Texas Rangers Ride Derek Holland, Big Bats to Win Over Houston

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The Texas Rangers, fresh off a road trip that saw them lose six of their nine games, came back to their home ballpark in Arlington, Texas looking to get back on track.

Another guy who was looking for a rebound was Monday night's starter, Derek Holland.

After giving up six runs through just five innings in New York against the Yankees, he took to the mound against the Astros and had one of his best performances of the season. He gave up three runs on six hits through seven and one-third innings and struck out four. Not a bad line for the young left-hander.

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It was a night Holland needed to have to give his confidence a little bit of a boost, especially since there had been talk recently that the Rangers were thinking of moving him back to the bullpen.

But it wasn't just Holland who had a good night. The Rangers offense exploded for seven runs, chasing Astros starter J.A. Happ before he was able to get out of the third inning.

Josh Hamilton and Adrian Beltre combined for five hits in nine at bats and drove in four of the Rangers eight runs on the night. They weren't the only ones turning in big performances.

Craig Gentry, the speedy outfielder, had a career high three hits on the night and Mitch Moreland added a solo blast in the home half of the eighth inning to put the game on ice.

While most will talk about the Rangers beating up on a bad team you can call it what you want. A win is a win and, right now, the Rangers will take any wins they can get to stay in front in the American League's Western Division.

But, as one person said inside the press box at Rangers' Ballpark, "the season doesn't begin for this team until after the All-Star break."

That might be true but the All-Star break isn't here yet and this team needs to tread water for a little bit longer. Make no mistake about it, the Mariners, Angels, and A's know exactly where Texas is and they are only one or two moves away from leaving them in the dust.

It's time to protect until general manager Jon Daniels and CEO Nolan Ryan can put together some moves of their own. Monday night was a good first step but this season is a long ways from over.

Texas Rangers Salvage Third Game of the Series Against the Detroit Tigers

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If you don’t think the Texas Rangers aren’t thrilled to be wrapping up a three game series with the Detroit Tigers, all you have to do is look at the season series between these two teams thus far.

Coming in to Wednesday night, the Rangers had lost two of three in Detroit and dropped each of the first two games of this series here at Rangers Ballpark.

In Detroit, the series wasn’t really that bad. The two teams were dead even on total runs (8) but Detroit won back-to-back one run games.


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Here in Arlington it’s been a completely different story. The Tigers have treated this ballpark like they were feeling right at home. After an 18-hit barrage on Monday night, the Tigers came right back with 20 hits on Tuesday night and have outscored the Rangers 21-8 coming in to the third game of the series.

Colby Lewis, Monday night’s starter, struggled giving up nine runs. His highest total all season. The following night it was left hander Matt Harrison’s turn to struggle – and struggle he did. He lasted just four innings giving up four runs on eight hits, never able to get himself in a groove.

On Wednesday night, Alexi Ogando took the mound and the fans in the ballpark, and the media in the press box, were expecting different results. But when Tigers’ third baseman Don Kelly launched a 1-0 pitch into the right field seats, a collective “here we go again” could be heard throughout the ballpark.

The Rangers young right hander would settle in and though he wasn’t hitting his spots he was still able to battle through hitters and get his team out of the inning. It didn’t hurt that his offense decided to show up on the same night the team fired their hitting coach.

While the first two Ranger runs of the night came on a throwing error by the Tigers, Hamilton would add further damage to the inning with a 2-run double down the right field line.

Shortstop Elvis Andrus would add another run on an RBI single to extend the Rangers lead to 5-1 by the fifth inning. An RBI single from Adrian Beltre as well as his 12th home run of the year pushed the Ranger lead even further along and the team was off and running to what was a very convincing, 7-1, win on a getaway day.

With two wins in six games played it would seem like the Tigers have the Rangers number. Call it pitching struggles, call it not being able to score runs at the opportune times, call it what you will.

Detroit has just been better than the defending AL Champions though six games this season with one more three game set to play in Detroit in the first part of August.

As for right now, the Tigers can’t get out of town fast enough.

