Rangers Gameday: 3/17 Vs. CLE

Tuesday, March 17th Game Preview
Cleveland Indians (6-10-1) vs. Texas Rangers (9-9-0)
Cliff Lee (0-1, 11.25 ERA) vs. Scott Feldman (1-1, 5.40 ERA)
3:05 p.m. CST in Surprise, Arizona (Surprise Stadium)
TV: - - - | Radio: MLB.com Webcast

Indians		Rangers
Position	Player	Position	Player
CF	Grady Sizemore	2B	Ian Kinsler
2B	Jamey Carroll	3B	Michael Young
DH	Travis Hafner	CF	Josh Hamilton
3B	Jhonny Peralta	RF	Nelson Cruz
RF	Ben Francisco	DH	Marlon Byrd
C	Kelly Shoppach	LF	David Murphy
SS	Asdrubal Cabrera	1B	Chris Davis
LF	Matt LaPorta	C	Jarrod Saltalamacchia
1B	Michael Aubrey	SS	Elvis Andrus

Notes: Right-handers Jason Jennings, Doug Mathis, Josh Rupe and Derrick Turnbow are all slated to pitch this afternoon.

Comments

[red3biggs]

Joey I hope your doin a play by play today, cause Ben and Skin cant cut it....

"And there it is!"
"And there it is!"

[Joey Matschulat]

So I just got out of class, and the Rangers are absolutely throttling Lee to the tune of 7-0...I would very much like for that to continue through Opening Day...

[red3biggs]

Woot.

"And there it is!"

[Joey Matschulat]

So a veritable comedy of errors and poor command are endangering what was a 10-0 lead just minutes ago...Feldman is getting hit hard, and Young is having some major defensive issues here in the top of the fifth inning...

[Joey Matschulat]

Rupe has relieved Feldman, and finally secured the first out of the frame, but the Rangers' lead has been halved to 10-5...

[Joey Matschulat]

Something notable from that last half-inning was Arias attempting to make a throw at shortstop deep in the hole, and not really having enough mustard on the throw...of course, there have also been some reports that Vizquel's arm is deficient as well...

[Joey Matschulat]

And Murphy leads off the bottom of the seventh with a triple...

[Joey Matschulat]

And organizational soldier Emerson Frostad delivers the RBI single to make it 11-5...

[Joey Matschulat]

Very impressive inning for Derrick Turnbow, who fans the side...

[Joey Matschulat]

Per Jeff Wilson of the FWST:

Center fielder Andruw Jones' search for at-bats led him to a minor-league game on the back fields of the Surprise Recreation Campus. He went 2-for-5 with a double, a walk and a stolen base while batting leadoff every inning for Triple-A Oklahoma City against the Royals' Triple-A Omaha club.

He is in the dugout awaiting a possible at-bat or two against Cleveland, which just got a three-run homer from Grady Sizemore off Scott Feldman to make it 10-3 in the fifth. Jones, though, hasn't played in the past two games and can opt out of his minor-league contract Friday.

I don't know if the decision to withhold Jones from A game action is reflective of something more significant, but I could honestly see this going either way at this point...

[Joey Matschulat]

In other news, the USA is three outs away from being eliminated by Puerto Rico...this is, um, amusing...

[Joey Matschulat]

Well, this is getting interesting...Victorino and Roberts have both poked singles to center field to lead off the bottom of the ninth, and the heart of the USA batting order will have a chance to win it in walkoff fashion...

[JDolla$]

The US can hold their heads high. Pretty much all the teams except the Netherlands and Cuba are stocked with major league talent.

Re; the Rangers - are we going to get a bunch of 11-5 games this season?

[Joey Matschulat]

And the bases are juiced with one out for Kevin Youkilis, as the USA's tournament life hangs in the balance...

I'm inherently not a huge fan of the WBC or its format (I have to question how successful it will be long-term if top talent abstains from participating), but this is admittedly great theater...

[Joey Matschulat]

JD: Sounds about right, I think, although the question on a night-to-night basis becomes which side will the Rangers fall on...

And down goes Puerto Rico on the David Wright walkoff hit down the right field line...glorified spring training or not, that was quite a scene at home plate...