Post-Game Show: Rangers 6, Red Sox 3

D-tails
• Boxscore, standings

Three Up
• 3B Michael Young, who had never faced John Smoltz before, singled, doubled and homered in his first three at-bats. The double led to the Rangers’ first run. The homer tied the game. Oh, and he made a whiz-bang catch along the Red Sox dugout to retire David Ortiz.
• LF David Murphy, who hit .296 in June to push his batting average towards respectability, is hitting .433 (13-for-30) in his last 10 games to cross the .280 threshold for the season.
• With RHP Frankie Francisco out, LHP C.J. Wilson was called on to go more than an inning for the second straight night. After using 28 pitches to get through two innings Sunday, Wilson needed just 17 to get four outs on Monday.

Three Down
• Though he did walk, DH Andruw Jones was hitless in three at-bats. He’s 1-for-9 since the All-Star break and has just two hits, both singles, since hitting homers in his first three at-bats at Los Angeles on July 8.
• There were a lot of Red Sox fans in the house, making it seem as much a road game as a home game for the Rangers.
• The Angels were rained out on Monday, depriving the Rangers the chance of gaining a full game in the AL West rather than just a half.

The Depot: Live Rangers-Red Sox Game Blog, News, Notes And, Of Course, Pithy Commentary

6:11: The homer pool is still open for you homer pool-loving fans.

7:07: We are ready for the baseball. And if you need to catch up on the day’s activities, here is a helpful guide: RHP Frank Francisco has pnuemonia, but it’s walking pnuemonia; David Murphy is suddenly torching lefties; and in case you missed our top 10 most interesting Dallas sports personalities for the week, you can always find it here.

7:10: Tickets for tomorrow’s InsideCorner get together in the Home Run Porch are still available by going here. Use the word “inside” as your coupon code. Tickets are $25 and include all you can eat basic ballpark fare. We’ve got about 60 tickets sold. I’d like to reach triple digits, just like the temperature. We have no formal activities planned this time around. But I’m open to ideas for the future. So, consider this me imploring you to buy tickets.

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Texas Rangers Notes: Outfielder David Murphy Gets Left-Handed Compliment; Nelson Cruz Out Again

• Also: Frank Francisco on DL with pnuemonia

ARLINGTON - With the Rangers crowded house in the outfield, it may be difficult for David Murphy to guarantee himself full-time status, but he’s certainly showing that patience can be a virtue in attacking the biggest perceived weakness in his offensive game.

In a rare start against a left-handed pitcher Sunday, Murphy saw 21 pitches in four plate appearances against lefties and responded by reaching base three times. It’s the first time in his career he’s reached base three times vs. left-handed pitchers in one game. Murphy had a pair of hits and walked once vs. LHP Francisco Liriano. He struck out on a seven-pitch at-bat against LHP Brian Duensing in the 11th.

Murphy is hitting only .194 against lefties this season, but after starting out 1-for-18 with one walk, he is 6-for-18 with five walks for a .478 on-base percentage since June 1.

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Rangers Frank Francisco Headed To Disabled List

UPDATED (4:25 p.m.)

ARLINGTON – RHP Frank Francisco has walking pnuemonia and is headed to the disasbled list. The Rangers have recalled RHP Willie Eyre to replace Francisco, whose DL placement is retroactive to July 11. He would be eligible to return on Sunday when the Rangers are in Kansas City if he responds to medication.

Francisco was first bothered by flu-like symptoms on Saturday night and the situation got progressively worse on Sunday. He was unavailable to pitch in Sunday’s 5-3 12-inning win over Minnesota. He was told not to report to the ballpark on Monday. If the Rangers have a save opportunity on Monday, it’s likely they will turn to LHP C.J. Wilson, even though he threw 28 pitches in two innings of work on Sunday.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Rangers Homer Pool

Time for yet another round. But first, how to decide last night’s winner between Auditor (Ian Kinsler, leadoff, 2-2 count, 400 feet) and Last of The Romohicans (Kinsler, leadoff, 2-1 count, 417 feet). Kinsler actually hit a leadoff homer on an 0-and-1 count that traveled 403 feet. By my figuring, Romohicans was one pitch closer than the Auditor, but Auditor was within three feet of the homer’s distance while Romo was 14 feet off. Here’s what I’m going to do: I’m going to ensure they both get Dr Pepper products. And I’ll leave it up to you to decide who should get the autographed baseball.

So when you play today, please also simply add “Auditor” or “Romohicans” to your entry. And you two – no contacting family members and friends to jam the ballot box!

Here is your Rangers’ lineup against RHP John Smoltz: 2B Ian Kinsler, 3B Michael Young, RF Josh Hamilton, DH Andruw Jones, 1B  Hank Blalock, CF Marlon Byrd, LF David Murphy, C Jarrod Saltalamacchia, SS Elvis Andrus and pitching for the Rangers … RHP Kevin Millwood.