Texas Rangers in a Josh Hamilton Tailspin

If you don't think one player makes a difference just ask the Texas Rangers.

Since losing outfielder, and 2010 team MVP, Josh Hamilton for the better part of six weeks, the team has lost each of its last three series against the Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, and just recently the Los Angeles Angels. They were without him last season for almost a month and were able to sustain somewhat of a consistency.

This time around the Rangers just can't seem to find any kind of stride at all. Say what you want about Hamilton being a solid outfielder and one of their best defensive players at the position. The loss of their power hitter in the lineup has left an even bigger void the team just can't figure out how to replace.

Not that Ian Kinsler, new addition Adrian Beltre, Nelson Cruz, Elvis Andrus, and long time Ranger Michael Young should be able to shoulder the load but Young seems to be the only guy hitting anything right now.

Since Hamilton's injury, Kinsler (.138, 4/29), Andrus  (.162. 6/37),  Cruz (.182, 6/33), and Beltre (.118, 4/34) are all struggling as are David Murphy (.071, 2/28) and Yorvit Torrealba (.240, 6/25).

If you want to know why this team is skidding so badly right now, you only have to look at these numbers. You can blame Colby Lewis missing a start due to the birth of his child which, by the way, was the absolute right decision regardless of what any local radio station might say. You can also blame it on the bullpen which has probably been the biggest problem for this team thus far outside of closer, Neftali Feliz.

Wherever you want to place your blame make sure you have the facts to back it up. The offense isn't getting the timely hitting and opposing pitchers are pitching differently to the Ranger hitters because Hamilton isn't in the lineup.

This team needs to find a way out of their tailspin before they're staring up at the Los Angels of Anaheim too far back to make the kind of progress that will keep them in the race past the All-Star break.

If they don't fix their problem quick this season will become like every other in Ranger history. Sports talk radio stations will start talking about the Dallas Cowboys in July instead of September and Ranger baseball will become  just a passing thought.

Texas Rangers vs Boston Red Sox: C.J. Wilson, Jon Lester Battle in Arlington

Though Major League Baseball officially opened their season on Thursday with six games on the schedule, the rest of the league will open their 2011 season on Friday with 11 games on the slate.

One of those will take place in Arlington, Texas as the defending American League Champion Texas Rangers will begin their defense of their league championship. The team they're hosting, the Boston Red Sox, have been talked about as the best team in not only the American League but the entire Major Leagues.

It's been an interesting off season for the Rangers. Losing out on Cliff Lee, who decided to depart for Philadelphia, the signing of free agent third baseman Adrian Beltre, the trade demands of Michael Young, and their former CEO Chuck Greenberg stepping down. Needless to say there's been no shortage of news coming from the team while they were in Surprise, Arizona for spring training.

On Friday afternoon, right hander C.J. Wilson will take over as the team's new ace of the starting rotation. He'll take the mound at Rangers' Ballpark to take on young Red Sox right hander Jon Lester.

Wilson became one of the surprises for the Rangers last season as he stepped up to be the number two man behind Lee and made several big starts for the team when they needed them the most. He made 33 starts for Texas in 2010 finishing 15-8 with a 3.35 ERA.

As for Lester, he came up one win short of a 20-win season and looks to be one of the best young pitchers in the game today. In 32 starts for Boston, Lester finished 19-9 with a 3.25 ERA.

This is the beginning of a long road for both teams. While we can talk about what the Rangers and Red Sox can or will do on paper, a lot of things could change between now and October.

As most say, this is a marathon and not a sprint.

Here's a preview of today's game, players to watch, keys for the Rangers and what they need to do to get off to a good start to the 2011 season.


