The patented Nellie dive in right Despite losing two of three, you can't bitch too much about Matt Harrison, Derek Holland and Alexi Ogando.
They all three pitched their asses off against the New York Yankees and if not for some late-inning hitting and Mariano Rivera, the Rangers might have come home with another win or two.
First on Rivera, you might make the argument that the son of a bitch is getting better. He's given up more than 20 runs once in the past nine years. He's not walked a batter this season. There's little reason to think he won't get 750 saves. His career WHIP is 1.00 and his career BAA is .210.
Matt Harrison was not great Friday night. But he was lucky as shit. Harrison allowed 10 baserunners, but somehow induced six (6!!) double plays in the win. Even more awesome (it gets even awesomer!) all six came from the Nos. 1-6 Yankees hitters, one each.
No blame for Derek Holland. Not that the Rangers were going to win without Robby Cano's eighth-inning dinger. The offense were somehow shut down by Freddy freakin' Garcia for most of the game. What little comeback there was, was not enough. Holland, however, must keep the ball in the yard. Loved that he pitched into the eighth.
Alexi Ogando was good Sunday night. One thing that worries me as we get to this third start, he's not having many swings and misses, especially for a guy who can go into the mid- to upper-90s on the fast ball and then throw that slider for a strike. Last year in relief, he averaged a strikeout per frame. This year, he has nine strikeouts in 19 innings. I think he's great and has a definite future, but there might be quite a bit more lows than highs coming.
The blame, if any, for the series loss is with the bullpen.
Although Neftali Feliz and Darren Oliver did not affect the outcome Friday and Saturday, Arthur Rhodes' inability to get outs ruined Sunday night's game. For the weekend, the Rangers bullpen: 3 IP - 4 hits - 2 runs - 3 BBs - 0 K. Now, maybe Holland and Ogando were left in a bit too long. I don't agree with this.
However, does the Rangers lack of depth in the seventh and eighth innings out of the bullpen affect the way Ron Washington uses his starters?
Again, I say leave the starters in. Let them get experience. Let them get out of their own jams. However, sometimes it's going to be apparent the starter has lost it and you can't always bring Feliz in four five outs. And throwing Oliver or Rhodes under the bus is unfair.
I never considered either guys that you can bring in to get four or five outs nor do I think you can leave them in facing right-handed batters all the time. The Rangers need Darren O'Day, Pedro Strop, Mark Lowe or someone to fill this void.
Maybe it's Brandon Webb. He's apparently coming back and is open to a bullpen role. Maybe it's Tommy Hunter. Maybe we decide Ogando needs another year of experience against big-league hitters.
There are solutions here.
Notes:
1. We absolutely need consistency from Adrian Beltre. "Break-out" games every sixth day does not count.
2. Mike Young's seeing beach balls out there. He's got an eight-game hit streak and is hitting .367 with eight doubles. My prediction: He'll have 45 doubles. Bam.
3. Love Pedro Strop so far. Love to see him get more pressure situations. He might be your fix in the eighth inning.
4. The Rangers bats are not doing well. It's amazing they've done what they have with the Nos. 1-2 hitters sucking. However, up and down the line-up, guys are working counts and wearing out pitchers. CC Sabathia had 112 pitches in 6.1 innings. This has been all year. With patience, the timing and hits will come.
