Put Your Hands Up, The Rangers Are In Town - A MLB 09 'Chise

[Scott]

GAME 4 OF 4

Texas (9-9, W2) vs. Baltimore (4-15, L2)

STARTING PITCHERS

Matt Harrison (1-1, 5.06 ERA) vs. Chris Waters (1-1, 5.89 ERA)

Team Matchup
17th (.263) AVG 21st (.254)
16 (22nd) HR 23 (t-6th)
72 (20th) R 75 (t-18th)
18th (4.01) ERA 30th (5.89)

Preview: It was a successful day for the whole Texas organization. All 3 teams won, the Rangers, Redhawks and RoughRiders, allowing a total of 3 combined runs. Elizardo Ramirez picked up his 2nd win of the season while going the distance and allowing just 4 hits the entire again against the Omaha Royals. While Omar Poveda pitched 7 innings allowing just 2 runs while scattering 7 hits over 7. Texas goes for it's 3rd straight over Baltimore and with a win would have won 6/7 over Baltimore this season.

[Scott]

Bench Comes Up Huge, Win Third Straight

Despite getting the early lead on a Michael Young 2 run HR in the 1st. Texas keeps doing the right things, getting good pitching and timely hits. Michael Young hit his 3rd HR of the year, while Hank Blalock hit his 2nd. But no hit was bigger than Chris Davis' RBI single down the left field line in the 7th inning off the bench to give Texas the go ahead run 5-4. While CJ Wilson got into some trouble in the 8th with a lead off double. Ron Washington signaled Frank Francisco for the difficult 5 out save. Frankie handled it with ease, getting the 5 outs without allowing a hit and striking out 3 to earn his 5th save of the season.

Minor League Action: Holland and the Redhawks took on Omaha opposite of Sydney Ponson, They easily took care of them 3-0, Holland earned his 2nd win of the season and went 8 IP, scattering 5 hits while striking out 7, his ERA is now at 1.67. Holland is in competition for the lowest starter ERA with Neftali Feliz, who's ERA is just 1.65. Kasey Kiker and the Rough Riders opened a four game set against San Antonio. Kiker struggled going only 3.2 IP while giving up 5 runs and 7 hits but Thomas Diamond earned the win in relief by going 4 1/3 allowing only 4 hits and 1 run to earn his 1st win of the season.

Highlights

Player of the Game

Rangers Closer Frank Francisco

Texas 5, Baltimore 4
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E TEX (9-9) 2 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 5 11 0 BAL (4-14) 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 10 0	April 27, 2009 Camden Yards Baltimore, MD
WIN: E. Guardado (1-0) LOSS: D. Sarfate (2-1) SAVE: F. Francisco (5)

Texas Rangers Hitters AB R H BI AVG Kinsler 2B 4 1 1 0 .221 Young 3B 5 1 2 2 .267 Hamilton DH 5 0 0 0 .325 Jones CF 3 1 2 0 .393 1-Golson, PR, CF 1 1 0 0 .250 Blalock 1B 3 1 1 2 .279 Byrd RF 3 0 1 0 .228 Davis PH 1 0 1 1 .267 Murphy LF 4 0 1 0 .275 Saltalamacchia C 4 0 1 0 .254 Andrus SS 4 0 1 0 .169 TEX TOTALS 37 5 11 5 BATTING 2B: M. Young (3), A. Jones 2 (6) HR: M. Young (3), H. Blalock (2) RBI: M. Young 2 (9), H. Blalock 2 (12), C. Davis (12) HBP: I. Kinsler, A. Jones BASERUNNING FIELDING Pitchers IP H R ER ERA M. Harrison 4.1 7 3 3 5.31 J. Rupe 1.1 1 1 1 1.93 E. Guardado W, 1-0 1.1 1 0 0 1.46 C. Wilson H, 5 0.1 1 0 0 3.60 F. Francisco SV, 5 1.2 0 0 0 1.17 TEX TOTALS 9 10 4 4 PITCHING Strikeouts: M. Harrison (3), J. Rupe (2), E. Guardado (1), F. Francisco (3) WP: F. Francisco (1), J. Rupe (1)

