The Worst Loss Of The Season
Joey Matschulat
I'm disappointed. No, actually, I'm furious. Maybe it's an amalgam of both. I don't usually set about writing a post immediately after the conclusion of a game because -- and I'm sure there are those out there who feel exactly the opposite way -- I find the exercise more enjoyable on the whole when I can tackle it in a cooled-off state and render analysis from a more rational and reasoned perspective. This is not one of those times. I feel that it will amplify the points that I want to make if I put my head down and instantaneously barrel forward ... because, again, I'm furious, and this is one of those times where expressing that fury in words is cathartic.
There's a pie of responsibility that can be divided four separate ways -- and arguably five, if you want to subdivide the pitching component into starting and relieving -- in any given baseball game: offense, defense, pitching and game management. Viewed from the four-way perspective, three of these components catastrophically failed the Rangers tonight, and the latter two (pitching and game management) likely do not end up mattering anyway given the complete and utter dearth of run support. The odds of Texas hanging two (or more) runs on Brian Wilson in the ninth inning were likely in the 6-7 percent range, at most. The abomination that was the eighth inning wasn't the primary cause of this loss. Neither was C.J. Wilson, who pitched quite well in the grand scheme of things. It was the offense.
That qualifying statement aside, that 6-7 percent maximum probability of extending the game was still better than the cipher that remained after the eighth-inning collapse ... and I guess the thing that really bothered me just as much as the results was the process, and my unabated concern that the process is going to arise yet again in this series and damage this team's chances of winning on another day. I'm having trouble recollecting a more painful or demoralizing inning in any Rangers game from an empirical or tactical standpoint. It was an interminable nightmare. And perhaps worst of all, it began with two outs and nobody on base.
Summoned from the depths of the foul line-hugging bullpen after Darren O'Day yielded a two-out hit, Derek Holland was struck by his Rick Ankiel moment. Thirteen pitches, one strike. Three batters, three walks. You hope you never see anything like that even in the most inconsequential of Cactus League 'B' games, let alone in a World Series game, and yet there it was on full display for the entire world to see. In baseball's pitch count era (1988-present), only 11 other relief pitchers have ever taken the mound and thrown 13 or more pitches while throwing one or fewer strikes in a single appearance. It's happened only once since 2002. It has never happened in the post-season. This kind of thing just isn't supposed to happen.
I don't take serious issue with the decision to summon Holland into a seemingly innocuous eighth-inning situation. I do question why he was hung out to dry, and wonder what sort of damage this inflicts upon his psyche, and whether his confidence is effectively shot for the remainder of this series (such that he's no longer a usable asset in anything other than a long-relief situation). I do question why Mark Lowe was the next man summoned into the game after Holland, particularly in a game that wasn't completely out of reach yet. I do question why the Rangers left their best relief bullet (Neftali Feliz) in the chamber in a World Series game, especially given the off day tomorrow. I don't think these are unreasonable questions to ask.
And here's the thing: If the offense doesn't reanimate back home in Arlington, nothing the pitching staff does will matter. If the offense recovers to some limited degree, but the starting pitching goes to hell, nothing the bullpen does will matter. But there's a good chance that the Rangers will find themselves locked in another close engagement with the Giants in the next few days, and any preexisting concern on my part about the way this coaching staff elects to utilize its available relief talent has been exacerbated by tonight. My confidence in the relief talent itself has been shaken. I realize I'm supposed to give Ron Washington, Mike Maddux and company the benefit of the doubt, but I can't reconcile myself with that. Not right now, anyway. I'm either expressing some lack of faith in the coaching staff that oversaw the Rangers' first trip to the World Series, or I'm being dishonest with myself. I can't win, and neither, it seems, can the Rangers at the moment.
I haven't lost faith. I'll never lose faith. We, collectively, shouldn't lose faith -- especially not with three home games looming on the schedule. But I'm also not going to begrudge anyone a healthy dose of raw, unprocessed disgust, because that was one of the most disappointing baseball games I've watched in a very long time.
Reader Comments (128)
Ye gads, that was horrible.... I'm thrilled the team made it to the World Series, but they're sure not playing like they want to win it.
