Clinton Lumberkings vs. Beloit Snappers

Low-A: Clinton 5, at Lansing 1
Win: Beavan (7-6, 2.45)
Save: Turner (2, 2.47)

6,200 Lansing residents rolled out of bed to see Blake Beavan and Ryan Turner dominate in a rare morning contest. Beavan allowed a run on three hits, two HBPs, and no walks as he struck out four in six innings. Turner followed with three scoreless frames.

The top five of Clinton’s order were 0-15 with four walks. #7 batter Miguel Alfonzo (.235/.327/.336) walked and drove in two with a two-out, 4th-inning double. #9 man Davis Stoneburner singled and doubled. Each player also stole a base.

Jonathan Greene was the Midwest League’s Offensive Player Of The Week.

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Clinton Lumberkings vs. The Great Lakes Loons

Low-A: Clinton 4, at Great Lakes 3
Win: Dennis (3-3, 1.37)
Save: Flores (8, 4.14)

Down 3-1 in the 8th, Matt Lawson and Tim Smith led off with singles, and Mitch Moreland (.325/.611/.649 in July) promptly put the Lumberkings in the lead for good with his 11th homer. 3B Jonathan Greene and DH Cristian Santana both were 2-4.

Blake Beavan walked three in five innings, allowing three runs (one earned) and striking out one. Half of his 14 walks have come in his last two starts. Chris Dennis (2 IP, 2 SO) and Adelberto Flores (1.1 IP, 2 SO) quieted the Loons to set up and preserve Clinton’s comeback.

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Clinton Lumberkings vs. Fort Wayne

Low-A: at Clinton 0, Fort Wayne 7
Loss: Beavan (6-6, 2.57)

On one side, Blake Beavan had walked only eight of 300 opposing batters as a professional. On the other side, the Fort Wayne Wizards had 60 more walks than any other MWL team coming into the game and the 3rd most in pro ball. Someone had to give, and on Thursday it was Beavan, who walked four in five innings. Beavan also struck out four and allowed only a run, but the Wizards scored six in the 8th via a variety pack of hits, walks, errors and wild pitches. Joseph Ortiz pitched two scoreless innings.

Mitch Moreland had a couple of hits. He leads the league in doubles (28) and RBI (64). Jonathan Greene’s 16 homers and 62 RBI rank 2nd. Ian Gac’s 19 homers still pace the MWL. Greene also has 27 HBPs, the most in pro ball. Only two other players have more than 15.

Cristian Santana caught for the first time this season. Santana has spent the majority of his time in left field.

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Mid Summer Rangers Report Card 2008

I thought this was appropriate seeing as to how the new Batman movie is coming out tonight. Here are my notes on the Rangers at the midway mark (although only 6 games remain for the Rangers at this point...)
Here are some grades for some players...
And here is the breakdown on Ron Washington and his grade thus far... John Daniels will more than likely come after the Trade Deadline. I would think it would be smart to hold on to what you got, unless you can grab something good for Hank Blalock (which isn't all that likely), and he HAS to keep certain players from being mentioned (Feliz, Beavan...)

Here is the math that goes with the record. It figures in that Oakland and the Angels play 500 baseball the rest of the way (and that normally doesn't happen, but for argument's sake, that's what we do), the Rangers will need to win over 70% the rest of the way to win this division. And THAT would be exciting baseball to watch. I want to see them catch Oakland, but 85 wins sometimes seems like a lot, however, the Rangers can do better than that, or so I believe. I think it is realistic for them to win 40 games and finish with 90 wins for the season. Call me a dreamer... but then you would also have to call the players dreamers, too. And you would be right. And the scary thing is that these players believe they can do even better than that... good times. Johnny Out.

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MLB All-Star Game

Four Rangers in the All-Star game. Hamilton is starting. Young, Kinsler, and Bradley on the bench. Will one get the finger on this historic night? The Rangers could very well have an All-Star MVP in this mix. And if I had to guess amongst the four, it would be Kinsler. Just saying. Only two teams are sending more than the Rangers to this game.

In case you are not aware of what the finger is about, it is what the player on the Rangers gets when something great has been done either on the field, the mound, or at-bat. And the youngest bench player not in the lineup has "finger duties."

So, who is the best bet for MVP in a Rangers uniform?

• Michael Young - He did go on a stretch of 22-44 before going into Saturday's game. He would be my next bet behind...
• Ian Kinsler - nobody is hotter at the plate right this very moment that Ian.
• Milton Bradley - Bradley is good, but not as good in my mind as some of the other players on the roster, and not as good as Kinsler and Hamilton. That is just my opinion.
• Josh Hamilton - not as likely, since he is a starter, and typically the MVP goes to a player who makes something happen later in the game. There is a possibility that he could be pulled before the midway part of the game.

