Yeah, I don't get tired of making the headers. The Rangers are HOT. They have the best "last 10 games" in the American League, being tied with Kansas City, of all teams. The Phillies are the only team that is better than the Rangers in the last ten, with a 8-2 mark. The Rangers are 7-3 in their last ten games. They have won their last four games, the second longest current winning streak (again, another tie with KC) and the Dodgers have the longest current winning streak at six games.
The Rangers still remain in second place, but are just a 1/2 game out currently as they head into this series. The Mariners are facing Kansas City today and tomorrow. And the M's are cold, winning four of their last ten and having been swept by the Rangers.
The Rangers still remain in second place, but are just a 1/2 game out currently as they head into this series. The Mariners are facing Kansas City today and tomorrow. And the M's are cold, winning four of their last ten and having been swept by the Rangers.
I couldn't find a good pic of Giese in an Oakland uniform... so I went with the worst alternative, a Yankee uniform.The last two times through the rotation, Texas starters have gone 6-1, 3.34. In those 10 starts, they’re limiting the opposition to a fairly punchless .251/.299/.357 slash line (the rough equivalent of facing Ramon Hernandez every time up). They’re only striking out a batter every other inning, but still maintain a 2.4 K/BB by virtue of a dazzling rate of 1.89 walks per nine innings. They’re throwing nearly twice as many strikes as balls, and inducing 1.3 as many groundouts as flyouts.
The average Rangers start over these last 10 games: 6.1 innings, six hits, two earned runs, one walk, and three strikeouts. And 94 pitches (15 per inning), 59 for strikes.
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The Athletics have lost four of their last five and have dropped their last three.
Giese comes into this game 0-2 with a 3.55 ERA. Feldman is 1-0 with a 6.75 ERA. I guess it goes to show you what a good run support can do for a pitcher. Still, Feldman is starting to put it together, and based on his last start, that looks to be dangerous for the team he is pitching against.
In the games that Feldman pitches in, the Rangers are 2-3, however three of those games, Feldman wasn't the starter. He has two starts thus far, combining for 10.2 innings. As a starter, Feldman has a 3.53 ERA. You can do the math and know that Feldman was getting hammered as a relief pitcher. It raises the question of whether Benson will return and start, or will Feldman still get the nod.
Ranger hitters are 0-6 against Giese. Giese pitched against Texas twice last season, both one inning relief stints where he shutout the Rangers, yeilding a hit and a walk. Milton Bradley was the one with the hit. In the other game, it was Ramon Vazquez with the walk.
Giese hasn't made a start this season. He has 12.2 innings this season, striking out four and yeilding more fly balls to ground balls, which means great news for the Rangers. He has tossed three HRs and issued a massive eight walks, which is two every three innings.
Athletics to Watch:
- Jack Cust is 4-11 (.364) with two HRs and four RBIs.
- Ryan Sweeney is 3-6 with two doubles.
- Travis Buck is 1-2 with a HR and a RBI.
I think the Rangers could very well feast tonight. In fact, they should. They have been seeing some tough pitchers of late and responded well, so it goes without saying that they should hammer a pitcher who is green and not pitching terribly well.
Forecast: The Rangers are doing everything right. They have good, if not GREAT pitching, and good hitting. A pitcher like Giese should get hammered. Should. What should happen and what will happen can be very different things. Still, I like the Rangers in this one. I think it will be a blowout with a score of 14-4, Rangers.
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