Kevin Millwood, Vincete Padilla, Scott Feldman, Matt Harrison and Brandon McCarthy, these are the 5 staters that Ron Washington hopes to start off the season with. How confident am I that this is actually the opening day rotation? Well, Padilla, Feldman and Harrison would seem a safe bet and IF Millwood is healthy he is a no brainer. So that leaves us with the often injured and overall fairly unimpressive Brandon McCarthy. Should he falter the Rangers have a few options.

Kason Gabbard and Lulis Mendoza (netiher of whom could hold a spot last year) may get another try. Tommy Hunter also could get a more extended look.  My money is on Dustin Nippert. Nippert got into some games last year with the Rangers and was just ok, but he did show some flashes.

Could Neftali Feliz or Derek Holland actually make the rotation to start the year? It is not likely, but stranger things have happened.

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 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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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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The Texas Rangers came out of the gates against the Chicago White Sox and defeated them on Monday night by the score of 6-1.  It was a great way for the Rangers to kick off the three game series.  It was a big win for the Rangers who improved to four games over .500 at 52-48 on the year.

Scott Feldman recorded the win after he threw the first six innings of the game.  Feldman gave up four hits and one run as he improved to 4-3 on the season.  Feldman did a very good job against the potent White Sox offense.  Frank Francisco, Eddie Guardado, and Jamey Wright all threw a inning each out of the bullpen.

All but one of the Rangers six runs came via the long ball.  Josh Hamilton hit a home run in the the 3rd inning that was a three run shot.  Hank Blalock then added a two run home run in the 8th inning.  The Rangers added on a insurance run in the 9th inning when Ian Kinsler had a rbi sac fly.

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The Texas Rangers came up one run short on Thursday night as they lost to the Los Angeles Angels 11-10.  It was a high scoring game where both offenses combined for 32 hits and 21 runs.  The Rangers had 20 hits compared to the Angels 12.  It’s too bad the offense wasn’t ablt to score more runs with all those hits.

Jamey Wright took the loss after he gave up a rbi single in the 11th inning.  Scott Feldman the Rangers starter for the night was rocked early in the game as he was tagged for six hits and eight runs in only 3 2/3 innings.  After Feldman left the game Wes Littleton pitched the next 3 1/3 innings while giving up two more runs.

Michael Young, Josh Hamilton, and Max Ramirez all had two rbi in the game for the Rangers.  Ramon Vazquez, Marlon Byrd, Chris Davis, and Brandon Boggs all helped out with one rbi each as well.  Hamilton, Byrd, and Ramirez all went deep in the game as well.

The Rangers will now begin a three game weekend series with the Chicago White Sox.  It will be the last series before the all star break so hopefully the team can finish up the first half with a series win.

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The Texas Rangers picked up a huge win over the New York Yankees on Monday night by the score of 2-1.  The Rangers got a great performance by their pitching straff as they held the powerful Yankees offense to only two runs and four hits.

Scott Feldman pitched 5 2/3 innings to pick up the victory and improve to 2-3 on the season.  Feldman gave up four hits and one run, three walks, three strike outs, and gave up one home run.  Pretty quality start for Feldman.

The hightlight of the night however was the Rangers bullpen.  Three relief pitchers combined to throw 3 1/3 innings and not allow a hit or run.  Frank Francisco, Jamey Wright, and C.J. Wilson all pitched wonderfully.  Wilson notched his 18th save of the season in the game as well.

Josh Hamilton and Chris Davis supplied both rbi’s for the Rangers.  Hamilton had a rbi single in the third inning and Davis had a rbi double in the fourth inning for the Rangers.  Not the best night at the plate, but it was good enough to beat the Yankees.

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The Texas Rangers were able to tie up their series with the Houston Astros at one game each with a 3-2 victory on Wednesday night.  Max Ramirez had the game winning hit which was a two run home run in the fourth inning.  There was no more scoring done in the game after the fourth inning which was odd to see for the Rangers and Astros.

Besides the two run home run my Ramirez in the fourth inning, the Rangers got a rbi sac fly in the first inning from Ramon Vazquez.  The Rangers were out hit in the game 9-7 but they made the most of their hits.  Or I should say Ramirez mad the most of his.

Scott Feldman got the start for the Rangers on the mound and only pitched four innings.  Feldman gave up six hits and two runs in the game.  Feldman also had two walks and two strike outs in the game.  Luis Mendoza did a wonderful job as he pitched three innings of relief after Feldman left the game.  Mendoza allowed three hits but did not allow a run to cross the plate.  Eddie Guardado pitched a scoreless eighth inning before C.J. Wilson shut down the Astros for his 16th save of the season.

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Texas Rangers closer C.J. Wilson blew another game as he was charged with two runs in the top of the ninth inning that tyed the game at 4-4.  However, thanks to a Michael Young rbi single that scored Ian Kinsler, the Rangers were able to come back and beat the Braves 5-4.

I’m not sure what is up with Wilson and I really hope that it is just a slump that will last these past two games.  Jamey Wright actually gave up the tying run in the ninth inning on a sacrafice fly but the run was still charged to Wilson.  Wright was charged with the blown save but picked up the win to improve his record to 4-2 on the season.

Scott Feldman actually pitched a pretty game as he pitched the first seven innings of the game and only gave up five hits and two runs.  Feldman left the came and Eddie Guardado came in and pitched a scoreless eighth inning just as he was supposed to.  Feldman and Guardado did their jobs that is for sure, Wilson and Wright however did not.

Brandon Boggs hit his third home run of the season which was a three run home run in the sixth inning to lead the Rangers with three rbi.  Young had the other two runs batted in for the Rangers.

Good series win for the Rangers as they took two out of three games against the Braves.  They will now play the Washington Nationals this weekend.  The Rangers should win two out of three game in that series I think.

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The Texas Rangers lost a close game to the Minnesota Twins on Monday night as the two teams battled into the 12th inning.  The Twins came back to tie the game in the ninth inning and eventually ended up scoring in the 12th inning to beat the Rangers 7-6.

Franklyn German took the loss for the Rangers and is now 1-3 on the season.  German gave up two hits, a walk, and one run in the 12th inning.

Scott Feldman started the game for the Rangers.  Feldman tossed six innings while giving up seven hits and five runs in the game.  He gave up one home run and struck out two batters.  C.J. Wilson tried closing the game in the ninth inning but was unable to do so as he gave up two walks and a run.  You just can’t win when you walk people late in the game…

Josh Hamilton and Ian Kinsler both hit solo home runs for the Rangers but it was Jason Saltalamacchia who led the team with two rbi.  Saltalamacchia had a two run rbi single in the seventh inning.  Milton Bradley and David Murphy both had a rbi in the game as well.

That is a tough way to lose a game, we will have to see how the Rangers bounce back from it on Tuesday night when they play the Twins once again.  Rangers Blog