Some things you need to know about Texans and Texas teams involved in sports: • • • • • • • 1. Newest Rangers starter showed signs of brilliance before exiting< The Baltimore Orioles patiently waited for an effective Rangers starter to run out of gas before victimizing an ineffective Texas bullpen to take a 6-4 victory over the Rangers at Camden Yards. The Rangers have lost four in a row and 13 of their last 16 games. ... Miles Mikolas was terrific for five innings in his first start for the Rangers on Wednesday night. Then everything unraveled with one out in the sixth, the Rangers saw their three-run lead slip away and their latest losing streak is now at four games. ... A bad day, said reliever Jason Frasor, who couldnt stop the sixth-inning bleeding when the Orioles rallied to tie the score. We didnt do our job. I made it hard on Neal because I let our momentum slip away. The final blow was a seventh-inning home run by Ryan Flaherty off reliever Neal Cotts. ... It was a lot of fun to be out there, Mikolas said. I thought I pitched a pretty good game until the sixth. Things didnt go our way after that. Mikolas was given a 4-0 lead after three innings and seemed ready to make it stand. He gave up a one-out home run to Adam Jones in the fourth before retiring the next six batters, four on strikeouts. ... Then Mikolas walked the next two batters. He had walked just three batters in 44 2/3 innings at Triple-A. Using that as a warning sign, manager Ron Washington went to the bullpen and brought in Frasor. He hadnt thrown that many balls the whole game, Washington said. He was losing it. It was hot out there and I felt he was losing it. He did a great job. At that point, I brought in the two best guys I have, they just didnt get it done. ... Frasor started out by moving up the runners to second and third with a wild pitch. Jones brought home a run with a sacrifice fly and Cruz drove in another with a line-drive single off the left-field wall. After Chris Davis walked, J.J. Hardy grounded a single up the middle that ticked off shortstop Elvis Andrus glove as he tried to make a diving stop. Cruz scored to tie the game. I threw fastballs that started outside and then came back across the plate, Frasor said. Cotts took over in the seventh but Flaherty hit a 3-1 fastball over the right-field wall to put the Orioles ahead. Cotts retired the next two hitters but walked Steve Pearce with one out. A balk moved him to second and he scored on a broken bat single by Jones. ... The Rangers gave Mikolas a lead before he threw his first pitch against Orioles starter Chris Tillman. Shin-Soo Choo led off with a single and scored on a pair of two-out singles by Adrian Beltre and Alex Rios. ... Nelson Cruz, who leads the majors with 26 homers, appeared to tie the game with a towering shot in the bottom half of that inning before Leonys Martin made a leaping catch over the fence in center field. That was awesome, Washington said. He beat the ball to the fence, timed it perfectly and brought it back. Nelson can just swipe the ball in this ballpark and it will go a long ways. ... Choo also started another rally in the third inning by drawing a leadoff walk. With Andrus at the plate, the Rangers went with the hit and run on the first pitch. Andrus swung at a pitch over his head, fouled it off and apparently caught catcher Caleb Josephs glove. The play was ruled catchers interference, only after Orioles manager Buck Showalter requested the umpires discuss the play among themselves and then forcibly disputed their conclusion that the play stood as called. ... After Carlos Pena flied out, Beltre doubled down the right-field line and two runs scored. Beltre went to third on Rios ground out up the middle and scored on Martins infield single. ... The game was stopped at 9:11 p.m. CT by light and intermittent showers plus the threat of heavy storms in the Baltimore area. After a rain delay of a hour and 38 minutes, Zach Britton (Weatherford HS) converted his 11th save of the year, getting two strikeouts in a nine-minute effort. ... • • • • • • • 2. Hernandez continues to impress with floundering Astros< Enrique Hernandez provided a bright spot with his first major league home run in an otherwise dull outing for the Houston Astros. ... Texan Chris Young (Dallas Highland Park HS) allowed just two hits in Seattles 5-2 victory -- the fifth-inning home run from Hernandez and a third-inning home run by Marwin Gonzalez. Hernandez blast came in his second big league game. ... Hernandez went 2-for-2 in his first big league game on Tuesday, earning