.

Having said all of that, it’s obvious that Jennings wasn’t the right choice.

Salty salty salty……. if only he caught that.

This is looking more like a Rangers game all the time.

What a stupid move by Washington…

This is plain sickening. Jennings does this nearly every time and still he gets brought in.

Really?

Please shoot me.

Argghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

This might be the season.

You had a pitcher throwing strikes and wind up with a guy who can’t. Way to go Wash.

please kill me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why is JJ still even in the game?

You just couldn’t leave Holland in any longer. What if the next guy battles with a 10+ pitch at bat. Then you’re risking injury to his arm. You had to get Holland out of there.

so anyone put in their call in the homerun pull for how many batters would get walked in by rangers pitchers? sheesh. i hate to see that. only thing that would make it worse would be a balk call. then i’d have to rip up and burn my baseball pants.

ha. best part about this, is that the rangers are still winning and i’m STILL very distraught!

Why is the run that is charged to Holland an earned run?

and i meant walked in runs. i forget to type words that are in my head sometimes. hey, i’m not perfect.

@Doug: it shouldn’t be.

It is earned? He reached on an error for what should have been the 3rd out.

@Evan: What happened to posting comments in the comment section? I always forget to look up there! And I would have liked to see Holland in there but even if you take him out. Why bring in Jennings who is not good with runners on? That’s where he should take the blame.

good point, golden one.

i hope this means more starts for teagarden. salty shouldn’t just assume that he has the spot. not with flubs like he made. luckily it didn’t end in a blood bath.

@All: Everybody recovered from that little bit of turbulence?

@even: belly kinda hurts. could have been the tacos from earlier though.

@Rangers Fan: I try to put some comments in the comments section. I make things too hard, I know. I’ll try to do better.

wow the venom. guys, all I’ll say is this: the name of the back of the jersey with the #28 says “Jennings”, not “Washington”. Hear what I’m saying? #21 says “Saltalamacchia”. not “Washington”.

is the angels pitcher named palmer? makes me think of dean palmer. he was definately one of my favorite rangers.

@Doug: I just checked MLB.com and it shows as unearned.

It will not be an earned run, it might show it but box scores lie all the time.
I showed one last night that went
foul, ball, foul swinging strike, swinging strike, foul ball, ground out.

What? Rangers without turbulence is the same as saying the only thing separating the north pole and Oklahoma is a bare wire fence. It is a given.

“For those who say that Holland couldn’t go past 20 pitches therefore Wash had to take him out….today would be his normal side session and he would be throwing 45 pitches in the bullpen. Finishing the inning would be nothing.”

That’s exactly right –claiming that he will “ruin his arm” throwing-4-8 more pitches is absolutely ridiculous…good grief

Not sure which I liked less: Salty’s inattentive error or Wash’s move, with a bunch of lefties coming up after the RH batter.

Evan, did you mean that Salty was good at dropping pop ups, or good at catching pop ups?

So cj will be expected to get 4 outs tonight.

@Ryans Dad: Meant he’s good at catching them. Let me make that clear. I think that drop was an aberration.

bad luck there (seamheads). 77.6% of time that’s dp grounder to MY. Gonna ask CJ to get 5 outs tonight?

All of this started because your starter could give you 5 (much less 6). And why is he starting sunday over Derek?

11:50: Can 343 fall tonight? Got two innings to go and we are closing in on another 300-comment game. Is it in you?

and to the flubbed pop-up, i bet teagarden would have caught is. not that we’d know, since, you know, he does get a ton of playing time.

ha. i’m just being snarky. but i would like to see more evened out playing time between those two guys.

@Old Tom: The pitching coach makes suggestions and recommendations, but ultimately it’s Washington’s responsibility. And it would be the height of hypocrisy for him to take credit for good moves and to blame Mike Maddux when moves didn’t work out. I’m sure Washington was acting on Mike Maddux’s advice there and most of the time.

If CJ walks Izturis I’m calling a Grand Snapoli.

I just have to say that I hate Anaheim Angels Stadium of Anaheim or whatever it’s called….

ALWAYS just waiting for something terrible to happen…

And yes to more Teagarden….

It was nice to hear that Chris Davis went 4 for 4 tonight for Oklahoma City.
Bases loaded, get out your drink of choice, Ranger fans….

Lets see some strikes.

Napoli is a total CHEESEBALL with that jersey and necklace…

Thats ok ryans dad, we will tell you what happens.

Never a doubt.

i think my baseball pants just exploded. happy and/or shocked the 7th ended.

@alan Tonights, hands down. Millwood just got blasted last night, no doubt about it. But if this gets marked down as a loss, Ranger fans are gonna be pointing fingers at one Ron Washington for some questionable moves, not to mention an untimely Salty error. But hey, we’re 6 outs away from a win and a share of the lead!

Man….I was TOTALLY not worried there.

We need some GEICO now baby!

Got a runner. Let’s see some magic from our ROY candidate….

@Irish- no doubt…I’ll take his walk over a homerun right now. It was after he got down 0-2.

@Fox: You’ve alway got Guardado

Evan, the site seems to be running much better now.

Eddie’s my boy

have to get this run in here

OK, let’s see Kinsler in a run producing situation.

POP UP?

Hey, at least Kinsler can be productive with a fly ball here.