I felt like game one was on the pitchers. No matter how many runs the Giants got in game two, our hitters did nothing to put pressure on Cain and company. So now we can say we've seen the worst of our pitchers and the worst of our hitters and it only took two games. Nowhere to go but up!
For the love of Matt Witside, can anyone pitch on this team right now???!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pathetic. The offense? Pathetic. Relief pitchers? Pathetic. Who, please just tell me who, is going to get off their butts and start hitting the ball (and stop swinging at crap) and who is gonna pitch and shut down the mediocre bats of the Giants??!!!!!! And, back to hitting.....make the pitchers WORK. We are not making the San Fran pitchers work hard at all. Dang it. I'm fed up.......Rats. ARGH. Ahhhhh!!!!!!
Dang it. Come home and take three freakin' game from the Giants and punish them back in San Francisco and bring home that trophy.
Oh, and please....NO MORE WALKS!!!!!!!! Hey, Holland....throw strikes. Hey, Oliver....wake up and Hey LOWE........pitch the darn ball! Argh...I'm furious right now.
Down but not out. Gonna bust out the Colby CHEESE on Friday and turn this thing around. These are NOT my Rangers.
I can't seem to remember the tast of ginger ale anymore...
Someone needs to throw a chair across that clubhouse tonight. Someone needs to make a statement. I saw NO fire from this team. I knew that Kinsler's double off the wall was a bad omen but f'ing Christ, man. Someone has to throw a chair....
Rangers in six.
off to shave again
Rangers in seven. We win Colby's game, Tommy is due, Cliff is pissed, lose again to Cain because he's unbeatable, and then take Game 7.
Should have had Matt Harrison in bullpen. Love Holland as future starter but not in bullpen.Said so in ALDS noone agreed.Not unhittable but I"ve never seen him throw 12 balls in a row.You arrogant number crunchers can ignore/ deny it but you"re wrong again. Next clue, Bourbon should start game 3 in center Hamilton in left Murphy pinch hitter off bench.
Whatever it is the Cowboys have, the Rangers caught it, too. Never should have had those stadiums so close to each other.
Nothing changes until THE HOME TEAM loses. SF didn't and now we get our chance to protect homefield. Our best guys won't be going but then neither will theirs. You can't defend dumb but home field is supposed to win. We've seen their best now let's get back to some home cooking. Can we win three here? we have before. Lewis is King. He can carry the Rangers for one game. Then, we'll figure out about Big Game Hunter or go back to Cliff Lee.
Sanchez has been our best pitcher over the past two months. Keep making the predictions of Rangers in 6 or 7. Show the Giants no respect and watch them rip your hearts out. We've got the best rotation in the bigs and we're just getting started.
"Uaintseennothenyet" (good spelling)
So we, as Rangers fans, are suppose to now suddenly say, "Yeah, the Giants are better, they are going to come into Texas and kick our asses around..Sanchez is lights out (like Game 6 in Philly)" What a dumb ass observation troll. Get lost.
We have other pitchers....why not use them?
This is the end of the season and there's even a day off Friday!
One batter is all somebody should face if they can't throw strikes.
Keep people warmed up for God's sake.
2-0 goes to 6-0 by walking people at the highest level.
Give me a freakin' break.
Embarrassing for all involved. The disgust on JD's and Nolan's face says it all. A giant poster of that shot should show up on the morning newspapers front page.
Maybe the effort to get to the World Series has just taken its toll and there's nothing left?
As Y. Berra would say, it ain't over till its over. I think the Rangers got a bit full of themselves after beating the Rays & Yanks, and listening to the national media tell them how great they are. They bought into it was going to be s stroll in the park to beat the Giants. Well, now that they are the ones who got their butts kicked it is time to get back to Ranger baseball. Sanchez vs. Lewis in game 3 -- give me the now humbled Rangers. Bring Lee back for Game 4 and it is 2-2. Then go Wilson game 5, Lewis game six, and Lee again if a game seven is necessary and I still like the Rangers chances. Just forget all the hype and play Rangerball.
I couldn't believe it when I saw Lowe running to the bullpen to warm up. It's 2 to 0 and Wash wants to bring in the very bottom of the pen instead of the top. STUPID.