his first start Wednesday. Starting at designated hitter in place of Chris Carter, Hernandez went 1-for-3. ... Manager Bo Porter said hes not sure where, but Hernandez will play in Thursdays game against the Angels. Hes swinging a good bat and thats why he was in the lineup today, and hell be in the lineup tomorrow, Porter said. ... Young pitched seven strong innings as the Mariners completed a three-game sweep. The 35-year-old Young has bounced back after missing the 2013 season after shoulder surgery. His eight wins are second on the team and he has a 3.11 ERA. Its the first time hes won eight games since winning nine in 2007. ... For the most part I made very good pitches, Young said. I kept them off balance, really had two good off-speed pitches today and good fastball command. I was pleased. ... James Jones cut the lead to one in the sixth inning when he scored on a wild pitch. Logan Morrisons two-run double gave Seattle a 3-2 lead. John Bucks run-scoring single pushed the lead to 4-2 and chased Houston stsrter Brad Peacock. ... He just lost command, Porter said. Lost command of the strike zone. He was in a complete groove and what we felt like complete control of the game then had the hit batter where he held on to a cut fastball too long and then was not able to get back in the zone. ... Peacock allowed six hits and four runs in 5 1-3 innings. He was replaced by Anthony Bass, who was making his first appearance since May 10 after being reinstated from the disabled list on Wednesday. Bass allowed a single before getting an out to end the inning. ... • • • • • • • 3. Rangers icon Sundberg to retire from VP post< Jim Sundberg, a rookie catcher with the Texas Rangers first good team in 1974, will retire at the end of the season, according to a team announcement. ... Sundberg has been serving in the Rangers front office since 2004 and as senior executive vice president since October of 2008. In all, Sundberg has spent over 30 years with the Rangers as a player, executive, broadcaster and Minor League instructor. He is a charter member of the Rangers Hall of Fame after winning six Gold Gloves as a catcher while in Texas. ... While I am stepping away from a full-time role, I look forward to continuing my long association with the Texas Rangers organization, said Sundberg. Being involved in the community has always held a special place for me, and I will remain involved in that capacity. ... Sundberg spent 16 seasons in the Major Leagues with the Rangers, Brewers, Royals and Cubs. He was a three-time All-Star and won a World Series as the Royals starting catcher in 1985. He played his first 11½ seasons in Texas and returned in 1988, a year before he retired. He still holds the AL record for games caught in one season (155 in 1975). He retired after the 1989 season and spent six years as a Rangers broadcaster. He returned to the Rangers as a minor league instructor in 2002 before joining the front office two years later. ... The Jim Sundberg Community Achievement Award is given annually to a Rangers player who best emulates Sundbergs civic-minded efforts in the Metroplex during his playing career and afterwards. Sundberg was also instrumental in raising the scope of the Rangers Alumni Legacy program and the Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation. ... • • • • • • • 4. Carpenter helps Cardinals beat Giants 2-0< Matt Carpenter (Missouri City Elkins HS) had an RBI single among his three hits in a 2-0 St. Louis win over the Giants. Justin Ruggiano (Austin Anderson HS, Blinn College and Texas A&M) hit a two-run home run and drove in five runs as the Cubs beat the Red Sox 16-9. ... Prosper resident Torii Hunter had three hits and three RBIs and Austin Jackson (Denton Guyer HS) added three hits scored two runs as Detroit beat Oakland 9-3. ... A three-run first-inning double by Chris Johnson gave the Braves a 3-1 win over the Mets. ... Houston optioned pitcher Kevin Chapman to Triple-A Oklahoma City to make room for Anthony Bass on the roster. ... Rangers outfielder Engel Beltre, who had been sidelined since spring training because of a fractured right tibia, is 3-for-19 in his first four games on a medical rehab assignment at Triple-A Round Rock. ... • • • • • • • 5. FYI: This blog features Texas teams and athletes with Texas connections. It is compiled by retired newspaper journalist Bob Sonderegger (anglebob61@yahoo) who covered many of the teams mentioned. Your comments or additions are welcome.
Posted on: Thu, 03 Jul 2014 15:50:24 +0000
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