Post-Game Show: Rangers 4, Red Sox 2

• Box score

Three up

• Raise your hand if you knew Tommy Hunter, an Oklahoma RedHawk with a 3.83 ERA a month ago, would defeat Josh Beckett. Hunter has a 2.17 ERA this season as a Ranger counting that emergency start in May, only 1.52 in the four starts since filling in for Matt Harrison. Last year at Boston, he got five hitters out and surrendered nine earned runs. Tuesday night, four hits and one walk in six innings.

• Maybe it’s “everyday” O’Day and C.J. With Frank Francisco on the disabled list, the Rangers converted another save situation without their closer as the aforementioned duo each worked their third consecutive night.

• Whether Ian Kinsler gets hits or not, he keeps trying to win in other ways. On Tuesday, he called and led that double steal with Andruw Jones in the first. He caught two foul outs, one in serious traffic (meaning he crashed into the short brick wall). And he advanced a runner to third in the bottom of the eighth to help engineer the final run.

Three down

• Francisco already ailing and on the DL, Omar Vizquel was pulled from the lineup with flu-like symptoms and Eddie Guardado wasn’t available in a short bullpen because he was sick.

• Just who will be available in the Texas bullpen on Wednesday night?

• Barring a miraculous comeback by the Royals in Game 2 on Tuesday night in Kansas City, the victorious Rangers will lose ground to the Angels.

Rangers Battling Clubhouse Flu Pandemic

ARLINGTON - The Rangers sick bay now has three patients. And counting.

Assistant GM Thad Levine confirmed that both LHP Eddie Guardado and INF Omar Vizquel both were unavailable with flu-like symptoms on Tuesday a day after putting RHP Frank Francisco on the DL with walking pnuemonia. Levine said there was a significant differences in the illnesses Guardado and Vizquel are dealing with and the viral infection that has knocked Francisco out of action.

Levine also said the club is taking precautions to try and ensure the flu bug doesn’t spread further. He also said team doctors do not believe the problem to be related to Swine Flue. It’s uncertain if other members of the team have been dealing with the issue.

“We’ve spoken with our doctors and they don’t think what we have is contagious,” Levine said. “We are taking precautions and we have a very clean clubhouse. We sent Eddie home [Tuesday] as a precaution against anything else.”

Depot: Rangers-Red Sox In-Game Blog, News, Notes While Evan Is On Field Trip In HR Porch

ARLINGTON - Omar Vizquel was just scratched from the starting lineup with flu-like symptoms, replaced by Elvis Andrus.

And bad news for knuckleball fans. Tim Wakefield, originally scheduled to start Wednesday night’s series finale for Boston, has been placed on the disabled list with a bad back. Nederland’s own Clay Buchholz was recalled and will start against Vicente Padilla.

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Tuesday Night Home Run Pool*

ARLINGTON - I begin with an asterisk since some Cornerians have noted they must abandon their keyboards to attend Evan’s soiree. Could be there will be dueling Pools tonight, one here and another out in the Porch. I’ll leave that up to Commissioner Grant. That said, the lineup that will face Josh Beckett:

1. Ian Kinsler, 2b; 2. Michael Young, 3b; 3. Josh Hamilton cf; 4. Andruw Jones, dh; 5. Hank Blalock, 1b; 6. Marlon Byrd, rf; 7. David Murphy, lf; 8. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, c; 9. Omar Vizquel, ss.

‘Pen Is Mightier: For 40 Days and 40 Nights, Rangers Relievers Have Dominated The Opposition

ARLINGTON - Just how good has the Rangers bullpen been this summer. Well, have a look for yourself. After the jump, comes a chart comparing the 14 AL teams in relief ERA, opponents batting average, holds and blown saves since June 10.

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Inside Corner Night Is Tonight At Rangers Ballpark; Good – No, Great – Seats Still Available!

Yes, tonight is the big night. Rangers-Red Sox. Inside Corneans galore. All You Can Eat Food. What more could you ask for?

Right now, it appears as if we are just shy of 100 tickets sold for the blessed, big event. But there is still time to cross the century mark and let the Rangers know just how big and loud the Corner can be. Also, if you are in attendance, you might just hear about a special oppotunity I’ve got for you for the night of August 10th when the Rangers are off but Double-A Frisco is playing.

