Man, that fish looks evil. And what happened last night? Padilla going 7 innings of shutout baseball. Rangers shutout the Mariners? And I thought it was appropriate that Padilla plunks Suzuki to start the bottom of the first. More concerning is this:The game-time temperature at Safeco Field was 53 degrees, which may have had something to do with the injury. From the Texas Rangers Website
So, let's take a look at Hernandez. His first start was against the Rangers on April 1st. The Rangers won that game 5-4 and Felix pitched 7 innings and gave up one unearned run.Hernandez has 11 starts against Texas and is 4-4 with a 4.10 ERA. The Rangers hit .242 against Felix. Last season, Hernandez went 2-3 over six starts. In 2005, he went 0-1 against Texas. In fact, let's just post this:
4/1/08 – ND (Loss: 5-4)
9/30/07 – Win 4-2
8/24/07 – Win 4-2
9/30/06 – Win 3-1
9/18/06 – Loss 8-1
9/10/06 – ND (Loss: 4-2)
8/13/06 – Loss 10-6
5/31/06 – Win 14-5
4/18/06 – Loss 7-4
9/27/05 – ND (Loss: 3-2)
9/16/05 – Loss 5-3
Looking at it like this, Hernandez starts 7 losses to his four wins against Rangers. In other words, the Mariners are .364 when Hernandez starts against the Rangers. And that means the Rangers are .636 when Hernandez pitches against him. Here's the problem: Hernandez has either grabbed a ND or a W in his last four starts against the Rangers (He's 3-0 over that stretch).
Players to Watch:
- Michael Young: 9-30; 3 doubles, 1 triple, 2 RBIs (may not play)
- Frank Catalonotto: 4-12; 1 RBI
- David Murphy: 3-9; 1 double, 1 HR, 3 RBIs
Everyone else really isn't worth talking about or has too few at-bats to bother mentioning. As a team, the Rangers roster bats .238 against Hernandez. It doesn't look all that good.
Kason Gabbard (lucky 13) is set to make his first start coming off the DL. He has pitched against Seattle three times, two starts and is 0-1 over a spread of 9.2 innings. His ERA is 5.59 against the Mariners, who happen to hit him for a .359 batting average. Gabbard has pitched well enough to be 3-0 right now, and the Rangers are 3-1 during his starts (the loss coming from the perfect 2 inning stint that sent him to the DL). In 2006, he played in two games (one start).
And before I dig into those, it is pretty strange how Gabbard pitched in 7 games that year, and only one home game. The home game was his first major league win, and only win that season. Weird.
So, he threw one inning of relief that was perfect. His ML debut was against Seattle, it was a start, and he took the loss, pitching 5.1 innings and giving up three runs, two earned. He gave up eight hits and two walks.
Players to Watch:
- Ichiro Suzuki: 4-6; 2 RBIs
- Jose Lopez: 2-2; 1 double
There's really not enough at-bats by the Seattle team to truly justify a "players to watch" list.
Do not forget to vote for the All-Star game. Let's do what we can to get rid of the Yankees at the All-Star game. And we all know what is really sick about the farewell of Yankee Stadium... they're going to have ANOTHER All-Star game at the new stadium shortly after it opens. So, two All-Star games at the Yankee's house in more than likely less than a decade. Sickening.
I lopsided it so that the NL would get stinky players. I guess that makes me mean or something. Anyway, the AL is a really good vote, with maybe the DH, putting Botts in there instead of anyone else... It could be the last season the Rangers have "possession" of Botts.
Forecast: Seattle makes it even steven with this game in a loss going to Gabbard, who pitches a really good game - just wasn't enough to get it done. Score: 3-1.
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