July 15, 2010

G89: Rangers 7, Red Sox 2

Rangers - 601 000 000 - 7 12  0
Red Sox - 000 100 100 - 2 6 1
The Rangers batted around in the first inning against Wakefield (2-8-7-0-2, 34), rapping six consecutive hits and scoring six runs.

The first hit, a one-out single by Michael Young, came after the home plate umpire Bruce Dreckman blew a call on an obvious strikeout. Dreckman ruled a foul ball, though replays showed that Young missed the pitch by at least a foot. Young also ran to first after the ball got away from catcher Kevin Cash, indicating that he knew he had swung and missed. A correct call would have given Boston two outs and no one on -- and who knows how the game might have turned out?

But even after Young singled, Wakefield could not retire the Rangers, who were swinging early in the count, and making it work. Down 6-0, Wake allowed three hits on three pitches to start the third, and that was the end of his night.

The pen quieted the Arlington bats, but Hunter (6.2-5-2-2-1, 108) and the pen had little trouble with the Sox. Two solo homers -- J.D. Drew in the fourth and Bill Hall in the seventh -- accounted for the runs. Daniel Nava singled and walked twice, but the top of the order was silent. The 1-4 hitters were 0-for-17.
Example
Tommy Hunter / Tim Wakefield
Scutaro, SS
Patterson, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Youkilis, 1B
Drew, RF
Nava, LF
Cameron, CF
Hall, 3B
Cash, C
Hunter is a 24-year-old right-hander in his 3rd big league season. He joined the Rangers on June 5 this year and has made seven starts, allowing a total of only 11 earned runs (2.34 ERA).

Hunter has faced the Red Sox twice: August 14, 2008 (9 R in 1.2 IP) and July 21, 2009.

The Rangers (50-38) lead the AL West, 4.5 GA of the Angels and 7.5 GA of Oakland. They were swept by the Orioles -- four games at home -- right before the break.

No other AL East team plays tonight. The Rays and Yankees start a weekend series in New York tomorrow.
Example
July 15:

1994 - White Sox manager Gene Lamont accuses Cleveland slugger Albert Belle of using a corked bat. The bat is confiscated and locked in the umpires' dressing room. The Spiders know the bat is corked and pitcher Jason Grimsley is sent on a mission: to go through a hatch in the clubhouse ceiling and along the crawl space with a flashlight in his mouth, and hope there is a hatch in the umpires' room's ceiling, as well. There was, and Grimsley switched bats, leaving one of Paul Sorrento's in the room. The switch was discovered immediately, of course, and Belle was suspended for seven games. Grimsley later said: "That was one of the biggest adrenaline rushes I've ever experienced. I went skydiving once, and I can compare it to that. ... My heart was going 1,000 miles a second."

Laura and I were at Fenway for Belle's return from his suspension (we had wanted to see some games before the strike). It was the second game of an August 7 doubleheader. Belle got the usual jeers when he came to bat in the first inning -- and then he absolutely crushed Gar Finnvold's 1-2 pitch to left -- over the wall, over the screen, maybe over the parking lot next door. It was a friggin' moon shot! I can't be sure, but I recall a lot of fans standing (because a blast like that lifts you up no matter who hits it), simply shaking their heads and clapping as Belle trotted smugly around the bases. I'd have to say it was one of my favourite moments at any game. The Sox blew a 9-6 lead in the eighth, both teams scored in the 11th, and then Cleveland got five in the top of the 12th, aided by a Mo Vaughn error and won 15-10. The players went on strike five days later.

128 comments:

Zenslinger said...

The summer of 1994 was the only time I actually lived in Boston. I remember thinking, "Now I can finally go to multiple games at Fenway." Then, the Strike. Ugh.

Zenslinger said...

Oatmeal from Extra Bases:

RED SOX (51-37)
Marco Scutaro SS
Eric Patterson 2B
David Ortiz DH
Kevin Youkilis 1B
J.D. Drew RF
Daniel Nava LF
Mike Cameron CF
Bill Hall 3B
Kevin Cash C

Pitching: RHP Tim Wakefield (3-7, 5.22)

RANGERS (50-38)
Elvis Andrus SS
Michael Young 3B
Ian Kinsler 2B
Vladimir Guerrero DH
Josh Hamilton LF
Nelson Cruz RF
Benjie Molina C
Chris Davis 1B
Julio Borbon CF

Pitching: RHP Tommy Hunter (5-0, 2.34)

allan said...

