That was a nice win last night. I am going to post the rest of the season games as they come up and will have a baseball card for each post. If, by chance, I happen to miss one day, then I will post two cards the next, but I am going to try to make sure that doesn't happen.
Yeah, he didn't last too long with the Rangers. He was kind of a "bust" signing. To answer the proverbial question, 'whatever happened to Ben Broussard?' Well, he couldn't hit in a hitting position (first base)... and last I heard, he is in the minors somewhere.
Scouting Report:Rangers: Harrison beat the Red Sox, 15-8, on Sunday by allowing four runs in six innings, and he is now 5-1 with a 4.79 ERA in his past seven starts. He is 3-1 with a 6.65 ERA in four starts on the road. One of those victories came against the Athletics on July 26. Pitching against Justin Duchscherer, Harrison allowed three runs, one earned, in five innings, and the Rangers won, 9-4. Opponents are hitting .304 off him.
A's: In his last start, Smith provided what manager Bob Geren called his best performance in a long time -- seven innings of three-hit, five-walk, scoreless ball against the Orioles en route to a 5-1 victory. It was the left-hander's first win since Aug. 21 but just his second since June 30. Smith still had some problems with control, walking five, but he was able to keep the Orioles away from home plate. Moving to the middle of the rubber, from the first-base side, has helped the left-hander improve his control a bit, as has the more frequent incorporation of his breaking ball.
Now, just let me clear this up early, I am going to set up everthing today to go all the way through Monday. My uncle has passed away and I am trying to figure out how I can get the $$$ to go to the funeral, which is on Monday.
Smith has three career starts against the Rangers and has a 6.35 ERA and a 0-1 record to show for it. His last start lasted five innings giving up seven runs (1 HR). In 17 career innings, he has given up 3 HRs and five BBs. Despite the good numbers for the Rangers against Smith, Texas his a .242 BA against him. The Rangers have struck out 18 times. He comes into this thing with a 4.05 ERA in 166.2 innings with a 7-14 record. The A's have lost 8 of his last 10 starts. The only time in that span that he got a win was when he shut out the other team. Any form of a run led to a loss.
The Rangers batters do not have too much experience against him and the numbers really are not all that awesome. The current roster is 14-59 (.237 BA), with three doubles (Hamilton, Kinsler, and Boggs) and three homeruns (Bradley, Boggs, and Duran) which has totalled to 10 RBIs.
Harrison seems almost like a flipside to Smith. He has a fairly high ERA but tends to win. The Rangers have won 6 of his last 9 starts. Harrison tends to go deep in his games, hitting the six inning mark four times in his last seven starts. He is still young and this is his rookie season. He has started against the A's once already and went 5 innings, giving up one run on five hits. The run came as a solo HR. His ERA against the A's is 1.80 and they hit him for a .250 batting average. Emil Brown hit the HR.
Forecast: Since Harrison has a win against the A's and it was in Oakland at the time, I tend to want to point in that direction. It seems wise. The Rangers win against Smith, too, and he is in a bit of a funk, even though he is coming off a win. I really like the Rangers in this one. Score: 5-2, Rangers.
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