Forecast: The American League has won the last ten games. And I truly think they have the better team for this game, as well. Score: 7-5, AL.

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Josh Hamilton

WOW

That's what you say to 28 HRs in the first round. It was more than just a shame he didn't win the Derby, but I can't say he will be quickly forgotten in the years to come in this competition.

To really get a good view of the Hamilton montage, cick on the image to view it better.

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Clinton Lumberkings and Blake Beavan

6/29

Low-A: at Clinton 3, Quad Cities 4

Loss: Beavan (4-5, 3.16)

Blake Beavan struck out five against one walk in five innings, but he also surrendered two solo homers and another run.

Jonathan Greene and Tim Smith had back-to-back solo homers in the 7th. Smith also singled. Engel Beltre singled and drew his first walk since June 3rd, ending a dry stretch of 87 appearances during which he batted .267/.276/.395.

7/4

Low-A: Clinton 4, at Beloit 0

Win: Beavan (5-5, 2.84)

Blake Beavan matched his longest outing (7 innings) and most strikeouts (5) while yielding no runs, no walks, and only three hits. The extremely walk-averse Beavan finds himself in the odd position of having allowed more homers (9) than free passes (8) this season. David Wells accomplished that feat a few times. Beavan’s strikeout rate has climbed from an uncomfortably low 10% in his first eight starts to nearly 18% in his last five.

Engel Beltre made up for Thursday’s unsightly oh-for-six with a single and double. Mitch Moreland (.319/.395/.490) singled twice and walked, while RF Miguel Alfonzo (228/.330/.302) hit a solo homer (his 3rd) and doubled.

Chris Dennis (1.16 ERA) worked a scoreless 8th and 9th.

7/11

Low-A: Clinton 4, at West Michigan 1

Win: Beavan (6-5, 2.62)

Save: Flores (7, 3.86)

Blake Beavan offered one of those strangely effective Beavan starts: six innings, five hits, no runs, no walks, and just one strikeout. On the season, Beavan has faced exactly 300 batters and has eight walks (2.7%) and 38 strikeouts (12.7%), both far below the league average (8.5% and 20.2%, respectively).

Adelberto Flores pitched the final two innings without incident.

Engel Beltre contributed with a solo homer (#5), his 18th double, and a single. Beltre is hitting .310/.333/.448 in 19 games since the All-Star break. He’s also doubled his walk rate… from 1.6% to 3.2%.

RF Miguel Alfonzo went 3-4 with a solo homer, his 5th.

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Game 96: Rangers vs. White Sox

I like the ChiSox with Ranger colors. It seems more fitting.
Well, I will be at this game. They are giving away free Ranger Umbrellas. Which will more than likely be necessary since the game starts at 2 O'Clock in the afternoon. The dot race will be won by none other than GREEN!
Matt Harrison has obviously not pitched against the ChiSox, simply because he made his ML Debut in his last start. He went 7 innings in his first ML start, walked one and gave up 5 hits and 2 runs. He threw 97 pitches and held his opponents to a .200 BA while earning a nice 2.57 ERA.

I sometimes question starts like this simply because, as a Rangers fan, pitchers don't stay like this for very long. They tend to have great success in another uniform... but he had his success against a really respectable team in the Angels. The White Sox are chumps, either, so when I go out to the ballpark, I am not sure what to expect against the new kid.

Jose Contreras... and this is as far as I got with this post yesterday. I didn't put anything else on here... but I think I was leaning to another Harrison win, to be honest.Let's not forget to root for the All-Stars on Tuesday! Kinsler and Young are the only middle infield duo to have 20+ hitting streaks in the same season in the Modern Era. Kinsler: 25 games in a row! Young: 15 games in a row!
Forecast: Well, this is after the fact. But here is some news: If you happen to watch the game, you will see both my wife and I being talked to between the first and second inning. We found out that my wife is pregnant this morning with our second child! That means another four years of being in the Texas Jr. Rangers! And I am always OK with that... Johnny Out.

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Game 95: Rangers vs. White Sox

Don't you just hate it when your socks smell... Now that is one nasty looking load of socks. Oh yeah, my wife isn't going to see this one. I didn't expect the Rangers to win last night, so I was pleasantly surprised to see them win and win big. My quick pick on today's game was the Rangers.
John Danks was part of the Rangers "DVD" package that was in the minor leagues in previous years. The other two were Volquez and Diamond. Diamond is the only one left in the Rangers control, but he has been plagued by injuries, so questions have arisen about his future, as a baseball player and as a prospect in the Rangers organization.