That fall, I started thinking that looking into what was out there about the 1918 Red Sox might not be a bad idea.

tim said...

I played with a corked aluminum bat, and it was a piece of shit. Waaay too light, got far better distance with a regular bat.

Good story though!

Gareth said...

Love the Belle story. I remember seeing Jason Giambi absolutely rip a Bronson Arroyo pitch way, way, way up into the bleachers at the 2004 Marathon Monday game - over our heads - and most of the crowd up there applauded because it was such a tremendous hit, despite the gathering clouds over his career at the time; the only time I have been to a Sox-Yankees game that involved genuinely good-humoured banter between Boston/NY fans, into the bargain. Must have been the unexpected April sunshine!

laura k said...

The Sox blew a 9-6 lead in the eighth, both teams scored in the 11th, and then Cleveland got five in the top of the 12th, aided by a Mo Vaughn error and won 15-10. The players went on strike five days later.

Such a great memory. I remember driving home in what felt like the middle of the night.

Philip said...

God, you know what drives me up the wall? Tito's insistence on putting Darnell McDonald and Eric Patterson in the 2-spot while he wastes a guy whose skillset (OBP and contact) plays well in the 2-spot down at 5--J. D. Drew. I'd rather see Drew bat second, with Cameron moved up to 5th.

9casey said...

Philip said...
God, you know what drives me up the wall? Tito's insistence on putting Darnell McDonald and Eric Patterson in the 2-spot while he wastes a guy whose skillset (OBP and contact) plays well in the 2-spot down at 5--J. D. Drew. I'd rather see Drew bat second, with Cameron moved up to 5th.





Yeah I could see questioning that , Tito only has these guys leading the league in runs scored..

allan said...

Our new passports were waiting for us when we got home today!

allan said...

Tito only has these guys leading the league in runs scored..

You can always score *more* runs.

9casey said...

Crazy guestion, will you still be able to collect U.S. social security?

allan said...

Crazy guestion, will you still be able to collect U.S. social security?

(Not crazy. I wondered that myself.)

Yes. Though I have serious doubts whether there will be anything to collect.

laura k said...

Theoretically we still collect Soc Sec, and whatever old age pension we collect from Canada has that amount deducted from it.

laura k said...

Moment of silence for Bob Sheppard and Big George at Fenway, courtesy of Rogers.

allan said...

not good, wake.

allan said...

seriously, wake.

laura k said...

Oh geez. This is not a fun welcome back.

Zenslinger said...

Wake, yer done. If this is his last time through the rotation, I won't shed a tear.

Or maybe that's the 7 base hits in a row talking. I don't know.

allan said...

manuel up

allan said...

tommy hunter is pitching a no-hitter

mattymatty said...

The results in that inning were awful, but I don't feel like Wake did badly. The Young's single never should've happened because he rightly struck out. Kinsler and Guerrero's singles were both weak grounders that happened to get through, Hamilton's double was a lucky jamshot down the line that somehow fell fair. It was just the last two hits that the Rangers actually hit hard.

laura k said...

Wake, yer done. If this is his last time through the rotation, I won't shed a tear.

I've been thinking that for 2 seasons.

I can't believe people want him in the bullpen! Knuckleballers and bullpens should never be mixed.

mattymatty said...

Wake is probably the odd man out, but only cause Lackey has that huge contract. Its not like Lackey has pitched better than Wake cause he hasn't.

Zenslinger said...

Thanks for the ray of hope, there, Matty. This is the disadvantage of GDGD / following a game online.

mattymatty said...

I submit that in that second inning where the Rangers did nothing on less than ten pitches, Wake pitched just as well as he did in the first. The difference: the Rangers didn't get lucky.

This one isn't over, folks. The Rangers pitcher, who is 5-0 with a 2.28 ERA this year has been getting super lucky. Someone's going to start smacking him around sooner or later and I submit the smacking should start post haste!*

(*did I spell that correctly?)

laura k said...

Over? Of course it's not over. Baseball games go at least 9 innings, as far as I know.

laura k said...

Lackey sucks. I doubt anyone here would defend him.

Zenslinger said...

Sea Bass intentionally walked in his first PA as a Brave.

Fear him!

laura k said...

Thanks for the ray of hope, there, Matty. This is the disadvantage of GDGD / following a game online.

I'm watching it on TV and I wouldn't rationalize the inning that way. Wake looked pretty bad to me.

mattymatty said...

L-girl - just curious, what about Wake looked bad to you?

mattymatty said...

