Rangers Gameday: 7/7 Vs. LAA
Tuesday, July 7th Game Preview
Texas Rangers (45-36) vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (46-35)
Dustin Nippert (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. John Lackey (3-3, 4.70 ERA)
9:05 p.m. CST in Anaheim, California (Angel Stadium of Anaheim)
TV: FSNSW-HD | Radio: KRLD 105.3 FM, XM 176
| Rangers |
Angels |
||
| Position | Player | Position | Player |
| 2B |
Ian Kinsler |
3B |
Chone Figgins |
| 3B |
Michael Young |
LF |
Bobby Abreu |
| CF |
Josh Hamilton |
CF |
Torii Hunter |
| DH |
Andruw Jones |
RF |
Vladimir Guerrero |
| 1B |
Hank Blalock |
DH |
Juan Rivera |
| RF |
Marlon Byrd |
1B |
Kendry Morales |
| LF |
David Murphy |
2B |
Maicer Izturis |
| C |
Jarrod Saltalamacchia |
C |
Mike Napoli |
| SS |
Elvis Andrus |
SS |
Erick Aybar |
Pre-Game Notes: Right-hander Dustin Nippert (strained right deltoid muscle) has been activated from the 60-day disabled list, with Texas optioning outfielder Julio Borbon to Triple-A Oklahoma City and transferring right-hander Brandon McCarthy (stress fracture, right shoulder) to the 60-day disabled list to clear room on the active and 40-man rosters.
Minor League Games: Omaha vs. Oklahoma City (Elizardo Ramirez), Frisco vs. Arkansas (Michael Kirkman), Stockton vs. Bakersfield (Jared Hyatt), Hagerstown vs. Hickory (Wilfredo Boscan), Vancouver vs. Spokane (Ben Henry), AZL Rangers vs. AZL Dodgers (TBA)
21 Comments | in Gameday, The Season
Reader Comments (21)
Initial game thought: With Nippert on a 90-95 pitch limit, a couple of 20-25 pitch frames will probably make this a 4-5 inning outing...the bullpen's most important pieces (O'Day, Wilson, Francisco) are all rested, at least in a relative sense, but Mathis threw 26 pitches last night and Grilli 18 pitches, so your usual long men may not be available to pitch multiple innings...
And Nippert escapes a 17-pitch first inning...his velocity thus far is topping out around 94 mph, and thus far he has thrown all fastballs, electing to save that nasty curveball for a second time through the batting order presumably...
Nice shot into the right-center field gap for Marlon Byrd, who has rather discreetly been a productive player for a little while now -- since May 29th, Byrd has hit .283/.354/.496 in 130 plate appearances, and his park-adjusted wOBA has actually jumped above league average without anybody really realizing it...
I've never seen Nippert pitch, what kind of stuff does he have?
Huge break for Saltalamacchia, who whiffs swinging on a breaking pitch in the dirt that bounces away from Napoli and enables Texas to put runners on the corners with two outs for Andrus...
Tam: Low-mid 90s heater when starting (can touch 96-97 mph in relief), mid-80s change-up, above-average high-70s curveball (which he's thrown only once thus far tonight)...and, as evidenced by that last successful pick-off throw, a quality pick-off move.
Yeah it just doesn't seem like he wants to throw his other pitches and keeps leaving his fastball in the middle of the zone.
3 hits for Hambone tonight and now the game is tied... game just got interesting again.
Texas takes the lead on a John Lackey wild pitch. Can't say that I saw that coming.
Holland is really impressing with his slider and curveball tonight....bad drop by Salty
And all hell is breaking loose, as Jennings walks in a run to slash the Rangers' lead to 6-4...
Josh just mentioned that Davis had a 4 hit night at AAA, with no strikeouts. Maybe he'll get straightened out in no time at all...
Outcome-crucial moment: CJ will pitch to Napoli with the bases juiced and two outs in the bottom of the seventh...
Texas escapes that major jam and now aims to pad the two-run advantage with Kinsler at the dish and two on with nobody out...
Man Palmer got away with that meatball he served Jones in the middle most square of the pitch tracker.
Really, this has been a most unusual-feeling game -- right down the probable four-hour game time.
And Texas draws within one out of pulling out the win...
...which will be delayed at least momentarily, as Frankie allows his fourth homer of the season and 20th of his major league career in 208 innings pitched...
Really nice comeback win tonight, there were plenty of times when the Angels could have turned the game around.
Texas steals a game that they didn't look like they were going to win for quite some time there to reclaim a share of first place...Seattle, meanwhile, lost 12-4 at home to the Orioles, and the Athletics continue to flounder in the cellar after a nice little run that brought them within 6-7 games of first place at one point...
Just heard on radio that Holland is back to the pen according to Washington.