Series Preview: Red Sox at Rangers

When the Rangers went to Boston back in June, they managed two wins by sending Kevin Millwood and Vicente Padilla to the mound, both of whom shut the Red Sox down over seven innings of work. Texas’ only loss in Beantown came when Derek Holland was matched against a near perfect Jon Lester. Now that the Sox are in Arlington for a three-game series, the Rangers plan to send Millwood and Padilla back out for starts, with 23-year-old Tommy Hunter going in between. On the surface, it seems like matchup that would favor the Rangers, at least based on what happened a month ago. And Texas won’t even have to face Lester.

But what they will have to face just might be even worse. The Red Sox will start veteran John Smoltz tonight against Millwood. Although Smoltz is just 1-2 with a 5.40 ERA, he’s coming off the best start of his short season, allowing just one run over five innings against the Royals while striking out seven. Smoltz is seventh among active players with a 3.27 career ERA, a number that he’s lowered since turning 40 in 2007. When he’s healthy, he’s still tough. And that’s just the first course.

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Weekend In Review

The All-Star Game probably won’t mean much to 28 teams come October. And for the time being, it probably doesn’t mean much to most people. But when your most dangerous offensive threat has missed half the season with injuries and has struggled even when healthy, you’ll take any signs of progress. Which is why Ron Washington sounded so encouraged by Josh Hamilton’s performance in St. Louis last Tuesday. And he seemed to be right, at least for a day. Hamilton went 3-4 with three RBI in the opening game Friday night, but followed with 0-4 and 0-5 performances against Scott Baker and Francisco Liriano to finish the series with Minnesota. The silver lining is still there, as nobody could hit Baker and Liriano is notoriously tough on left-handed hitters, but with three Red Sox righties due up in Arlington starting tonight, the Rangers need Hamilton to help heal the hurting offense.

Another name the Rangers would love to see producing in Texas soon is Chris Davis. It’s hard to project exactly how long the Rangers plan to keep Davis in triple-A, but so long as he maintains a 1.200+ OPS in the minors, he’s probably never far from being sent back up.

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MGM: Watson, Cowboys Stadium, and Paula.

Looking back at the weekend in sports, I am tempted to say that this is one of those weekend’s that golf fans will never forget. Dan and I talked British Open on Friday afternoon on the radio and we were discussing the impact of Tiger Woods missing the cut and how that might affect our viewing habits.

We both love Tiger Woods, and all that he has done to impact golf. But, where we part ways is that my love of the majors is almost unaffected by Tiger’s and Phil’s presence (or absence). I wish they were there, but I will watch the entire weekend of a major regardless of who is there. It isn’t the players – it is the event. I don’t need the Yankees to watch the World Series; I don’t need the Cowboys to watch the Super Bowl; and I don’t need Tiger and Phil to lock in on Sunday for as long as they need me for the British Open on the 3rd weekend of July each year.

If you give your full attention to the back 9 of a major on a Sunday, you are almost guarenteed to witness gold. The tension and excitement of a Sunday at a major is often unmatched. And Sunday was off the charts.

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The Top 10: The Most Interesting Men In The Dallas Sports World – At Least For This Week

Will we rank the area’s most intriguing/interesting/important sports figures on a weekly basis? It’s our intention. But who knows how it will go. Feel free to adjust, discuss, ridicule or praise our rankings.

10. Rodrigue Beaubois: First-rounder scores 23 in leading Mavs to victory. Probably won’t be duplicating that line during the regular season.

9. Tom Watson: Sure, he’s not from Dallas and is one of a half-dozen pro golfers who don’t call the area home. But he’s 59 and took the British Open to a playoff. He’s intriguing in anyone’s rankings.

8. Ian Kinsler: Maybe leadoff homer/walk-off homer on Sunday will get him going. Rangers offense desperately needs it.

7. Josh Hamilton: Speaking of guys the Rangers offense desperately needs. At least there were subtle signs at All-Star Game and in first game back from break that maybe he’s found his swing.

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Texas Rangers Benefit From Pen’s Pack Mentality

ARLINGTON - Rangers relievers recently began sporting “Wolf Pack” t-shirts around the clubhouse, designed by C.J. Wilson and inspired by the stirring cinematic oratory found in the “The Hangover.” On Sunday night, the movie theme might have been “As Good As It Gets.” Five relievers worked eight scoreless innings as the Rangers rallied from a 3-1 fourth-inning deficit to beat Minnesota 5-3 in 12 innings when Ian Kinsler finally got around to hitting his second home run of the night. The win matched the Angels’ extra-inning win at Oakland and keeps the Rangers within three games of first place in the A.L. West.

“Every single guy who came out of that bullpen tonight deserved a star,” manager Ron Washington said. Wilson said the Pack actually would like to hand out little stars, like those stickers on football helmets for good plays, but noted, “We’re not allowed to modify our uniform.”

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Road To Arlington: Rangers Farm Report (7/20)

Pitchers take a beating while a couple of right fielders continue to make a name for themselves.

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