Both of today's pitchers are 6-4 coming into tonight's game. John Danks has five straight quality starts (2-0, 1.11 ERA), and Kevin Millwood is 33-24 on five days rest with a 3.79 ERA.

Danks comes into this with a 2.52 ERA. He has faced the Rangers once and lost that game. He did strike out 8 in 5.2 innings and gave up only two earned runs, but three unearned as well. He has a 3.18 ERA, a 1.41 WHIP and a .269 BAA.

As a team, the Rangers are batting 5-17 against Danks (current roster) with no run production. Young and Kinsler are 1-7 combined.

Millwood has started seven against Chicago and is 1-3 with a 2.15 ERA, a 1.09 WHIP, and a .229 BAA. This season, Millwood has a 4.93 ERA and is 4-0 at home with a 4.86 ERA.

The current ChiSox roster is 57-207 (.275 BA) with 9 doubles and 7 HRs and 27 RBIS.

Sox to Watch:

• Orlando Cabrera: 23-79 (.291 BA); 4 doubles, 1 HR and 11 RBIs
• Nick Swisher: 9-22 (.409 BA); 2 doubles, 3 HRs, and 7 RBIs
• Paul Konerko: 6-17 (.353 BA); 1 double and 2 RBIs

The purple dot has this one all sewed up... I guess I can say that "sewed" is a Texacism. Like an Exorcism, but without the sense.
Forecast: I think my Quick Pick could be in jeopardy, however I could be right. I know Millwood is going to pitch a good game and it would appear that Danks will do the same. Look for both to get a no-decision and the bullpen have to work this one out. ChiSox stink it up with the dirty socks... and the Rangers win it: 5-3.

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Game 94: Rangers vs. White Sox

I thought I would start today with the series matchups:

• Game 1: Gavin Floyd (10-4) vs. Luis Mendoza (1-3) - Quick Pick: White Sox
• Game 2: Kevin Millwood (6-4) vs. John Danks (6-4) - Quick Pick: Rangers
• Game 3: Matt Harrison (1-0) vs. José Contreras (7-6) - Quick Pick: Rangers

Ah... I do not know if you noticed, but yesterday there were five games that went into extra innings, all going 11 innings, and 4 out of 5 games were won by the visiting team. Weird.

For the Dot Race, red will win.

The right-hander, Gavin Floyd, is 6-1 with a 3.55 ERA over his last eight starts. He pitched 7 1-3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and fanning six in a 6-1 victory over Oakland on Saturday. And before this stretch, Floyd pitched a complete game loss to the Angels in which he gave up three runs on three hits and four walks and a HR. In his last four starts, he has pitched 6 innings or more twice.

Floyd has one career start against the Rangers and didn't grab a decision after pitching 6 innings and handing out three runs. The Rangers hit him for a .261 batting average, but the league is hitting .207 off of him this season.

Rangers to Watch:

• Ian Kinsler: 1-3 with a HR and 1 RBI
• Michael Young: 1-3
• Marlon Byrd: 1-3
• Frank Catalanotto: 1-2 with 1 walk

Luis Mendoza has never faced the ChiSox, so this is breaking new ground for him tonight. Of course, his career consists of 8 starts in his 14 games, and a career record of 2-3 with 1 save. This season, he sports a 7.54 ERA in 22.2 innings in 5 starts and 3 relief appearances. Everybody mistakes his pitches for batting practice. At least that is what you think when you see his .337 BAA. The Rangers have only won two of the games he's pitched in and three of the games he's been apart of have been blowouts that the opponent won. He's given up 11 unearned runs. He's also walked 11, struck out 10, and given up 6 long balls this season.

Wow, this game is a huge mismatch. If you play "Beat the Streak", today would have been a good call for a ChiSox hitter, even with Kinsler and Young blowing it out at the plate.

Forecast: I do not know if I should really be doing this series... my house is devided when it comes to the ChiSox and the Rangers. I guess today's prediction will please my wife. ChiSox take this one in an UGLY game... score: 8-3.

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Game 92: The Game Winner

Courtesy of the fine folks at the Dallas Morning News: Going... Going... GONE!

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Dr. Pepper Junior Texas Rangers

So my son gets to go hear Saltalamacchia talk tomorrow. That will be fun. This puzzle below, the one with the faces, that was a bit tougher than those they have had in the past.
The Answers Link will be here. Anyway, good luck with the puzzles. Johnny Out.