Baltimore Orioles Hitters AB R H BI AVG Roberts 2B 4 0 0 0 .256 Jones CF 4 0 1 0 .213 Markakis RF 4 1 3 0 .329 Huff 1B 4 0 2 1 .360 Scott DH 4 2 1 0 .301 Wigginton 3B 4 1 1 0 .333 Pie LF 4 0 1 2 .164 Andino SS 3 0 0 0 .143 Gathright PH 1 0 0 0 .158 Moeller C 3 0 1 1 .154 Izturis PH 1 0 0 0 .096 BAL TOTALS BATTING 2B: N. Markakis 2 (5), A. Huff (7), T. Wigginton (3) RBI: A. Huff (22), F. Pie 2 (4), C. Moeller (1) BASERUNNING CS: A. Jones (1) FIELDING Pitchers IP H R ER ERA C. Waters 5.0 7 4 4 6.17 J. Walker 1.0 2 0 0 3.77 D. Sarfate L, 2-1 0.2 1 1 1 9.64 D. Baez 0.0 1 0 0 4.35 J. Johnson 0.1 0 0 0 5.27 C. Ray 1.0 0 0 0 3.60 A. Simon 1.0 0 0 0 3.52 BAL TOTALS 9 11 5 5 PITCHING Strikeouts: C. Waters (6), D. Sarfate (2), A. Simon (3)

Table created by: PUJOLS4MVP

Scoring Summary Details
			TEX	BAL
	1st	Young homered to center, Kinsler scored.	2	0
	2nd	Pie grounded out to 2nd, Scott scored.	2	1
	2nd	Moeller singled to left, Pie scored.	2	2
	3rd	Huff doubled to right, Markakis scored.	2	3
	6th	Blalock homered to right, Jones scored.	4	3
	6th	Pie singled to center, Scott scored.	4	4
	7th	Davis singled to left, Golson scored.	5	4

[Scott]

LEAGUE NEWS (Updated Each Monday)

Transactions
No Major Transactions

2009 AL East Standings
TEAM	W	L	GB
Blue Jays	18	3	-
Red Sox	14	5	3.0
Yankees	14	6	3.5
Rays	8	12	9.5
Orioles	4	16	13.5

2009 AL Central Standings
TEAM	W	L	GB
White Sox	14	4	-
Indians	10	10	4.0
Twins	9	11	5.0
Royals	5	14	8.5
Tigers	4	16	10.0

2009 AL West Standings
TEAM	W	L	GB
Angels	12	7	-
Rangers	10	9	2.0
Athletics	9	10	3.0
Mariners	7	13	5.5

2009 NL East Standings
TEAM	W	L	GB
Mets	10	9	-
Phillies	10	10	0.5
Braves	9	10	1.0
Nationals	7	12	3.0
Marlins	6	13	4.0

2009 NL Central Standings
TEAM	W	L	GB
Brewers	12	7	-
Astros	12	8	0.5
Pirates	12	8	0.5
Cardinals	13	8	1.0
Cubs	11	8	1.0
Reds	5	15	7.5

2009 NL West Standings
TEAM	W	L	GB
Giants	12	6	-
Dodgers	13	7	1.0
Rockies	10	8	2.0
Padres	7	13	6.0
Diamondbacks	6	13	6.5

AL League Leaders
D. Pedroia	Avg	.420
C. Quentin	HR	8
A. Huff/A. Rios	RBI	22
B. Upton	R	22
D. Pedroia	SB	8
5 Players	W	4
R. Halladay	ERA	1.23
R. Halladay	K	35
B.J. Ryan	SV	10

NL League Leaders
K. Johnson	Avg	.380
P. Fielder	HR	8
C. Duncan	RBI	21
C. Hart	R	15
M. Bourne	SB	10
A. Wainwright	W	4
B. Myers	ERA	0.57
R. Harden	K	35
J. Motte/H. Street	SV	8

Team Leaders
A. Jones	Avg	.393
J. Hamilton	HR	5
H. Blalock/C. Davis	RBI	12
J. Hamilton	R	15
E. Andrus	SB	2
S. Feldman/V. Padilla	W	2
F. Francisco	ERA	1.17
K. Millwood	K	22
F. Francisco	SV	5

Team Stats
AVG	RUNS	HR	OBP	SB
.265	77	18	.300	3
16th	19th	T-19th	26rd	T-26th
ERA	FLD%	HR	SV	K
4.01	.987	25	6	124
18th	9th	T-26th	T-13th	T-20th

Key Injuries
Player	Team	Injury	Time Out
Jose Reyes	Mets	Torn Groin	42
J. Damon	Yankees	Torn Hamstring	57 Days

[Scott]

SERIES MATCHUP

Oakland (9-10, L1) vs. Texas (10-9, W3)


