Post-Game Show: Rays 5, Rangers 3

D-tails
• Boxscore, AL West Standings, AL Wild Card Standings

Story of the Game
It’s all pretty much right here.

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Julio Borbon Missed Sign in Eighth Inning

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Rangers asked Julio Borbon to be a pinch runner on Friday, not a base stealer.

Understanding the difference between the two roles might have made the difference in the Rangers’  5-3 loss to Tampa Bay Friday night. Inserted into the game as the Rangers were rallying in the eighth, Borbon took off for second on a 2-and-2 pitch to Josh Hamilton, who just happened to represent the tying run. He did it against reliever Grant Balfour, whose extremely quick time to the plate had been noted by manager Ron Washington when he flashed the “red light” to Borbon before the pitch.

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The Depot: Rangers-Rays Live Game Blog, News, Notes and Fishing Forecasts for the Gulf Coast

3:33: Yes, if you look closely, you may notice a new addition to The Depot. Courtesy of the fine folks at Flying Fish and Flying Saucer, we have a new game designed to help feed you and to help improve the Rangers’ on-base percentage. It’s simple. If the Rangers win, you win ($5 off your non-alcoholic purchase at Flying Saucer). Whether the clubs wins or not, if it takes four or more walks, you win. ($5 off your non-alcoholic purchase at Flying Fish). You don’t even have to follow the game. Just click on the ad after the game and we’ll have the results on whether you are a winner or a double-winner or if you should just wait for the next day (because we would never call anybody a loser). Yes, that is supposed to be over in the corner. Stop giggling.

5:12: Your home run pool entry form is right here.

5:14: Manager Ron Washington expects to activate RHP Jason Grilli sometime over the weekend, most likely on Saturday. The Rangers will not send out a position player and go back to an eight-man bullpen. Barring a health issue, it appears Grilli would likely replace RHP Willie Eyre. The big news out of that announcement: OF Julio Borbon will remain with the club.

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Indoor Home Run Pool Friday

Those of you who participated in the great lineup discussion from earlier today, thanks a lot. Now, you can not only enter the home run pool, but also see how you fared in your lineup predictions. Quick word: Anybody who had Julio Borbon playing, well, we’ve got these nice parting gifts for you.

Here’s what the Rangers are firing out there against LHP Scott Kazmir: 2B Ian Kinsler, 3B Michael Young, LF Marlon Byrd, DH Andruw Jones, CF Josh Hamilton, RF Nelson Cruz, 1B Hank Blalock, C Taylor Teagarden, SS Elvis Andrus and pitching for the Rangers … RHP Dustin Nippert.

Good luck with your picks. I’ll play along tonight and go with Michael Young, 4th inning, one out, one on, 2-0 pitch, 389 feet.

Series Preview: Rangers at Rays

The focus in the AL wild card race has been on Boston and Texas for the last few weeks, but Tampa Bay has quietly kept themselves within striking distance. The Rays could tie the Rangers with a sweep of the three-game series at Tropicana Field that starts tonight, and with Tampa owning a 40-20 home record and Texas being a game under .500 on the road, it could be a tough series.

Though the Rays are playing well of late, a few of their key offensive parts have struggled. Jason Bartlett is coming back down to Earth after an scorching start to the season. Pat Burrell hasn’t been what Tampa expected when they signed him in the offseason. BJ Upton, who could be the next Grady Sizemore, feels like he’s been “kicked in the face” by a move to the nine spot. Even Carl Crawford’s .321 average hasn’t made him immune to criticism.

And if Rangers fans aren’t starting to see parallels between their season and the Rays’ run last year, maybe they should look harder.

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Rangers Question of the Day

We all love to play manager, don’t we?

OK, here is your chance. Let’s assume the Rangers don’t do the seemingly unthinkable; in other words OF Julio Borbon remains on the roster even if RHP Jason Grilli is activated today. It gives you these outfield/DH options for the three-game series against Tampa Bay:

Marlon Byrd
Julio Borbon (left-handed hitter)
Nelson Cruz
Josh Hamilton (left-handed hitter)
Andruw Jones
David Murphy (left-handed hitter)

You face a left-hander Friday and another lefty on Sunday. You are playing on artificial turf. You have to have a cleanup hitter from this group. So, what’s your outfield/DH alignment for the weekend and why? And in what spots in the lineup do you hit these fellas?

Oh, and you better have an explanation why. Us Inglorious Basterds from the media are going to want to know why you are doing what you are doing for each particular game.

Road To Arlington: Rangers Farm Report (8/21)

Triple-A: Colorado Springs 6 @ Oklahoma City 3

RHP Luis Mendoza (6-5; 4.44) followed up his no-hitter with a 12-hitter. He also walked a batter and allowed six runs in 4.1 innings of work. RHP Jailen Peguero (0-0; 3.86), just signed a week ago after being released by the Angels earlier this year, had his first scoreless outing as a RedHawk, walking two and fanning three in 1.2 innings. RHP Pedro Strop (1-1; 9.28) pitched a shutout inning in his second appearance since being called up from double-A, and RHP Warner Madrigal (2-1; 1.75) was perfect in the 9th.

3B Royce Huffman (.289/.377/.408) drove in a pair of runs on a single and a sac fly, but struck out in his other two at bats. 1B Chris Davis (.327/.421/.540) also struck out twice, but his double was the only RedHawk hit that went for extra bases. DH Justin Smoak (.239/.354/.356) was 1-2 with a single. He also walked and was hit by a pitch. (more…)