I’m calling for an end to Kinsler’s slump…NOW

You got the right guy up for a fly ball

I am so tired about hearing IAN KINSLER and ALL-STAR GAME in the same sentence…if he deserved it and had done his part he would have already been on the dang team!

Everything out of the strike zone, but Kins is swinging.

You’re welcome.

Kinsler with a double! Aw yeah!

Success!

MY homer right here!

puttin’ in the call.

What’s funny is if you are looking at Kins box score the last two nights he has 3 RBI’s a HR and a double. Looks pretty decent from 35,000ft.

All is forgiven. Where is that voting site again?

This comment is for the sole purpose of pushing this closer to 343.

Nevermind.

That is easy, we are shooting for 400.

Who’s on the bench that bat’s righthanded?

Nevermind, we don’t have another 1st baseman.

How old is Darren Oliver now? It feels like he’s been in the league for 20 years now. Is he Oil Can Boyd old? Ha!

@Part-Time Ranger Fan: Your comment actually tied the record.

@TD: You set it tonight.

@obagain: OK, you have called the new mark, so let’s get going.

woot woot! double steal.

Double Steal, gotta love it. It’s beautimous!

I thought we got to 500 before.

good work, team. (rangers and you guys)

@ alan – Not to foreshadow too harsh, but have you seen the last 7 games of the season for the Rangers? If this win was on one of those dates and for the division, then you’d be talking….

Ryans dad, that was in extra innings.

@Kyle: Again, I say he had thrown 19 or 20 pitches in the game. He had thrown 28 warmup pitches (14 when coming into the 4th, 7 before the 5th and 7 before the 6th) and another who knows how many (20?) in the bullpen. That’s 67 pitches on a day that he would normally throw 45.

You can’t assume that he would have a quick at bat. You have to have a plan when he comes into the game and the plan had to be “no more than 20 pitches”.

Oh that’s right. They are all starting to run together.

Darren Oliver is 157 years old. Frank Sinatra told me one day at the barber shop.

@Ryans Dad: We got to 588 during the Rangers-D’Backs 12-inning game, but that was the extra inning record. We are shooting for the nine-inning record tonight….

@becca: He left after the 2001 season, traded to Boston for Carl Everett.

man, Andrus is soooo smooth

Reason #10 to love Ian Kinsler – because if you have him on your fantasy head-to-head team, he can go 0-4 and still can up in the 8th inning and get you 5 points (double, rbi and SB).

With CJ pitching we are sure to have a lot of time to post.

CJ hittin 97, you know he wants this. Here comes some junk.

Oh, I meant 139

now i like that infield play

D-FENSE!
D-FENSE!

sry, slipped into football mode

AP- Toronto-The San Francisco Giants and Toronto Blue Jays have agreed on a 7 player deal. The San Francisco Giants will be sending outfielder Fred Lewis, infielder Kevin Frandsen, pitcher Bobby Howry, closer Brian Wilson and Minor League pitcher Kevin Kusetas who is 9-2 in AAA in exchange for Pitcher Roy Halladay and Infielder Adam Lind. The deal is pending league approval and Roy Halladay must waive his no-trade clause to the deal.

So much for that….

Alzheimer’s has set in on Mr. Oliver. He doesn’t even know where he’s supposed to be.

it’s probably a good thing halladay didn’t come here. my baseball pants, that already exploded, would not have been able to handle his extreme awesomeness.

Or maybe the old man just couldn’t hear him. Ehh?

solid hit for murphy…too bad it was right at the first-baseman

Halladay and Lind? Kusetas must be a bad-a$$.

Evan, what would the equivalent of that be for us?

Murphy, Vallejo, Feldan, CJ and Feliz?

Glad halladay is off the board so we dont have to worry about that.

well we broke 400.. woo!

irish where did you see that story about holliday

@Ip1
Just pointing out the atmospheric conditions, sir

Alright, Frankie, let’s do this 1-2-3. No horsin around…

@Rangers Fan me too

@irishP1 – not seeing anything on that trade anywhere and can’t imagine that package would nab both Halladay AND Lind.

frankie’s high heat is so tough to handle, especially when the low heat follows it. he made toriiiii look stupid

I like the chances of those boys goin all the way now.

@Jack Daddy: Yes, if they got both of those guys it’s a tremendous deal for SF.

Suck it, GMj

Frankie is bringing HEAT

That is why you want those extra runs.

Man, Juan can hit

OK- are we sure that the pink shirt guy is Borbon? He was applauding the homerun and if that is him…that ticks me off.

Good game, woo!

Back to a tie for first.

i need to be feelin the love……..look at the streak my guy has………gotta be happy to up the ante, right?

Great win for the good guys, hello first place again, we missed you.

If the Giants pulled off Lind AND Halladay for that package, then I’m really bummed. Pucetas sounds like a blake beavan comp.

Feldman, Beavan, Vallejo, CJ and Byrd for Halladay and Adam freaking Lind? very interesting. CJ is the only part of that gives me pause.

The bats are back! Gritty job by the pitchers, given the lapses by Jennings and O’Day. Nippert was about what I expected. Once more, why is Holland going to the bullpen?

McWho?

Ryan’s Dad, Agree. Guess they are roster constrained from bringing up Pirate or Henckley (sp).

Post game celebration looked a little calmed down to me. I like that… 5 games to the break and we need at least 3

FSN just told me that Evan reports that Nip gets the start Sunday. And I’m in a chat run by Evan.

My head hurts.