Trevor Cahill (1-0, 4.34 ERA) vs. Scott Feldman (2-0, 2.92 ERA)
Justin Duchscherer (4-0, 2.01 ERA) vs. Kevin Millwood (1-2, 3.42 ERA)
Dana Eveland (2-2, 5.73 ERA) vs. Vicente Padilla (2-1, 5.32 ERA)

Team Matchup
.259 (20th) AVG .265 (16th)
23 (t-6th) HR 18 (t-19th)
92 (11th) R 77 (19th)
4.69 (25th) ERA 4.01 (18th)

Player to Watch
1B Jason Giambi
.297 avg, 4 HR, 18 RBIs

[Scott]

GAME 1 OF 3

Oakland (9-10, L1) vs. Texas (10-9, W3)

STARTING PITCHERS

Trevor Cahill (1-0, 4.34 ERA) vs. Scott Feldman (2-0, 2.92 ERA)
April 28th 7:05
Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington TX

Injury Report
OAK - None
TEX - OF Nelson Cruz - 1-6 Days

Pregame Notes
OF Nelson Cruz came off the DL today, he'll be suited up but Andruw Jones will play again in RF. Feldman will be making his 1st start of the season.

[Scott]

Texas wins again, Beats Oakland 6-4.

Texas continues its hot streak, winning its 4th in a row, this time against Oakland. The bats seem to be heating up as Young, Hamilton & Jones all homered against the A's today. Texas improves to 11-9 on the season while Oakland drops to 9-11. Expect Nelson Cruz to be in the lineup tomorrow, as he is coming back from the DL.

Highlights


Player of the Game
Andruw waves Bye-Bye to the ball.

OF Andruw Jones - 1/3 - HR - RBI - R - BB

Oakland 4, Texas 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E OAK (9-10) 0 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 4 11 0 TEX (10-9) 1 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 X 6 11 0	7:00 PM April 28, 2009 Rangers Ballpark in Arlington Arlington, TX
WIN: J. Jennings (2-0) LOSS: T. Cahill (1-1) SAVE: C. Wilson (1)

Oakland Athletics Hitters AB R H BI AVG Sweeney CF 5 0 2 1 .319 Cabrera SS 5 0 2 0 .295 Holliday LF 4 0 0 0 .237 Giambi 1B 3 1 1 0 .299 Cust RF 4 1 2 0 .343 Chavez 3B 3 1 1 2 .236 Buck DH 3 0 0 1 .196 Suzuki C 4 1 2 0 .290 Ellis 2B 4 0 1 0 .185 OAK TOTALS 35 4 11 4 BATTING 2B: J. Giambi (4), K. Suzuki (3) HR: E. Chavez (2) RBI: R. Sweeney (7), E. Chavez 2 (8), T. Buck (7) HBP: E. Chavez SF: T. Buck GIDP: T. Buck BASERUNNING FIELDING Pitchers IP H R ER ERA T. Cahill L, 1-1 4.0 8 6 6 5.96 B. Anderson 2.0 1 0 0 1.62 J. Devine 1.1 1 0 0 3.65 C. Breslow 0.2 1 0 0 6.94 OAK TOTALS 8 11 6 6 PITCHING Strikeouts: T. Cahill (3), B. Anderson (2), J. Devine (1), C. Breslow (1) WP: T. Cahill 2 (2)

Texas Rangers Hitters AB R H BI AVG Kinsler 4 0 0 0 .208 Young 3B 4 1 1 1 .267 Hamilton CF 4 1 1 1 .321 Jones RF 3 1 1 1 .390 Blalock DH 4 2 2 0 .292 Murphy LF 4 1 3 0 .318 Davis 1B 3 0 1 0 .270 Saltalamacchia C 4 0 1 1 .254 Andrus SS 2 0 1 0 .180 TEX TOTALS 32 6 11 4 BATTING 2B: H. Blalock (6) HR: M. Young (4), J. Hamilton (6), A. Jones (2) RBI: M. Young (10), J. Hamilton (10), A. Jones (9), J. Saltalamacchia (4) HBP: C. Davis, E. Andrus GIDP: J. Saltalamacchia BASERUNNING FIELDING Pitchers IP H R ER ERA S. Feldman 3.0 6 2 2 3.52 J. Jennings W, 2-0 3.0 4 2 2 5.40 D. Nippert H, 1 1.0 0 0 0 3.60 J. Rupe H, 1 1.0 1 0 0 1.74 C. Wilson SV, 1 1.0 0 0 0 3.00 TEX TOTALS 9 11 4 4 PITCHING Strikeouts: S. Feldman (5), J. Jennings (2), D. Nippert (1), C. Wilson (2) WP: S. Feldman (1), J. Jennings (1)