There are still seats available in sections 247 and 248 for tonight. I’ll probably get out to the Home Run Porch between 6-6:30. I’ll be bringing my appetite along with me and you know how big that is. If you haven’t bought tickets, all you need to do is go here and then use “inside” as the promotion code. Tickets are $25. Now, I’m told because this is an internet special, there won’t be walk-up seats available. I suppose if you don’t want to buy internet tickets, you could always pay the regular price of $39 and ask for seats in section 247 or 248, but why pay more? You can buy online until an hour before the game and print the tix at home.

There is no real agenda set. Jeff Miller will be manning the depot tonight so if you can’t make the game or if you’ve got your phone with you, there will still be place to make your voice heard. If I come up with a trick or two before the game, I’ll be sure and pass it along. Look forward to seeing you.

Texas Rangers Spotlight On David Murphy, Who Socked His Former Red Sox On Monday Night

The Murphy Family (from left, David, Madison, Faith and Andrea) are all smiles now after David recovered from an early-season swoon (Photo: Amber Sustala).

ARLINGTON - David Murphy admitted Monday night’s two-run home run that provided breathing room in the Rangers’ 6-3 victory over Boston was like homering against your brother or your best friend. That’ll happen when you’ve spent hours playing cards on buses going to and from Sarasota and Portland with Pedroia and Lester and Papelbon.

It has been almost two years since the soft-spoken Houston native was dealt by the Red Sox to the Rangers at the trading deadline. Starting about 60 percent of the time this season, he’s leading the club in OPS (.386) while being shuttled around the lineup from second to seventh. All this following the oft-referenced 0-for-23 start.

“My timing was a little off,” Murphy, 27, said of his ’09 start. And the timing of his trade in ’07 affected much more than baseball.

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Chatting Rangers With Evan Grant

One thing I want to make sure I try to do is to fill the voids around here. So, in that line of thinking, who is someone that rarely emerges from seclusion to share his thoughts of the Rangers with us?

Evan Grant. Exactly! Last night, while we both watched the Rangers-Boston game, we thought I would fire a few Rangers topics that were on my mind in his general direction for another award-nominated 60-minute chat.

Bob: I want to ask you for your best theories about the hitting around here. Frankly, the numbers are quite staggering for this roster for the better part of the year. .255 as a team? Impossible!

Evan: My best thinking cap answer is that we are seeing teams have to pitch to the Rangers like runs matter for the first time in a long time and they are actually putting some thought and effort into their pitch sequences. The Rangers have been slow to adjust. Then there are these facts: The bottom of the order was going to be a trouble spot if Chris Davis didn’t have the same year as 2008. Josh Hamilton has gotten himself out. And, yes, Kinsler has been a little wild in his approach.

Evan: That said, I’m sitting here at Rangers-Red Sox. And Red Sox are supposed to be so patient. They’ve swung at more first pitches than Rangers tonight.

Bob: Interesting theory about other pitchers putting more thought into it…Hadn’t considered it, but that is non-linear of you.

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Road To Arlington: Rangers Farm Report (7/21)

Michael Schlact

A quick injury note as we start our trip down the Road today: Frisco RHP Michael Schlact, who has struggled with shoulder pain all year, underwent surgery in Arlington yesterday to remove some loose bodies and repair small tears in his labrum and posterior cuff. It is essentially the same surgery that Eric Hurley underwent earlier this year. Schlact is expected to be ready to throw again in spring training, but his season is over.

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Michael Young, Rangers Offense Keep Things Simple In Toppling Boston’s John Smoltz, 6-3

ARLINGTON - Before every series, the Rangers hitters and instructor Rudy Jaramillo gather in a meeting room to go over scouting reports on the upcoming pitchers, exchange ideas and formulate a plan.

On Monday, they encountered a strange problem in trying to size up John Smoltz. Never before had they run into an opponent they knew so much about, but knew so little about how to approach. Smoltz has pitched in the majors 21 years, but had never started a game against the Rangers. Even though Smoltz began his big league career a month before Elvis Andrus was born and even he appeared in four of Atlanta’s 12 games against the Braves over the last decade, only two Rangers – Marlon Byrd and Omar Vizquel – had ever faced him.

Not a lot to go on.

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