The King, doubling up The Texas Rangers continued their offensive ways collecting 20 hits, 11 runs, four home runs and five doubles in a 11-5 win yesterday in Tampa Bay.
Take in the Kansas weekend series and they've 15 home runs and 35 runs scored in four games. Bad pitching or not, that'll win you more games than not.
And we should never, ever take Josh Hamilton for granted. I would include Nelson Cruz, but he was still with the team as the offensive sputtered through the last five weeks. Hamilton's the anchor here. His insertion puts almost everyone into their right place, and clearly having Cruz is a huge help.
As for the pitching, well, Hamilton can't help that. Here's the thing with Derek Holland: When it clicks that he needs to simply trust his stuff, make his pitches, throw STRIKES, quit sniffing around the corners, he'll be OK. I think he'll be quite good.
Until that time, expect starts like yesterday. On at least three occassions he failed to record a 1-2-3 inning due to a walk. He walked five and only allowed five hits. He walked Nos. 8 and 9 hitters Kelly Shoppach and Justin Ruggiano once each. Two of his five walks scored.
Throwing strikes (and, yes, he was trying to nibble around the plate the entire afternoon) would have changed everything. He most probably goes seven innings instead of five, at least. The pitch count soared due to the free passes. And that would have saved the bullpen.
Two, that's the difference between a quality start and a dud. I'd rather give up a home run than a walk. Walks kill.
Notes:
1. I love the "Darren Oliver has lost it" talk. It's funny. The guy has two bad outings and his ERA "soars" to 2.95. He's allowed three total walks, opponents are hitting .226 and his WHIP is 1.00. The Rangers need the entire bullpen to "struggle."
2. The ascertion that Mike Napoli could hit 30 home runs is alive and well. Had two yesterday including a double. He has nine RBI in his last three games. Seven of his hits in that span have gone for extra bases. The assertion that he could be an extra in Road House is also alive.
3. The Tampa bullpen pitched 6.1 innings yesterday. And they have a rookie going today.
4. Elvis Andrus had two doubles. At seven, he has one less than Josh Hamilton, two more than Nellie Cruz and one more than Napoli. He had 15 doubles all of 2010.
5. Mitch Moreland's home run still hasn't landed.
6. Mike Young has 14 hits in his last 10 games. He has 70 on the season, 82 short of 2,000. Secondarily, he could approach 1,000 runs and RBI before the season ends in addition to 400 doubles.
7. What do you do with Endy Chavez?