Table created by: PUJOLS4MVP

Scoring Summary
FIRST INNING		OAK	TEX
	Hamilton homered to center.	0	1
SECOND INNING		OAK	TEX
	Saltalamacchia grounded into DP, Blalock scored.	0	2
	Kinsler struck out but reached first on dropped third strike, Murphy scored.	0	3
THIRD INNING		OAK	TEX
	Sweeney singled to center, Suzuki scored.	1	3
	Jones homered to left.	1	4
	Saltalamacchia singled to left, Blalock scored.	1	5
FOURTH INNING		OAK	TEX
	Buck hits a sacrifice fly to left, Giambi scored.	2	5
	Young homered to left.	2	6
SIXTH INNING		OAK	TEX
	Chavez homered to right, Cust scored.	4	6

[Scott]

GAME 2 OF 3

Oakland (9-11, L2) vs. Texas (11-9, W4)

STARTING PITCHERS

Justin Duchscherer (4-0, 2.01 ERA) vs. Kevin Millwood (1-2, 3.42 ERA)
April 28th 7:05
Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington TX

Injury Report

OAK - None
TEX - OF Nelson Cruz - 1-6 Days

Pregame Notes

OF Nelson Cruz came off the DL yesterday, theres a chance he could play against Duchscherer, maybe give Blalock a day off. Duchscherer will have the challenge of slowing down a tough Texas offense, he's allowed a high of just 5 runs this season.

[Scott]

Duchscherer Dominates Rangers

Justin Duchscherer was ready for the Rangers, but they weren't ready for him. Vizquel led off the game looking confused at the plate like most of the Rangers tonight, all except for Taylor Teagarden, who was 2/4 and collected the Rangers first hit in the bottom of the 3rd inning. While on the mound for Texas, Kevin Millwood got knocked around quite heavily by the potent A's offense. Player of the Game Jason Giambi led the attack going 3/4 driving in 3 and smacking a HR in the process.

Player of the Game
A's 1B Jason Giambi

Highlights
Technical Difficulties, No video tonight guys

Oakland 7, Texas 3
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E OAK (9-11) 2 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 7 15 0 TEX (11-9) 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 3 7 1	April 29, 2009 Rangers Ballpark in Arlington Arlington, TX
WIN: J. Duchscherer (5-0) LOSS: K. Millwood (1-3) SAVE: R. Springer (1)

Oakland Athletics Hitters AB R H BI AVG Sweeney CF 5 2 2 0 .324 Cabrera SS 5 0 1 0 .289 Holliday LF 5 2 3 1 .259 Giambi 1B 4 2 3 3 .324 Cust RF 5 0 0 0 .320 Chavez 3B 5 0 1 0 .233 Buck DH 5 1 3 2 .232 Suzuki C 3 0 1 0 .292 Ellis 2B 4 0 1 0 .188 OAK TOTALS 41 7 15 6 BATTING 2B: M. Holliday 2 (3), J. Giambi (5), T. Buck 2 (3) HR: J. Giambi (5), T. Buck (3) RBI: M. Holliday (16), J. Giambi 3 (21), T. Buck 2 (9) HBP: K. Suzuki GIDP: R. Sweeney BASERUNNING FIELDING Pitchers IP H R ER ERA J. Duchscherer W, 5-0 7.1 6 3 3 2.33 R. Springer SV, 1 1.2 1 0 0 1.80 OAK TOTALS 9 7 3 3 PITCHING Strikeouts: J. Duchscherer (6), R. Springer (3)

Texas Rangers Hitters AB R H BI AVG Vizquel 2B 3 0 0 0 .000 Kinsler, PH-2B 1 0 1 2 .219 Young 3B 4 0 0 0 .255 Hamilton CF 4 0 0 0 .307 Cruz RF 4 0 0 0 .273 Blalock 1B 4 0 1 0 .289 Byrd, PR 0 0 0 0 .228 Jones DH 4 0 0 0 .365 Murphy LF 3 1 1 0 .319 Davis PH 0 0 0 0 .270 Teagarden C 4 1 2 0 .267 Andrus SS 3 1 2 1 .203 TEX TOTALS 34 3 7 3 BATTING 2B: T. Teagarden (1) 3B: I. Kinsler (1) RBI: I. Kinsler 2 (5), E. Andrus (6) HBP: C. Davis BASERUNNING SB: E. Andrus (3) FIELDING E: O. Vizquel DP: Vizquel-Andrus-Blalock Pitchers IP H R ER ERA K. Millwood L, 1-3 4.0 10 6 6 4.75 J. Rupe 1.2 2 0 0 1.50 J. Jennings 2.1 1 0 0 4.50 D. Nippert 1.0 2 1 1 4.50 TEX TOTALS 9 15 7 7 PITCHING Strikeouts: K. Millwood (3), J. Rupe (3), D. Nippert (1) WP: K. Millwood (3)

