Post Game Show: Rangers 7, Tigers 3

D-tails
• Boxscore, Standings

Three Up
• SS Elvis Andrus had three hits, including his first homer since late May, and has nine hits in his last 21 at-bats. Andrus also became the 10th player in MLB history to have a 20-steal season before turning 21.
• With RHP Vicente Padilla too weak to start, the Rangers pitched the game out of the bullpen. Spot starter RHP Doug Mathis allowed three runs in the second, but rebounded to put up two more scoreless innings. The bullpen allowed one baserunner in its five innings of work.
•Andrus, 2B Ian Kinsler and 3B Michael Young all had two-out, run-scoring hits in the second inning to quickly erase a 3-0 deficit.

Three Down
• 2B Ian Kinsler suffered a slight hamstring strain on the same day he had two very productive plate appearances, a two-run triple and a sacrifice fly.
• As good as the bullpen has been you have to think that at some point the workload of the last week is going to catch up to them. Counting the starts by Dustin Nippert and Doug Mathis, the relievers have pitched 31.1 innings over the last seven days.
• Lots of chirping between Rangers reliever LHP Eddie Guardado and the Tigers bench after a couple of brushback pitches, but there was no actual clearing of the benches. We love watching players mill around not fighting.

Rangers Trade Market Update

ARLINGTON – The Rangers remain aggressive pursuors in the pitching trade market, but to get a deal done for a big-name pitcher their trade partner would have to assume most, if not all, of the salary, GM Jon Daniels acknowledged Tuesday.

“The [financial situation] is an element,” Daniels said. “It’s a different environment thatn we have dealt with in the past. I think it’s unlikely you will see us add significant dollars to the payroll. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get a deal done.”

It simply means you must get creative.

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The Depot: Rangers-Tigers Live Game Blog, News, Notes And Provocative Social Commentary

5:15: Cue the music from Jaws. I’m jumping in the Home Run Pool with one of those giant inflatable shark rafts.

5:24: RHP Kevin Millwood played some catch in the outfield Tuesday and tried to run on his sore gluteus maximus. While Millwood still aims to pitch on Friday, he said that if the muscle was as sore Wednesday as it was Tuesday, he probably wouldn’t throw a between-starts bullpen session. One option is for Millwood to be pushed back another day. That would be possible if RHP Vicente Padilla, who was scratched for the second time in a week Tuesday, is able to pitch Thursday. The Rangers could then pitch LHP Derek Holland on Friday and Millwood on Saturday. The Rangers were waiting to see how Padilla’s bullpen session went on Tuesday before making a decision.

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Vicente Padilla Scratched Again

RHP Vicente Padilla is healthy but “still somewhat weak” from battling the flu, according to Rangers PR department. RHP Doug Mathis has been summoned to replace him for tonight’s start.

A Rangers Trade Proposal From A Blog Reader

Our good friend Dr Pepper Presents Batface McGee presents this question:

“When talking about possible pieces in a Halladay trade, how come no one is mentioning Hamilton? Is he untouchable, and if he is, should he be? Who says no to this trade: Neftali, Hamilton, Beaven, Poveda, and Teagarden. Does substituting Hamilton for Smoak make it more or less likely a trade gets done?”

That’s a big package, brother. Three pitchers and two players from the current roster. Kind of hard for me to see the Rangers going for that. As much as Hamilton has struggled, you aren’t going to get anybody to replace him in the lineup for this year. I think you potentially create an even bigger issue in the lineup for the remainder of this season. But I could be swayed by some good persuasive arguments. People? Anyone? Bueller?

Rangers Were Close On Ryan Garko

This comes from the New York Post’s Joel Sherman:

New York Rangers “In the late afternoon on Monday, the Rangers were convinced they were the front-runners to get Ryan Garko from the Indians. They were surprised when he ended up going to the Giants New York instead. Texas is still trying to find a righty-hitting first baseman.”

Rangers officials have since confirmed for me that they were heavily involved in the talks for Garko. But early on in last night’s game, they were informed of the deal with the Giants. The Giants dealt 21-year-old LHP Scott Barnes, who had been 12-3 with a 2.85 ERA at Class A San Jose, to Cleveland in the deal. Barnes was ranked as the Giants’ ninth-best prospect entering the season by Baseball America and their third-best pitching prospect. About the closest comp I could possibly find for Barnes in the Rangers’ system is either LHP Kasey Kiker, who is also 21, and who is 7-5 with a 2.74 ERA at Double-A Frisco. Barnes has a more traditional pitcher’s body than Kiker; he’s taller and has a collegiate background (St. John’s). I suppose you could also say that LHP Martin Perez is something of a comp, but he’s younger and with a higher ceiling and he is one of the top three prospects in the farm system of what is considered the best farm system in baseball. No way the Rangers would have offered Perez.

Garko, 28, would have fit all the Rangers criteria. He’s a right-handed batter, cheap in terms of salary and controllable for multiple years. He will be eligible for arbitration for the first time next year and should jump from $446,000 to probably close to $2 million.

Alas, the Indians liked the Giants offer more. By the way, I’ve been told the Rangers were not surprised that Cleveland opted for the San Francisco offer. They knew there were two deals on the table and that Cleveland GM Mark Shapiro was deciding between the two.

Wide Lanes Open For Lap-Swimming At HR Pool

For the time being we’ll play the Marco Polo version: Blind. Lineup will be here as soon as I get it.

Let me just say this: You can be sure the lineup will not include Ryan Garko, even though it now appears the Rangers were pretty close to getting Garko before he was dealt to San Francisco last night.

UPDATE, 3:52 – Here is your Rangers lineup, which will make the Cruz Nation very happy: 2B Ian Kinsler, 3B Michael Young, LF Marlon Byrd, RF Nelson Cruz, 1B Hank Blalock, DH Andruw Jones, CF Josh Hamilton, C Jarrod Saltalamacchia, SS Elvis Andrus and pitching for the Rangers … RHP Doug Mathis, replacing the still weak RHP Vicente Padilla.

Viral Video: Rangers Outfielder Nelson Cruz

I’m still not quite up to speed on the whole taped-in-advance thing, so this video, shot late last week, mentions Cruz’s fractured finger (which didn’t seem to bother him too much last night) and his Home Run Derby performance.

Road To Arlington: Rangers Farm Report (7/28)

Sorry I’m late today. And to make matters worse, I only have time for a truncated version of the Farm Report today. Links to box scores are provided if you want to find out more.

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Cowboys ’08: Week 1 – At Cleveland

The following is the 1st in a 16 day series that will take us through the 2008 season week-by-week. The reason we are starting this series today is that we are 17 days away from the first Dallas Cowboys 2009 preseason game at Oakland. And, because I thought some here would enjoy remembering the Cowboys season as it happened.

I write these game notes the day after every Cowboys game. Sometimes, I feel like I had some things in my grasp, and other times, I see I missed the boat on some of my thoughts. Regardless, they are here for you to see, completely unchanged as they appeared. And, yes, at the time, it appears I thought the Cowboys were marching to a Super Bowl. Oops.

This one ran on September 8, 2008 – Week 1, where the Cowboys open their season in Cleveland with a 28-10 win over the Browns:

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