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Thursday, April 17, 2003
Posted
11:33 AM
by Sean
The baseball gods taketh away, and the baseball gods giveth. Or vice-versa if you're a Rangers fan.
Last night was dollar hot dog night at the ballpark, and I think the Rangers must have gotten a good deal on baseballs, too, because they sure didn't seem to concerned about losing them via the home run. Lackey gave up three, one each to Teixeria, Everett, and Rodriguez, and then A-Rod got his second of the night off of Percival. Fortunately, those four home runs drove in a grand total of five.
Lackey looked mediocre - he probably shouldn't have started the seventh, which he opened by striking out Christensen, then giving up back-to-back home runs before leaving with 6 ER against him. Rodriguez had some control problems finishing the seventh, but was terrific in the eighth. And Percival...well, Percival had an absolutely typical Percival save. Ahead by three runs? What for? The game's much more interesting with a one-run lead and the winning run at the plate, don't you think? Percy's problem may be rust - the Angels just haven't been in many save situations this year - but it'd be nice if he'd spare us the drama occasionally.
The offense was again somewhat frustrating, although the problem wasn't so much lack of timely hitting as it was hitting the ball on the screws right at someone. Just as in Tuesday's game, Wednesday night there were a few hard-hit balls that seemed to find gloves. That's not a bad sign, however, and late in the game the Rangers magic ran out.
The play that everyone mentions came in the eight inning, after Molina, Eckstein, Erstad, and Salmon had all singled to cut the Rangers' lead to 6-4. With Erstad on third and Salmon on first and one out, Anderson hit a double-play ball to Rodriguez, who chased Salmon and tried to tag him before throwing Anderson out at first. From where I was sitting, it looked like Rodriguez missed the tag, but that Salmon slid into the infield grass, which would put him out of the baseline and mean he was automatically out. The second base umpire, Jerry Layne, never made that call, however, and Salmon ended up on second. The no-call allowed Erstad to score and the inning to continue, and (with the additional help of a Michael Young error), the Angels tacked four more on to go up 9-6. Even after Percival's adventures in closing, the final was 9-8.
All in all, a sloppy ballgame by both sides, though the Angels sloppiness was spread across a number of pitchers, while the Rangers' version was on defense and Wilfredo Cordero.
This afternoon, the Angels and Rangers finish their four-game series, and not a moment too soon. The Angels have had all kinds of trouble with the Rangers, especially here in Texas. Today Mickey Callaway, who's pitched very well so far, will face Ryan Drese, who got creamed by Seattle for five runs in 0.1 innings pitched in his only start so far. In one of those wacky statistical anomalies that can only happen at the beginning of the season, Callaway's ERA is a full 132.62 runs lower than Drese's.
The baseball gods taketh away, and the baseball gods giveth. Or vice-versa if you're a Rangers fan.
Last night was dollar hot dog night at the ballpark, and I think the Rangers must have gotten a good deal on baseballs, too, because they sure didn't seem to concerned about losing them via the home run. Lackey gave up three, one each to Teixeria, Everett, and Rodriguez, and then A-Rod got his second of the night off of Percival. Fortunately, those four home runs drove in a grand total of five.
Lackey looked mediocre - he probably shouldn't have started the seventh, which he opened by striking out Christensen, then giving up back-to-back home runs before leaving with 6 ER against him. Rodriguez had some control problems finishing the seventh, but was terrific in the eighth. And Percival...well, Percival had an absolutely typical Percival save. Ahead by three runs? What for? The game's much more interesting with a one-run lead and the winning run at the plate, don't you think? Percy's problem may be rust - the Angels just haven't been in many save situations this year - but it'd be nice if he'd spare us the drama occasionally.
The offense was again somewhat frustrating, although the problem wasn't so much lack of timely hitting as it was hitting the ball on the screws right at someone. Just as in Tuesday's game, Wednesday night there were a few hard-hit balls that seemed to find gloves. That's not a bad sign, however, and late in the game the Rangers magic ran out.
The play that everyone mentions came in the eight inning, after Molina, Eckstein, Erstad, and Salmon had all singled to cut the Rangers' lead to 6-4. With Erstad on third and Salmon on first and one out, Anderson hit a double-play ball to Rodriguez, who chased Salmon and tried to tag him before throwing Anderson out at first. From where I was sitting, it looked like Rodriguez missed the tag, but that Salmon slid into the infield grass, which would put him out of the baseline and mean he was automatically out. The second base umpire, Jerry Layne, never made that call, however, and Salmon ended up on second. The no-call allowed Erstad to score and the inning to continue, and (with the additional help of a Michael Young error), the Angels tacked four more on to go up 9-6. Even after Percival's adventures in closing, the final was 9-8.
All in all, a sloppy ballgame by both sides, though the Angels sloppiness was spread across a number of pitchers, while the Rangers' version was on defense and Wilfredo Cordero.
This afternoon, the Angels and Rangers finish their four-game series, and not a moment too soon. The Angels have had all kinds of trouble with the Rangers, especially here in Texas. Today Mickey Callaway, who's pitched very well so far, will face Ryan Drese, who got creamed by Seattle for five runs in 0.1 innings pitched in his only start so far. In one of those wacky statistical anomalies that can only happen at the beginning of the season, Callaway's ERA is a full 132.62 runs lower than Drese's.