Table created by: PUJOLS4MVP

Scoring Summary Details
			OAK	TEX
	1st	Holliday doubled to left, Sweeney scored.	1	0
	1st	Giambi walked, Holliday scored on wild pitch.	2	0
	2nd	Buck homered to right. (off Millwood)	3	0
	3rd	Giambi doubled to center, Holliday scored.	4	0
	3rd	Buck doubled to right, Giambi scored.	5	0
	4th	Sweeney scored on fielding miscue (no error)	6	0
	6th	Andrus singled to center, Teagarden scored.	6	1
	8th	Kinsler tripled to right, Murphy and Andrus scored.	6	3
	9th	Giambi homered to right. (off Nippert)	7	3

[Scott]

GAME 3 OF 3

Oakland (10-11, W1) vs. Texas (11-10, L1)

STARTING PITCHERS

Dana Eveland (2-2, 5.73 ERA) vs. Vicente Padilla (2-1, 5.32 ERA)
April 30th 1:05
Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington TX

Injury Report

OAK - None
TEX - None

Pregame Notes

Texas had a tough day against JD, they hope to fair better against Dana Eveland, who isn't quite as polished as Duchscherer.

[Scott]

Texas drops 2nd straight.

Not exactly the way Texas wanted to play after coming off a loss at home. The bats really struggled all day, give Dana Eveland credit, his stuff was amazing. Texas now drops to 11-11 and third place in the division. Texas continue their homestand with the Chicago White Sox coming to town.

Player of the Game: Dana Eveland
Highlights: None (too pissed )

Oakland 6, Texas 0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E OAK (10-11) 1 0 0 2 0 1 2 0 0 6 9 1 TEX (11-10) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0	April 30, 2009 Rangers Ballpark in Arlington Arlington, TX
WIN: D. Eveland (3-2) LOSS: V. Padilla (2-2)

Oakland Athletics Hitters AB R H BI AVG Sweeney CF 4 2 2 0 .333 Cabrera SS 3 0 1 2 .291 Holliday LF 4 1 2 1 .271 Giambi 1B 3 1 1 0 .324 Cust RF 4 0 0 0 .304 Chavez 3B 3 1 2 3 .254 Buck DH 4 0 0 0 .217 Suzuki C 4 0 0 0 .275 Ellis 2B 3 1 1 0 .194 OAK TOTALS 32 6 9 6 BATTING 2B: M. Ellis (3), O. Cabrera (6) 3B: R. Sweeney (1) HR: E. Chavez (3) RBI: E. Chavez 3 (11), M. Holliday (17), O. Cabrera 2 (13) HBP: R. Sweeney, M. Ellis, J. Giambi SF: E. Chavez GIDP: K. Suzuki, O. Cabrera BASERUNNING FIELDING E: M. Ellis (2) Pitchers IP H R ER ERA D. Eveland W, 3-2 9 5 0 0 OAK TOTALS 9 5 0 0 PITCHING Strikeouts: D. Eveland (9)

Texas Rangers Hitters AB R H BI AVG Kinsler 2B 3 0 0 0 .211 Young 3B 4 0 0 0 .245 Hamilton CF 4 0 1 0 .304 Cruz RF 3 0 0 0 .240 Jones DH 4 0 1 0 .358 Byrd LF 4 0 1 0 .230 Davis 1B 3 0 0 0 .258 Saltalamacchia C 3 0 1 0 .258 Andrus SS 3 0 1 0 .209 TEX TOTALS 31 0 5 0 BATTING HBP: I. Kinsler BASERUNNING SB: E. Andrus (4) FIELDING Pitchers IP H R ER ERA V. Padilla L, 2-2 6.1 6 4 4 5.40 D. Nippert 2.2 3 2 2 5.19 TEX TOTALS 9 9 6 6 PITCHING Strikeouts: V. Padilla (2), D. Nippert (2)