What a disaster the Mark Lowe on the roster decision is. Why do we have guys pitching in the 8th
that have not done it all year? Maybe Lowe has a fever blister and they can DFL him and bring in Nippert
or anyone else.
Its even hard for me to come up with some POSITIVE VIBRATIONS after that.
Positive Vibrations?..............We don't have to meet the plane.
How about a new strategy ron-ron - let your best relief pitchers get your team out of trouble, not your worst. saving ogando and feliz a few innings here in the world series is not gonna make them more rested for 2011! don't follow the baseball paradigm of only using your best relievers when you are protecting a lead. preventing a deficit from getting larger is the exact same concept as preventing a lead from shrinking. don't try to prove points in the world series by bringing out pitchers again that got burned the night before. also, have all arms warmed and ready to go, like the giants, do. Lee stayed in 1 batter too late last night, and so did Holland tonight, both times cuz no one was ready to go. Inexcusable at this level!
Don't let your best hitter, moreland, bat in front of the pitcher, because he will get walked. have somebody else give hamilton the cortisone shots cuz whoever is doing it now is clearly missing. get m.young out of 3rd base and out of the spot; can't cantu play 3rd, or has he lost range, too? Vlad should never have played the OF, especially when you have Murphy who is actually an upgrade of a hitter. The problem w/ Vlad is is that he get down 0-2 in the at-bat, never stirkes out, but never gets a good pitch to hit, and ends up hitting dribblers. Our offense is disasatrous against good pitching. Only Andrus, Kinsler, and Moreland are hitting. We feasted off Yankee trash pictching and our baserunning luck carried us over TB. Hopefully they don't chase Sanchez's wildness, and Lee steps up to a Game 4, but even then, Bumgarner is an unkown and could win. Even if Lee were to beat him, that leaves CJ against Lincicum, and Colby against Cain - both would be near wins but likely losses. Thanks Ron-Ron for your idiocy. How long are we stuck with you?
Ya I really don't understand not brining in Feliz there either.. you figure with the time off between series and him not pitching yesterday that Wash would have wanted to get him in the game regardless of the situation--and the spot Lowe was brought in was the perfect situation for Feliz. Makes no sense man.
We have to give the SF pitchers some credit--they are damn good. But so is our offense. These guys should be able to put some pressure and score like they did against damn good pitchers from NY and TB. Wheres the aggressiveness and pressure we saw in the first 2 series? It's almost as if they used up all their energy and emotion just getting here that there's nothing left in the tank. Hopefully coming home to a fired up crowd will spark some life back in them... that's about the only hope we do have at this point.
I will add that this is not the time to completely overreact. Playing Cantu over Young at 3rd? Give me a break. Harrison over Holland after what Derek did against the Yankees? Give me a break. And now Washington should be fired despite the great job he has done getting them to this point? Give me a break.
It's not a good situation, but you can't start thinking irrationally because of 2 bad games.
i'm not overreacting, i've been gathering my thoughts on the rangers throughout the playoffs and decided to post them all at once tonight. as joey said, it was cathartic. and buddy, i never said harrison over holland. i would go to ogando as the first reliever for every game, that is for sure. when you go to war, do you use your shitty guns first and hope they hit the enemy, and if they misfire then you go down the rack to your next best gun? or do you go w/ your most accurate gun first and go for the kill? this is the world series, this is war, there are no more games after this. at least bochy and giants understand this. that's why wilson, lopez and roma are ready every game. the strategy has to change.
Beyond all the talk of not throwing strikes and bullpen mis-management is, IMHO, the biggest managing mistake of the game. As soon as CJ sit his blistered taint on the bench, you park Matt F@#king AAA Treanor right f#@king next to him. Judas H. Priest. He is CJ's personal receiver. I get it. That's it. This not wanting to hurt professional major league player feelings is an enormous pile of sh!t. Put your veteran catcher with World Series experience in the goddamn game and let him run the relievers. Holy sh@t. F this.
Man. Ron Washington is a terrible, terrible manager. Can't wait to hear what Norm pulls out of his ass to defend Wash tomorrow.