Beltre makes that play.

laura k said...

Giving up 6 hits in the 1st inning looks bad to me. Now we have 2 hits so far in this inning. This does not appear to be luck IMO.

mattymatty said...

We can score 6 on these guys, but I'm not as confident that we can score 9... shit.

laura k said...

And counting.

allan said...

beltre would not have had that.

mattymatty said...

In the first inning they had six hits, four of which were weak hits. They were the kind of hits that, percentage wise, when you make that kind of contract, it usually doesn't result in a hit.

This inning has been different though, I admit. This is gonna be a tough game to win now.

Angry Steve said...

tommy hunter is pitching a no-hitter

one thing positive so far... that's the last thing we needed

allan said...

they were not that weak. and even though he got cheated on the young K, he's got to get outs.

tex was attacking - 15 bf and 34 pit.

Angry Steve said...

2.0 8 7 7 0 2 1 34-28


wow, looks like Tito gave up on him as well...

laura k said...

I guess I don't care if they're weak hits. That to me is like a "cheap home run" - doesn't matter how far it goes, it still gets out.

laura k said...

Allan says NESN's pitch count is off.

This does not make him happy.

allan said...

they have fucked up twice.

how hard is it to count the pitches to **one batter**?

allan said...

still wrong - says 14, should be 13

mattymatty said...

I guess my point was that it wasn't like the Rangers were all over him so it was reasonable to think that if Wake kept pitching like that he could provide the Sox some scoreless innings. Obviously that didn't happen, so I suppose I stand corrected.

allan said...

they screwed up and added a pitch in yook's AB in the 2nd. (i never learn to never trust them. i miss something, i see their # and figure it is right. it NEVER is.)

Zenslinger said...

Three Outs. In a row.

Time for a drink.

allan said...

CCash

mattymatty said...

This sucks.

laura k said...

There's an assessment we agree on.

laura k said...

From a selfish POV, this is extra annoying because I had to miss several games before the break, and I miss most west coast games because of the late start time. So it would be nice to see a good game tonight.

So come on, Sox. Do something.

mattymatty said...

Today may not be the day, but I'm telling you now, there is a reckoning coming for their pitcher. He's not fooling anyone.

mattymatty said...

This guy is Aaron Small.

mattymatty said...

JD! Here we go!

allan said...

2nd half fire

laura k said...

J.D.Ong! He's ON FIRE

mattymatty said...

Asshole. Not cool at all. Hope Cam is OK.

Dr. Jeff said...

Tuned in late. Did Wake know that he wasn't pitching BP?

mattymatty said...

Lets do this, Bill Hall!!

mattymatty said...

How did that guy catch that? Holy crap... they had him positioned absolutely perfectly!

mattymatty said...

So much for that inning.... CRAP.

allan said...

remy made a big deal about how far borbon ran, but it did not seem like much on the replay. would have liked nava to have tagged, though.

laura k said...

Nice catch Hall!

allan said...

time to get some runs.

tim said...

seems dead here. well hello to all lurkers anyway, also to a+l - hope stratford was good!

tim said...

thx werd...chip away now sox.

allan said...

shit

tim said...

remy chipping away at the promos during ASB apparently...seemed to go through that one without struggle. although "waterborne" sounded like "waterboard" ....


almost, nava.

Amy said...

Welcome home, Allan and Laura! And welcome back, baseball. Too bad the Sox are losing 7-1.

allan said...

"waterborne" sounded like "waterboard" ....

L says that all the time.

allan said...

Tempest was amazing; As You Like It was meh.

Amy said...

How was Stratford? I hope better than this game.

Amy said...

Did Christopher Plummer live up to the review I read?

allan said...

L has the Stratford report. It was better than this game (so far).

Amy said...

Reading wmtc now. Before Laura reminds me to!

tim said...

Tempest was amazing; As You Like It was meh.

Yeah, seemed like that reading the descriptions. We were gonna peruse the town on Tues night, guess that would've been nice. Ah well, still would've been nice to see a Stratford Shakespeare play - we've got a few months left!

Didn't miss much action from the ASG anyway. At least it was baseball. Yesterday was shiiiiit.

allan said...

Yes, he did.

After seeing AYLI, 10 minutes into The Tempest, we were both thinking: "Now THIS is acting!"

tim said...

I WAS going to say, down 6-0 with 27 outs is better than 9 outs to go but looks like 9 is all we got to go....fuck sakes, Hamilton.

Lets score 10 soon.

