Game 162. This is it for the Rangers on the field this season. The question looms, can the Rangers finish 80-82, thus holding the Angels to 99 wins? It would take a sweep for the Rangers to accomplish this. It is already an accomplishment for them to finish second, at least in my mind. And it also spells out to me the word: progress. The Rangers may finish the season with the worst ERA (again), but they made this mess with a lot of young blood, and I think that is a fair exchange. Give the ball to some kidds in hopes that a couple of them may stay for the long term with ravishing success. Do you think Harrison is a failure? High ERA, but he also started the year in A ball, went up to AA and threw a no-hitter, and suddenly he's put into the Big Leagues, grabbing down the second most wins on the roster while only playing half a season... and we haven't even seem the other Frisco no-hitter guy, Feliz, who should be just as successful, if not more than Harrison. THE BEST HAS YET TO COME...
Still, other questions loom on my mind, like Kevin Millwood and Vicente Padilla. Will they play better, as in what they did two seasons ago, or was that season simply a fluke? Millwood can pitch in Arlington and keep his ERA under 5. He's already done it once. And if he does well today, he could do it a second time. But he comes into this game with 9 wins, tied for second with Matt Harrison (mentioned above) and an ERA just over 5. He's not a rookie, unlike Harrison. So, does he have an excuse? I can't really think of one.- Vlad Guerrero: 25-75 (.333 BA) with 6 doubles, 4 HRs, and 15 RBIs
- Torii Hunter: 13-28 (.464 BA) with 3 doubles, 2 HRs, and 9 RBIs
- Garret Anderson: 9-26 (.346 BA) with 2 doubles and 2 RBIs
- Howie Kendrick: 5-12 (.417 BA) with 3 RBIs
As a team, the current Angels roster is 72-253 (.285 BA) with 12 doubles, 7 HRs, and 35 RBIs. As you can see, the rest of the roster is just about painless outside of the above four. If Millwood can keep these four at bay, then the game should go well for Millwood.
Angels: Saunders, battling kidney stones the past week, hasn't pitched since Sept. 18 in Oakland when he shut out the A's across seven innings. An All-Star who figures to pitch Game 3 of the ALDS if he's ready, he has averaged 6.4 innings in 30 starts. Most of his best work has come on the road, where he's 10-3 with a 2.55 ERA compared to 6-4 with a 4.55 ERA at Angel Stadium. Saunders lost his only start against the Rangers this year and is 2-3 lifetime with a 5.45 ERA in six outings against Texas.
Rangers to Watch:
- Michael Young: 6-16 (.375 BA) with a triple and 2 RBIs
- Gerald Laird: 4-13 (.308 BA) with a double, a HR, and a RBI
- Chris Davis: 1-3 with a HR and a RBI
There really isn't that many at-bats for the Rangers. Ian Kinsler has good numbers on him, but he is out for the season. The Ranger roster is 29-100 with 3 doubles, a triple, 4 HRs, and 13 RBIs on this guy. It doesn't hurt to say that the Ranger bats are hot right now, so the chances of them lighting up Saunders isn't impossible.
He's the guy who leads the Rangers in wins... and most likely bean-balls.
Forecast: Angels end it on a good note with win #100. Rangers still battle pretty strong and keep it interesting... score: 8-7, Angels.
2 Random Thoughts:
sadly, it was not to be. still, they finished 2nd in their division, and came within a hair of playing .500 ball. i'm thinking i would've been satisfied with that at the beginning of the season.
of course, i would've liked to see them finish a little closer than 200 games behind the LA Angels. but as you say, there is much to look forward to in 2009. particularly if we go out and get a dominant veteran free-agent starting pitcher.
I'm not too sure that the Rangers are going to go after free agents... that is, that they are going to be pursuing the trading avenue moreso than anything else. They have the catching, they can make it happen. :)
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