The most frustrating thing, for me, about his bullpen management is the fact that he seems to have dewcided that Ogando is his lowest leverage guy. Last on the totem pole. He only ises Ogando in seemingly mopup-type situations like Game 1 once it was out of hand and Game 5 in NY once CJ had been chased. Combine that with his utter unwillingness to throw Feliz in any situation but the 9th with a lead, and you have no pen except in a 9th inning save situation. Those are the only 2 guys out there I still trust at all.
On top of that, it's pretty clear to me that Vlad would have started if someone over Ron's head hadn't overruled him, and you see just how inflexible Wash really is as a manager.
The piint about Moreland is one I made earlier today (before the game). Again, more inflexibility by Wash. How in the Hell is he hitting behind Matt Freaking Treanor?!?!?!?! That just killed us after Kinsler doubled and Murphy couldn't bring him in. All they had to do then was get Treanor, walk Moreland, and get CJ. Easy way out of the inning. Disaster!!!
I'm very much beginning to question Mike Maddox as well. Why does everyone think he's the bee's knees again?
The offense just has to get better and hats off to Matt Cain. Studly work by him. But that was aweful to watch.
Michael Young is the worst defensive 3B in MLB and I fear the long term impact of his contract on this team.
Ron Washington must be fired. Instead he'll probably get a 3 year extension, people like Norm will cheer and roll their eyes condescendingly at those of us who know better as if we're uneducated baseball rubes, and Wash will be the death of a very good thing JD has built here.
Let's pray that tonight was the Come to Jesus Moment for JD and/or Nolan regarding Wash. I highly doubt it.
To paraphrase Cliff Lee before Game 1: There's nothing special about the job Wash has done in getting this team to the World Series. With this level of talent, managing this team should be easy.
Cliff is going to NY. He won't play for this fool for the rest of his career.
my bad drew, i see you were referring to someone else's post re: harrison. still i'd go w/ ogando every time. shit let him even start game 4, his stuff is so live and nasty! good point on the catcher situation, dub. managerial bozos. do nolan or ruth get into any of this and call down any shots?
Neftali Feliz and Benjie Molina GODDAMMIT TO HELL RON WASHINGTON!!! IT'S 2 TO F@#KING NOTHING YOU RETARDED PILE OF MONKEY SH!T.
It's the most epic managerial meltdown in WS history. Leave the gun in the closet. It's just the World Series. It's only EVERYTHING. Idiot.
Another good point, dub.
And to Drew- Wash didn't do a great job getting the team here. They got here entirely in spite of him and most of us who know baseball have been saying that all the way through the playoffs.
My opinon is that Wash has lost this team.
The looks on guys' faces when Wash ran through the dregs of his bullpen in the 8th told me they just have no respecr for him. They police themselves. They got here by playing well. But he's not their leader.
So frustrating.
Is it too late to add Nolan Ryan to the bullpen roster for game 3?
The Rangers haven't been here before, it's just the inexperience unlike the Gia-- Oh wait, this is the first time for many of the Giants players too, and their starting catcher is a rookie.
The Rangers need Cliff Lee to pitch every single game and wear him down since he won't be in Texas next year.
hey the yankes came back from 2-0 in the 96 WS with 4 straight against Smoltz, Avery, Maddux and Glavine. Can you fire a manager in the middle of the world series? And if so, do you think J.Torre could be called out of retirment to help the Rangers get back into this thing? Sanchez and Bumgarner aren't Lincicum and Cain in terms of consistency, but if they are on, we are as good as texas toast.
Hey, bad stretches happen, and the completely unfamiliar surroundings never allowed our guys to settle in. That can be reversed on Saturday and Sunday, but that means quickly reversing the Giants momentum early in Game 3.
I do think we suffered on offense from an unfamiliarity with some of their pitchers. Cain and a couple of their relievers have terrific tailing fastballs that continuously, 'got in our kitchen.' Many of the pop-ups by our offense were produced by bat paths that we were trying to adjust at the instant of impact. The Rangers scouts seem not to have properly prepared our hitters for the probability of seeing that pitch in certain counts. Combine that with the fact our hitters are already having to get used to their quirky surroundings, and its pretty understandable the Giants staff have succeeded in stifling the offense in key moments.
