The Rangers Are 17-14

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I hope you all like pizza, because it's half-price Papa John's tomorrow.

  • This game started off pretty fun. Rougned Odor and Nomar Mazara went back-to-back with home runs, marking the first time two players 22 or younger have gone back-to-back to start a game. So, it was 2-0 early on.
     
  • A.J. Griffin started today, and looked to be solid early on. However, after Delino DeShields misplayed a ball off of the wall in the bottom of the 2nd inning on what ended up being ruled a Anthony Gose triple -- although it should have been a double and an error -- Jarrod Saltalamacchia managed to score all the way from first base. In the bottom of the 3rd inning, Rougned Odor misplayed a ball up the middle hit by Miguel Cabrera that should have been the final out, allowing him to reach first on what ended up ruled a single. Shortly after, Nick Castellanos singled in Cabrera and Victor Martinez to make it 3-2 Tigers.
     
  • In the same inning, Griffin's velocity dropped to 85-86 mph and his command was noticeably shaky. He ended up being pulled from the game with what is being termed as shoulder soreness. Hopefully it isn't anything serious, but I expect that the Rangers will be cautious with a guy who missed the last two seasons due to injuries.
     
  • Anthony Ranaudo came into the game, and in the bottom of the 4th inning, gave up a 2-run home run to Ian Kinsler. Suddenly, this game was decidedly not-fun to watch.
     
  • That is, until the top of the 6th inning when Rougned Odor led off with a single, Nomar Mazara followed up with a double to drive him in, and Adrian Beltre hit a 2-run home run to make it a tie ball game. After Ian Desmond took a hit-by-pitch, Mitch Moreland followed up with a 2-run home run of his own, and it was 7-5 Rangers.
     
  • In the top of the 7th inning, Beltre came through with yet another 2-run home run. Then, in  the top of the 9th inning, Delino DeShields hit a sacrifice fly to score Bryan Holaday and make it 10-5 Rangers.
     
  • Things got interesting in the bottom of the 9th inning. Tony Barnette came in for his second inning of work, and with two outs, ended up loading the bases. Once again, despite all the talk of not having defined bullpen roles -- and after having Sam Dyson warming prior -- Jeff Banister's "save senses" started tingling, and he immediately inserted Shawn Tolleson into the game. After Tolleson got behind 3-0 to Anthony Gose, he came back to strike him out and preserve the 10-5 Texas win.
     
  • Another forgettable game for Prince Fielder, who now has a .198/.244/.293 line on the season. His wOBA sits at .233, and a wRC+ of 36 indicates that he's actually 64% worse than a league-average hitter. Pitchers aren't really scared of him right now.
     
  • After signing Drew Stubbs earlier today, Banister ended up inserting him into center field in the bottom of the 9th inning for Delino DeShields. In signing Stubbs, it would seem to indicate that DeShields's days are numbered, with the only limiting factor being Shin-Soo Choo's return date. I had previously hesitated on thinking DeShields should be optioned due to the lack of a backup center fielder, but Stubbs would seem to solve that problem while providing a defensive upgrade as well as similar speed for pinch-running situations late in games.
     
  • Hey, that's a series win, and I'll take it. Texas will go for a sweep tomorrow at 12:10 PM with Martin Perez facing off against Justin Verlander.