C.J. Wilson (career against Boston) 15 games, 32.1 IP, 3 starts, 3-1 1.42 ERA

Jon Lester (career against Texas) 7 games, 49.0 IP, 7 starts, 3-1 2.94 ERA


Key Offensive Players:

Against Jon Lester (hot): Adrian Beltre (.364, 4/11), Josh Hamilton (.313, 5/16), Elvis Andrus (.333, 4/12), Nelson Cruz (.400, 4/10), Mike Napoli (.500, 3/6), Michael Young (.391, 9/23)

Against Jon Lester (cold): David Murphy (.222, 2/9), Ian Kinsler (.125, 2/16)

Keys to the game:

C.J. Wilson needs to stay in front of the hitters. He's going to be facing arguably the strongest offensive lineup in baseball. Adrian Gonzalez, David Ortiz, Carl Crawford, Jacoby Ellsbury, J.D. Drew, and Kevin Youkilis just to name a few.

The moment he falls behind, he's going to be forced to throw pitches these hitters are going to be looking for. Gonzalez is going to be his biggest problem. He's one of the best hitters in baseball and can put an outside fastball into the right field seats and take an inside fastball and crush it to left. Don't feed him fastballs he's too good for that.

Gonzalez is going to struggle when the ball is up in the zone. Keep the ball at the letters or higher and don't get him a chance to extend his arms. He's the one guy who can make your day miserable. If Wilson can keep him off the stat sheets and keep his pitch count down, he should be able to keep his team in the game.

Beltre and Hamilton need to lead the offense. Assuming they start Kinsler at second they have to assume his struggles against Lester are going to continue. They have the power to beat the young right hander but they need to work the count.

Swinging at first pitches isn't going to get it done. Lester is not going to be an easy pitcher to deal with no matter which team is facing him. He has a career .244 batting average against, .245 against left handers and .248 against right handers.

The Rangers' offense is going to need to pick their spots and make sure they take full advantage of any mistakes. Miss one chance and you may not get another one.

This will be a telling sign of where the team is regardless of the fact it's the first three games of the season. Winning two of three would be huge for this team.


Follow Todd Kaufmann @T_Kaufmann on Twitter or find him on Facebook

2011 Major League Baseball Season Predictions: AL West

The 2011 Major League Baseball season is almost here and that means just one thing, it's prediction time. It's time to predict who finishes where and who wins what division.

I'll give record predictions for each team in each division, talk about the players to watch, and maybe some surprises for this season. If you don't agree, great, let me know why and where you think these teams will finish and who your players are to watch.

We'll go division by division starting with the American League's Western Division.

Ready? Let's get it...

AL West:

Texas Rangers  93-69  (2010: 90-72)

Los Angeles Angels  86-76  (2010: 80-82)

Oakland Athletics  84-78  (2010: 81-81)

Seattle Mariners  74-88 (2010: 61-101)

Analysis: The Rangers don't have Cliff Lee but they have one of the more potent offenses in the American League with Ian Kinsler, Michael Young, Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz, and newcomer Adrian Beltre.

The Angels have a new addition as well with outfielder Vernon Wells and pitcher Dan Haren, the Angels should definitely make a bigger impact in the division than last season.

The Oakland A's have a young pitching staff and could be a factor after adding a former Rangers' pitcher, Rich Harden, and along with Dallas Braden, Trevor Cahill and Tyson Ross they should be improved from last season. Just not enough to challenge the defending champion Texas Rangers.

The Seattle Mariners have King Felix and Ichiro but not much else. They're going to be rebuilding for awhile.


Players to watch:

Texas Rangers: Adrian Beltre - are they getting the guy who played with the Dodgers and Red Sox or the guy who flopped in Seattle?

Los Angeles Angels: Vernon Wells - He's dealing with a hamstring injury but this is a guy that can provide 20-25 home runs per season. Put that next to Torii Hunter and you have two guys who can cause hitters a lot of problems.

Oakland A's: Hideki Matsui - He's a veteran among what is a very young squad. He showed he still has pop in his bat playing for the Angels last season. If he brings that to Oakland he should be a big factor for the A's to stay in the race in 2011.

Seattle Mariners: Felix Hernandez - Still one of the best young pitchers in the game today, it's just unfortunate that he plays for a team who really isn't that good. Aside from that, he is still a pitcher a lot of teams don't want to face every fifth day. It wouldn't, however, surprise me a bit to see him on the trade block at the deadline.