We also need to admit it: this Giants team is really, really good. The Rangers will be fortunate to rally past them, but I'll enjoy watching the effort.
A lot of people say that even if the Rangers are swept, they'll still be happy the Rangers got there for the first time in history. I'd be on board with that if the Rangers hadn't embarrassed themselves. They've looked like they simply didn't belong on the same field as the Giants (or the Pirates) and it really makes one wonder how they ever beat the Rays and Yankees, let alone the A's and Angels. If they were losing the games 2-0, or 4-2 or something, I could probably live with it and be happy they got there. But this abomination of a series is really taking the shine off having made it. I'd go so far as to say I'd rather them have not made it to the World Series than to make it and play like they did the first two games.
The entire World Series is Friday. Win that and there's a chance. Lose and there's no reason to watch game four live or on TV. Lose again in the same way the Rangers did the first two games and if I'm the Rangers, I consider just forfeiting the fourth game.
By Friday, I meant Saturday. An edit function would be nice.
I agree. I would rather have lost to the Yankees than lose the World Series in a sweep with all 4 looking like this. So we'd better get the next one and make this a series. It's all on Colby, because Wash can't run a bullpen.
I still go back to what I said near the top about JD and Ryan in the front row box with that "who's ass is going to pay for this" look on their faces. The were pissed, frustrated and embarrassed to the point of nearly yelling out orders or getting up to leave.
Very interesting plane rides home. The Charter with players I'm sure had some rumblings and God only knows about the discussion in the private ownership jet. To be a fly on the reading light at 30,000 feet...priceless.
Good pitchers make good hitting teams look bad. How did the Yankees and Rays feel after Cliff Lee rocked them. Did you guys comment about how bad the Yankee hitting was or how good Cliff Lee was? I realize this is a Ranger fan site, but you are doing your team an injustice. You have good hitters. Lighten up on your boys. And Give some credit to Matt Cain. He made the Braves and Phillies look impotent too. He's on a roll. There is not a team in baseball that would have hit well against Matt Cain tonight.
You can't compare what your hitters did against the Yankees and Rays with what they are doing against the Giants. The Yankees have good pitching by reputation, but if you look at their numbers as a staff, they are very average. They don't compete with the Giants. Its not even close. You folks may not realize this, but the Giants led the major leagues this year in ERA, strikeouts, fewest runs allowed, etc. The Giants staff may not be as famous as the Yankees or Phillies staff, but as a group they are as good as it gets in 2010.
Giants starter Sanchez is hit-or-miss guy. He has no-hit stuff when he is on and looks like Holland in the 8th when he is not. If he is on, then the Rangers are in trouble. If not, the Giants bullpen has enough strong arms to throw up 6-8 shutout innings in relief.
And Bumgarner is no slouch. Consider that in this, his rookie season, his ERA was lower than any starter on the Rangers staff. Not saying he is going to win his start, but he has a fighting chance.
The Rangers may get back into this series, but they are going to have to do it with better pitching. Don't expect to average more than a few runs per game against the Giants staff during this series.
The beauty of Baseball is that so many people can enjoy it on so many levels and do it together w/o 'stepping on each other.' On one level is the Wave and I have been both drunk enough and bored enough to take part. Right beside and in the same party can be the cerebral baseballer. You know, that one that knows every tendency and every Pinch Hitter or Relief Pitcher. I tend to lean that way. In between there are many levels of comprehension. I had to grow up attending games with old farts like that. I fear Wash is not there. The Rangers are not a cerebral group. It's sort of like The Bad News Bears and Feliz is Tatum O'Neal. I was listening to John Miller and Joe Morgan doing the play by play on Radio of the Yankee series. Morgan would describe the possibility of the consequencies of Wash's actions or moves. They never were as grave or grim as Joe hypothezed. He would say, "RW is one lucky guy who has a team that pulls his behind out of the fire, time after time" It was refreshing to know somewhere, somebody knows and isn't afraid to say it. I have said, The Rangers can go only so far and then the elimination process and the Good Luck is going to move in opposite directions. We may be there. This is not a smart team but they do have some talent. If RW stays in the dugout, I expect the Rangers to take 2 out of 3 in Arlington. With that we can all say Grace and get the flock out of here. I'd like to see all three in Arlington. After that you'll have to revive me to get an update.
