The Texas Rangers clobbered the visiting Oakland Athletics by the score of 14-4 on Wednesday afternoon. With the ten-run victory, the Rangers took the final two games of the series against the A’s. Great way to finish off the 2008 season at home that is for sure!

The Rangers have been dissappointing for most of the season, but on Wednesday they gave their fans something to cheer about. The Rangers hit three home runs including a three-run shot by Hank Blalock, a two-run blast from Nelson Cruz, and then a solo home run from Travis Metcalf.

Blalock finished the game with a team high four rbi’s. He was followed by Michael Young, Josh Hamilton, Cruz and Metcalf who all had two rbi each in the game. German Duran and Michael Bradley finished up the scoring with one rbi each.

On the mound it was Matt Harrison getting the win and improving to 8-3 on the year. Harrison tossed six innings while giving up six hits and two runs. He struck out seven batters while giving up a solo home run. It was a quality start for Harrison and the Rangers scored plenty of runs for him to get the win. Josh Rupe threw two innings and was charged with two runs while Wes Littleton threw the ninth inning to finish up the game.

It was nice to see the Rangers win the final two games at home to give the fans a little something to cheer about. It wasn’t the season they wanted, but hopefully things will improve next time we see the Rangers take the field in Arlington.

Let’s now sit back and see how the team does in Anaheim as they take on the Angels in the final three games of the season this weekend.

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The Texas Rangers tied the game up in the bottom of the ninth inning with a Hank Blalock home run, but then ended up losing to the Oakland Athletics by the score of 4-3. The two teams played 11 innings on Monday night and it just wasnt the Rangers night to pull off a come from behind victory.

Luis Mendoza gave up a rbi single in the 11th inning to Travis Buck and ended up taking the loss for the Rangers. The only other Rangers pitcher to allow any runs was starting pitcher Kevin Millwood who was charged with eight hits and two three runs over seven innings. He didn’t have that bad of game as he struckout six and only walked one. There just wasn’t enough run support for him in the game.

As we mentioned before, Blalock had the game tying solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to force extra innings. The other two rbi came off the bats of German Duran and who had a rbi single and Milton Bradley who had a rbi sac fly. The offense needed to step it up just a little bit but they were unable to do that and pick p the pitching staff.

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It was not a good night to be a pitcher on the Texas Rangers team as they gave up 17 runs to the Detroit Tigers and lost the game 17-4. Four different Rangers pitchers gave up runs in the game as they were clobbered right from the beginning.

Starting pitcher Dustin Nippert was charged with six hits and five runs in just 4 1/3 innings. Luis Mendoza was even worse as he didn’t even record an out and gave up four hits and six runs while walking two other batters. In one inning of action, Bill White gave up three hits and five more runs. Scott Feldman didn’t want to me left out of the performance and he gave up one run as well in the game. Pitchers clearly didn’t have things working on Wednesday night.

Brandon Boggs had three of the four Rangers rbi’s in the game as he had a two run double and a rbi ground out in the game. Chris Davis had a rbi double in the eighth inning for the fourth and final rbi for the Rangers. When your pitchers give 17 runs, I don’t expect the offense to do much and that was clearly the case here.

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The Texas Rangers were down one run heading into the bottom of the eighth inning but they scored four runs off of Detroit Tigers relief pitcher Kyle Farnsworth to take a three run lead and eventually won the ball game 11-8. Great comeback for the Rangers who never gave up.

Taylor Teagarden got the comeback started with a rbi double and then he scored on a Michael Young single. Marlon Byrd then hit a two-run triple to deep right field to score the tying and go ahead runs.

Earlier in the game Teagarden hit a grandslam and Travis Metcalf hit a three run home run. Teagarden and Metcalf sure did have a great game as Teagarden finished with five rbi and Metcalf three.

On the mound the Rangers had to call to the bullpen early in the game due to an injury to starting pitcher Brandon McCarthy who only recorded two outs in the first inning. McCarthy was taken out of the game after he strained a flexor tendon on his right middle finger.

Four of the next five Rangers pitchers gave up runs as they had a pretty bad outing. Luis Mendoza and Jamey Wright both gave up one run each, Wes Littleton gave up two runs, while Josh Rupe was charged with four runs. Frank Francisco was the only pitcher to not allow a run as he picked up the victory.

The Rangers will try to make it two in a row over the Tigers on Tuesday night.

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The Texas Rangers hit three two-run home runs and then a solo home run but they still lost to the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday afternoon. When you hit four home runs, you expect to win but that wasn’t the case as the Rangers lost the game 8-7 and split the short two game series.