Follow Todd Kaufmann @T_Kaufmann and you can find him on Facebook

The Texas Rangers Are Better With Michael Young Than Without

The Michael Young drama was something that a lot of fans and media alike were talking about leading up to spring training. The longtime Texas Ranger wanted out and he made his trade demands know both privately and publicly.

But then Young did something a lot of people didn't expect him to do. He shut his mouth, worked out with the team, and didn't say any more about it after it all unfolded in the days leading up to the entire team reporting.

He even held a closed door meeting with his teammates to answer any questions they had about his demands, his feelings, and what concerns they may have had.

Why? Because it's the kind of teammate he's always been. He's the guy who, when Mark Teixeira turned down the Rangers' contract extension for the New York Yankee pinstripes, took the contract extension the Rangers offered him because he wanted to remain with the club.

Jim Thome Headed to the Lone Star State?

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When the chase for Cliff Lee ended for the Texas Rangers, one name I thought they should go after or at least have interest in was free agent Jim Thome who had a solid year in Minnesota in 2010.

The general manager as well as the winter meetings went by with no indication at all that the team was interested in him. However, rumors have come out that the Rangers might in fact be going after Thome after all.

I'm not saying Mitch Moreland can't do the job at first base because he did a more than adequate job during the playoffs as well as the World Series. But if you can get a guy like Thome who is a proven offensive threat, that makes for a more solid lineup.

The Rangers have already parted ways with Vladimir Guerrero who forgot to show up during the World Series not only with the bat but he showed why people called him a "defensive liability" when they played in San Francisco.

Bringing Adrian Beltre was something they could afford to do but not for the kind of money they paid him (5 year $96 million). Not to mention the bad PR they have now with long time third baseman Michael Young. However, one can see why they made the move to get Beltre seeing as Young isn't exactly as youthful as he used to be though his defensive skills at the hot corner weren't really that bad last season.

Now that they have Beltre in the mix, it allows them to slide Young either to first base or to the DH role if they are in fact able to sign Jim Thome.

If they can get that done, they'd have a lineup that already boasts guys like Elvis Andrus, Ian Kinsler, Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz. Adding a bat like Thome's to an already powerful lineup could make them a definite threat to win the AL West again in 2011.

Have the Texas Rangers Landed Adrian Beltre?

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Update: 1/4/2011 2:15pm CST - Deal is official. The Rangers signed Adrian Beltre to a six-year $96 million deal which is still pending a physical.

Update: 1/3/2011 10:02am CST - Apparently this story isn't as dead as we thought it was. According to Enrique Rojas of ESPN.com, the Rangers and Adrian Beltre are apparently close to an agreement on a multi-year deal.

Update: 10:25am CST - Evan Grant is on this story and reports, via Twitter, there's no truth to the signing.

I'll make this short and sweet since this is just a rumor for now but Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweeted this morning that a report out of the Dominican Republic is saying the Texas Rangers and free agent third baseman Adrian Beltre have agreed to a six-year $96 million deal.

Of course there's no official word from the Rangers themselves or from Beltre's camp so we can only treat this as a rumor.

If this does come to fruition what does it mean for Michael Young? Will they move him to the DH role and Beltre to third base or vice versa?

The Rangers have been surprisingly quiet since they lost out on Cliff Lee just a few weeks ago and I was wondering if they were going to do anything at all.

When there's confirmation of the deal, we'll let you know.

Texas Rangers Going Hard After Adrian Beltre?

Charlie Riedel - AP

While the Texas Rangers wait on an answer from free agent left hander Cliff Lee, they've apparently turned their attention to free agent third baseman Adrian Beltre.

Though there were tweets on Friday from different MLB writers about the Rangers interest, none of them seemed to have any urgency behind them.

It's unknown if that's changed, but if they are serious about acquiring Beltre, a decision will need to be made on Michael Young. There had been talks during the winter meetings about the Rangers listening to possible trade offers for their long time SS/3B but none that really became anything more than talk.