Feliz was not the answer in the 8th!! For goodness sakes you realize we were playing in an NL park with NL rules. Oday and Holland have to get it done, but DOD gave up a bloop hit so he brought in Holland (savior of game four of LCS) for matchup reasons. FWIW I am not as high on holland as yall are, but have kept my mouth shut. He is extremely talented but extremely inconsistent. Which is a coach killer. I like Ogando after Oday, but damn sure not Feliz. Here's why: rangers keep the game at 2-0 going into 9th, rally to a 2-1 game with runners at 2nd and 3rd with two outs. Next up, the 9 hole and non other than Neftali Feliz at bat. So of course Vlad pinch hits and singles to take a 3-2 lead. But yet no Feliz available to close out game and rangers lose. When that would have occurred yall would have hanged poor ole Ron in effigy and you know it. I wish Ron had brought in Ogando after Oday or let Oday finish the 8th. Bad decision, but not nearly as bad as Nolan and JD having Lowe on the roster. Might as well play with 24. He is not on the roster for mop up duty. Nolan and JD have him there to get RH batters out late in the game. What a joke. Wonderboy Holland can't get it done and you blame Ron. Feliz was not the answer and with a little foresight yall would have known that. Let's go Rangers!!
You always worry that a manager gets stubborn in the light of criticism. Mark Lowe should never get out of his seat again, but you wonder if Wash gets into this mindset of trying to prove everybody wrong.
It's a shame to waste a good start. You don't win any games you don't score any runs in, but there was no reason to keep a bullpen merry-go-round going until you find a guy that fails. Credit Matt Cain with the victory but the embarrassment belongs to the manager.
Yes, Wash has been overrated for managing a 95-100 win team into a 90 win team. And he's had little to do with the success of this immensely talented group. In fact, he's been a drag on them. But, despite Wash, don't give up on these guys yet. They're very, very good, and the Giants really, really are not.
The 8th inning was managed like it we were already down 7 runs. No urgency or appreciation for the moment. Well, here we have another MUST WIN on Saturday lets see if this team is resilient as we think. Never thought I'd be hoping that we go back to SF...
LOL I got my coffee this morning, braced myself, and opened BBTIA, expecting to see lots of angry diatribe against Ron Washington... yup.
So I'm just gonna blast away with my hot sports opinion, since you guys have the freedom to do so. Ron Washington isn't a terrible manager, nor is he a "fool." In game 1, Ron Washington didn't make Lee lose his command and give up 8 hits and 6 ER in about 5 innings. Yesterday, Texas managed nothing off Cain, and if you guys thought that Texas would come back and score 3 off Wilson in the 9th - well, check and see how many times that happened during the regular season. Texas lost because SF outpitched them - as we all know, good pitching beats good hitting, and good pitching wins championships.
Regarding the bullpen - this is why teams go and get veteran relievers for the postseason. You can't just throw rookies into the fire, expecting they'll just perform like they did in the regular season - the WS isn't the regular season. Texas is a good team, but they are extremely young, and what happened to Holland last night is going to happen sometimes. It's just part of baseball. So I have 2 comments about this. First, this might help disprove that pernicious theory going around that Wash always prefers veterans to rookies. Second, Wash all season long has stuck by his players, giving them a chance to redeem themselves rather than playing Capt. Hook. I can understand why some fans might not like that philosophy, but they shouldn't be surprised. I expect this has a lot to do with Wash's success in the clubhouse, because his players know he has their back.
So the bottom line is SF has outplayed, outpitched, and outhit Texas. That's why Texas is losing. Some of you guys thought that just because we beat TB and NY that'd we'd breeze through the Giants - but SF has a much better pitching staff than those AL teams did.