Amy said...

Glad to read that Plummer lived up to the press. I have always liked him, even if it was initially based on The Sound of Music movie (which I saw in the theater back in 1965).

allan said...

He was great -- and was matched (if not upstaged in some spots) throughout the play by a newcomer to Straford (the woman who played Ariel).

tim said...

Stupid sox. More wine? Is that even a question around here anymore?

allan said...

No matter what:

More wine > less wine

allan said...

it is getting late, boys.

tim said...

HALL DONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

allan said...

ROCKING AT THE KINGDOM HALL!!!!

laura k said...

Hall: Do I have to do everything today??

allan said...

down by 5
8 outs left

laura k said...

Tim, you can still see The Tempest - it runs til September. It's a terrific production.

tim said...

Pawsox up 8-2. MDC will likely be in shortly.

Lowrie 1-4 so far from the 2 spot with an RBI double.

allan said...

bullpen time.

laura k said...

I saw Plummer as Iago to James Earl Jones' Othello many years ago, and have loved Plummer ever since.

tim said...

Velazquez tearing it up tonight from the 9 spot in pawtucket.

tim said...

Well, not really. But he's doing OK.

laura k said...

Tim, how's Steph doing?

tim said...

Yeah, hopefully we'll get a chance to check out The Tempest in Aug/Sep.

tim said...

thanks patterson.

Amy said...

I wish I were watching Shakespeare now.

laura k said...

I wish I were watching Shakespeare now.

...instead of an ordinary tragedy.

tim said...

Steph is better now, I think she stopped taking the antibiotics that made her sick. She had a coworker taking the same thing, same result, so I dunno. Grandfather still in the hospital which sucks and has led to more problems for her but she's dealing. As best as she can.

allan said...

patterson: . 268 OBP

(let's make sure this guy comes to the plate more often than drew or yook or tiz.)

tim said...

Good ol' 2-3 double play for pawtucket there in the 7th.

laura k said...

A mixed bag, I guess. Elderly relatives in the hospital is never fun. Say hi for me.

I am wiped out. If there's a big comeback tonight, I think I'm gonna miss it.

tim said...

Speaking of tiz, yook and drew...

Amy said...

I do not think you are going to miss anything.

tim said...

Yeah, family in the hospital is fine. Its the other parts of the family being shitty. Long story...I'm sure you can figure out parts of it from her earlier problems. But I don't wanna get into that now.

Hopefully flo will wake you up with a nice big dong fo ya!

laura k said...

Yeah, I understand. No need to go into it.

And yes, I don't think I'm going to miss anything either.

Good night all.

tim said...

Dammit red sox.

I wanted to use my sweet jpeg of a pic I took today. Make it happen!

tim said...

No MDC for Pawtucket.

Kason Gabbard pitched a OTT 9th for the pawsox. I thought we got rid of him for gag-ne. Apparently we reacquired him in april 09 and he hasn't seen the big league team since.

tim said...

This Tommy Hottovy reliever, who hasn't been that great in AAA (or any minor league for that matter), but pitched out of an inherited runners jam earlier, looks like a likely September call-up.

tim said...

Speaking of Pawsox, Aug 21-25 in Buffalo. Wanna go, Allan?

tim said...

Yes, a 5 game series.

allan said...

hmmm, the monday or tues late in the series might work.

tim said...

Nice BB to start. Fuckin' rally time!

allan said...

leadoff walks always score.

mccarver told me so

tim said...

(the pawsox invite was also directed at L - just not directly since she's outtie from the thread!)

allan said...

this would be contingent on us getting across the border!

tim said...

yay hall.

i'll be sure to bring a glock and tell them we're on our way to kill terrerists - that should convince 'em you're quality people.

allan said...

L might not be able to resist being that close to Lars.

tim said...

i find it interesting that the 5 game series in buffalo, but no other games, are on MLBTV for pawtucket.

tim said...

ahhh, lbl? don't tell jacoby!

hopefully by then we won't need to be seeing any rehab starts.

allan said...

load em up, asshole

tim said...

1 out - fine. we'll do it the hard way.

allan said...

cash coulda done that.

tim said...

ogando is sando!

tim said...

blando!

allan said...

rather not see patterosn hit if scoot gets on

allan said...

myfears are moot.

tim said...

fuck sakes. lift the fucking bat up!

water too potable for my liking. see ya tomorrow.

tim said...

Sooo, rogers west showing a dodgers game. with the STL feed. WTF? no scully?

shame.