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Game 92: Rangers vs. Angels

The Rangers continue the series against the Angels with a second consecutive start with a rookie making his MAJOR LEAGUE debut. Matt Harrison made his debut last night and grabbed a win in what I can only describe as being a beautiful and stunning performance. The Rangers have had to make some adjustments this season. Below is what the starting rotation looked like at opening day.
And this is what the starting rotation looks like now. Three rookies in the rotation and Feldman also in the rotation. Millwood has had to have some time off due to injury, so every starter has had to deal with bumps and bruises this season and take time out to rest on the bench for a period of time.
Since my last post, the Rangers have gone to NY to play the Yankees, and they won two of three, gone to Baltimore and won two of three and then journeyed back home to face the Angels in a four game series, which they have split the first two. Now, the really impressive thing about it all is that the Rangers are playing some pretty decent teams and winning. And they are doing with YOUTH. What that means (and we've heard this before, but it helps to point it out now) is that this team is under the Rangers control, contract wise. They can't go anywhere, unless the Rangers release them, trade them, or let them get caught by someone else by waivers. And the way that they are playing, it will be pretty hard for them to get sent down.
Mike Ballard has 8-3 with a 3.97 ERA in AA Frisco this season. He had 15 starts and pitched 88.1 innings with a complete game to show for his work. He's averaging more than 5.2 innings per start and has only given up 3 homeruns. Opponents are hitting .304 off of him. And that is essentially the book on him, or at least the Cliff Notes.

Looks like, according to multiple local reports, that tonight’s pitching plan is to start Warner Madrigal against his former organization, hope to get three innings out of him, and follow with Josh Rupe and Jamey Wright.

The speculated rationale is that the club doesn’t want to add Frisco lefthander Mike Ballard to the 40-man roster, which I suppose may mean that (1) there’s a fear that he’d be claimed if designated for assignment afterwards and (2) Texas doesn’t want to risk losing him. There’s an open spot on the 40-man roster, but even if Ballard were to be added to the 40 and then optioned, another spot could presumably be cleared by moving Jason Jennings to the 60-day disabled list.

Interesting decision. Dustin Nippert and Matt Harrison helped make this possible by saving the bullpen the last two nights, but this means Scott Feldman is probably going to need to go deep tomorrow night – though lately, if you need to depend on a Rangers starter to go deep, Feldman is the guy.

I guess that already makes the rotation pic out of date. Anyway, Madrigal... is 0-1 with a 16.20 ERA in 3.1 innings this season. He hasn't made a start for the Rangers this season. That's all I got on him for this season. Every game that Madrigal has been apart of this season in a Ranger uniform, the Rangers have lost. But it has been in relief appearances.

Jered Weaver is a great pitcher. This season hasn't necessarily showed that, though, as he is 8-8 and 6-4 over his last ten starts. In his last three seasons, he is 1-1 with a 2.79 ERA against the Rangers, and at the Ballpark, he is 1-1 with a 1.90 ERA. The Rangers hit him for a .203 batting average at the Rangers house.

Forecast: This is going to be a hurtful game. The Rangers are the ones who are going to be hurting. Weaver will have a great performance and Madrigal... well, he won't. Maybe average, but not great and the Rangers drop this one, 6-4.

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Game 16: FC Dallas vs. KC Wizards

Yes, it is a soccer game. I've never been to a soccer game, a professional game, anyway. I am going to go to this game on Friday, July 4th. Of course, there are going to be fireworks and such... which I would guess would be the reason I am going. I don't hate soccer, but I can't say that I get as excited about going to a soccer game like I do to a baseball game.

FC Dallas comes into this game with a record of 4-6-5 and has 17 points. Their winning percentage is .433, but has a .571 winning percentage at home. They have only a 35% winning percentage over their last ten.

Kansas City has won 40% of their last ten games and a .462 winning percentage overall. They have 16 points. On the road, KC has a .357 winning percentage.

Now, normally an injured list would mean a lot to me... the countless amount of imformation... but I do not know who these guys are and what the magnitude of them missing the game would mean. So... if you know, then this probably means a whole lot more to you than to me. Now, what I can glean from all of this is that the Wizards have a heck of a lot more people on there than FC Dallas. Dallas has 5 who are out. KC has 4. Yeah...

OK, so for a forecast, this is probably the weakest one I have given in quite a while... FC Dallas wins because they are at home and KC is on the road. That is my whole basis. Score??? Well, it is soccer, so 2-1.

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