Actually, Diogenes, SF does not have a "much" better pitching staff "than those AL teams did." SF has very good pitching. So did Tampa Bay. Cain was very good last night, but the Rangers also missed a lot of hittable pitches. That was not a dominant performance; in some ways it was a fortunate performance. These SF guys pitch in a pitcher's park in a league with no DH. Let's not make them into more than they are siimply because they have great NL stats. They're a very good pitching staff, but they're not vastly, or even obviously, superior to the Rangers' or the Rays' staffs. The Rangers have been very bad. That doesn't make the Giants very good.
After the first walk, when Holland was clearly wrong, I was yelling at the TV for Wash to start warming someone. When Maddux didn't come out until so late to talk to him, I was in shock.
When Lowe walked the 2nd batter, I turned off the TV in disgust.
Anyone else notice that when someone is warming in our pen, it's usually just that... someONE?
When is Ron going to finally get tired of letting games get out of hand by letting the first guy go way too long? It's happened now thrice in the last two weeks. It's the World bloody Series. This isn't interleague play in June you nitwit.
I am still baffled why Matt Treanor wasn't immediately pulled for Bengie when CJ's boo boo started hurting. They say Ron hates burning his catcher late in games for injury sake, but come on dude. Bengie is the only warm body on our bench capable of hitting the ball aside from Moreland and Kinsler.
Can we please have a Josh Hamilton sighting in Arlington? How about a boom steek? What about the impaler? Maybe the face can save his own with a couple or four excellent offensive performances in a row. Lord knows he is never going to be an even adequate defensive 3B. He's got to be mashing to be valuable, and he has done none of which.
Point is, CJ could have thrown a perfect game, Feliz could have come in and struck out 5 guys, and every soul in our bullpen could have made the Giants look stupid, but we'd still be playing ball because this offense has been putrid for two games in the happy bay.
Great write up man. Some people gotta understand that sometimes you need to vent.
We def need the MLB version of the Rangers to show up tomorrow... not the Varsity version.
RedBlueRanger, priority one in the 8th has got to be to keep the game close for a rally in the 9th. You like Ogando, fine, he did throw 2 innings the day before, but should be OK. That didn't happen. I would want Perez in there when Posey gets on, or at least at some point in the inning before the wheels come off. You worry he needs to be hit for in the 9th inning rally, double switch when you bring him in. I'm not checking the lineup or who was due to lead off the 9th, can't remember, off the top of my head, Young at 3rd is a good guy to double switch with Cantu, whatever, the double switch works anywhere in the lineup you need your pitcher to bat to stay in the game, duh. No reason in my mind that we saw so much of Ogando in game 1 and none, NONE, of Perez yesterday, thank you very much Ron Washington. The Holland meltdown is all on Ron, thank you so so so much again. Why not a man warming up behind him, Ogando maybe? Such a thing should not be allowed. I wondered if Maddux should have said something about not having a guy warm behind him, not part of his job? Was any plan beyond Holland at all, Washington seemed to say as much after the game. I enjoyed the looks on the Rangers front office faces, and yes, I am sure that was not a happy ride home. Nolan looked like he needed a few moments alone with Robin Ventura. Surely the Rangers are glad glad glad to leave the Twilight Zone of AT+T and get home. I'm sure we will see the backbone of this team at home and on the ropes, for you all down there, I hope it isn't Washington that puts you all on the matt. Let's all root for some good fun ball!
Sorry, you absolutely have to hold the Giants to 2 runs in the 8th to have ANY chance of tying in the ninth. Whoever said there's no chance you score 2 or 3 runs against Wierd Beard in the 9th has a short memory. The Rangers already got to him in game 1. If you happen to tie or take the lead, you give Feliz another out or two in the 9th, then go to Hunter or Ogando if needed. You have to get there first. Let's go the the replay to see how the other strategy worked. What? There's no tape?
THAT'S RIGHT I SHOVED THE TAPE UP MY ASS RON WASHINGTON YOU JACKWAGON!!!
THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO POINT IN LEAVING YOUR BEST RELIEVER ON THE BENCH IN THE MOST IMPORTANT GAME OF THE SEASON JESUS H. F@CKING CHRIST!!!
Hey Ron, how'd the bottom of the ninth go?? Oh? Really? There wasn't one? Ever?
So Feliz never touches the GODDAMN ball in the WS? GMAMFB people!!!