Wow, the Rangers are about to sweep the BoSox, but they have to go through Clay Buchholz to do it. They send Padilla to answer, and he's about as good a choice as the Rangers could make in this situation.
According to local reports, Vicente Padilla has been scratched from tonight’s start against Boston due to flu-like symptoms. Dustin Nippert will get the start as the Rangers attempt to complete a three-game sweep of the Sox. Nippert threw 45 pitches on Sunday night – expect to see Willie Eyre to get some significant work in relief tonight.
Padilla is now the fourth Ranger to succumb to illness this week. Pneumonia forced Frank Francisco to the disabled list, and Omar Vizquel and Eddie Guardado were unavailable last night.
I'm not going to dig into a lot of things... as I started putting together this post with Padilla in mind and then had to scratch everything... so as it is, I will leave things be... it is now obvious that the starting pitching edge goes to Boston. They are in a losing mode right now, as the Rangers are in a winning mode.
Forecast: Overall, I think the big edge goes more to Boston than it does the Rangers, despite the past several games for both teams. Losing Padilla is a big "uh-oh". Can the Rangers still rebound from the bad luck? Yes. They have responded well to adversity. Rangers pull this one off late in the game, due to a superb bullpen. Look for a score of 6-4.
1 Random Thoughts:
Oooo, I got to watch this on ESPN last night. The Rangers actually look good! they execute well in all phases of the game. the squeeze bunt was superb.
this isn't a "classic" Texas Rangers team. the philosophy uased to be, "we can stink up the field, pitch poorly, and not be selective in the batter's box - cuz we're betting we can hit more home runs than you."
i really like this 2009 team.
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