Nelson Cruz, Taylor Teagarden, and Hank Blalock all hit two run home runs and finished the game with two rbi each. Chris Davis tacked on a solo home run as well in the game. The offense did their job however it was the pitching staff that allowed eight runs and lost the game.

Kevin Millwood was tagged for 11 hits and five runs in five innings of action. Milwood took the loss and is now 9-9 on the season. It has been a very disappointing season for Millwood that is for sure. Kameron Loe pitched two innings and gave up four hits and one run as well.

The Rangers will get right back at it on Thursday night as they travel to Oakland for a four game series. Rangers Blog

The Texas Rangers shut out the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday afternoon 1-0 as the two teams finished up a three game series. The Rangers won the final two games of the series to take the series win which was really nice to see. The Rangers now have a 69-72 record on the season.

Dustin Nippert got the start on Wednesday and threw seven innings while giving up seven hits and striking out four batters. Great start for Nippert who picked up the win. Warner Madrigal and Frank Francisco both threw scoreless innings to finish off the Mariners in the last two innings.

The one run that Rangers got came in the first inning when Milton Bradley hit a sacrafice fly to right field that scored Michael Young from third base. That was the only run the Rangers would need because the pitchers were dominate all day long.

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The Texas Rangers finished up a three game sweep of the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night with a 3-2 victory. The Rangers scored two runs in the seventh inning to take the lead and they never looked back as they held off the Royals for the win.

Matt Harrison improved to 6-3 on the season as he tossed 6 2/3 innings. Harrison gave up seven hits and two runs while striking out four hitters. Joaquin Benoit, Jamey Wright, and Frank Francisco all pitched in relief to hold off the Royals. Francisco earned his first save of the season in the game as well.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia tied the game in the seventh inning with an rbi single and then scored on a error later in the inning for the go head and winning run. The first Rangers run came on a Brandon Boggs solo home run in the fourth inning.

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The Texas Rangers didn’t have any problems beating the Kansas City Royals on Monday night. The Rangers kicked off the three game series over the visiting Royals with a 9-4 victory. The Rangers got great offensive output from Nelson Cruz and Milton Bradley who both had three rbi in the game.

Cruz hit a three run home run in the third inning and finished the game by going 3-5 with three rbi. Bradley also finished with three rbi as he had a rbi single, double, and sac fly in the game. Chris Davis tacked on a solo home run of his own for a rbi while Josh Hamilton had a rbi single and Gerald Laird a rbi sac fly. Great offensive showing against the Royals!

Scott Feldman evened up his record at 5-5 by throwing seven innings and getting the win. Feldman gave up eight hits and allowed three runs to score. Warner Madrigal pitched a scoreless eighth inning before Josh Rupe threw the ninth inning and gave up two hits and one run.

The Rangers will try to take the second game of the series on Tuesday night and we will be back blogging about the team after Wednesday’s game.

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Wow, what an exciting game for the Texas Rangers! The Rangers offense hit six total home runs and starting pitcher Kevin Millwood tossed a complete game as the Rangers beat the Tigers 9-1. With the win, the Rangers avoided the three game sweep at home.

Brandon Boggs, Michael Young, Josh Hamilton, Michael Bradley and Travis Metcalf all hit solo home runs in the game. Metcal also had a two run shot in the second inning. The only run that the Rangers did not score via the home run ball came in the third inning when Chris Davis had a rbi groundout.

Millwood was the start on the mound as he pitched a complete game for his seventh win of the season. Millwood is now 7-7 on the season.

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The Texas Rangers held the Detroit Tigers scoreless through six inning but then the Tigers came out and score four runs each in the seventh and eighth innings. The Rangers would score four runs of their own in the bottom of the eighth inning but the they still lose the game by one run. The final score being 8-7.

Scott Feldman pitched six innings and gave up five hits and three runs to get the no decision. Frank Francisco took the loss after allowing a run score in the seventh inning. Jamey Wright pitched terrible as he was charged with all four runs in the eighth inning. Just a terrible performance out of Francisco and Wright in the game as they could not keep the Rangers in the game.

The Rangers offense did try to pick up Francisco and Wright as they scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Frank Catalanotto doubled to score two runs and then pitch hitter Joaquin Arias added a double of his own to score a run. Michael Young then grounded out to score one more run. However the Rangers would still fall one run short and lose the game.

The Rangers will try to get back at the Tigers on Tuesday night. It should be an interesting game.

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