Some things you need to know about Texans and Texas teams involved in sports: • • • • • • • 1. Devastating Rangers loss leads to closed meeting< Playing uninspired baseball from the start, the Rangers looked like a team in total despair after an embarrassing 15-6 loss to the Angels. ... Starter Colby Lewis broke a team record by allowing 13 runs in just 2 1/3 innings under a Full Buck Moon that sent Texas to its fifth straight loss. It also left the Rangers in undisputed possession of last place in the AL West, a half-game behind the idle Astros. ... Texas manager Ron Washington didnt try to hide his wrath. The Rangers clubhouse was closed for 30 minutes after the game while Washington met with his team. Hes (mad), so am I, Lewis said. He has every reason to be. We dont lose here, but thats what is going on. ... Of the 13 runs Lewis allowed, two were unearned and several more were preventable. The defensive mishaps were also glaring -- a relay throwing that ended up in the stands, a foul pop that didnt get caught and a fly ball that was dropped. The Rangers were down, 4-0, after the top of the first inning and 13-2 after three on their way to their 19th loss in their last 22 games. ... No there wasnt anything in particular, Washington said of topics for the closed meeting. Tonight, I dont think there was anything we could do. For three innings they pounded us. I think I needed to remind them of some things and thats why I called a meeting and did that. ... We have a big group in there that dont know what winning is all about. Thats not easy to teach. Thats not easy to do. Were going to keep going after it because I believe in them. The key is, Im trying to teach them how to believe in themselves. ... (Adrian) Beltre -- ultimate professional. He does one thing when he wakes up in the morning. After he finishes with his family, he comes to the ballpark and hes come to do his job and win ballgames … hes locked in. Were trying to get a lot of these other guys locked in like that. It just hasnt happened yet. Beltre had three hits to extend his hitting streak to 14 games, the longest active in the AL. He is hitting .500 (42 of 84) his last 22 home games. ... You dont give into adversity, Washington said. The game of baseball is full of it. You dont give in to it. The only people that can make a change and make a difference are my guys. The Rangers 38-54 record is the worst record in 92 games since 2003 -- back in the dark days of the franchise when they were on their way to their fourth straight last-place finish. ... It was a good message, it was well-received, outfielder Alex Rios said. Everyone is going to get a lot out of it. This is what we have and we have to go play with what we have. If you are here, you should be able to perform. We have what we have and we have to go all out with what we have. ... Obviously we have not been playing very good, catcher-pitcher Chris Gimenez said. I think the biggest thing out of it is were not going to make excuses for ourselves. Obviously everybody knows weve lost a lot of pieces to the puzzle and thats just an excuse. We still feel like we have guys in here that can play and we need to act accordingly when it comes that way. If we cant pick it up from here on out, we dont deserve to be here, basically. ... The Rangers were able to get a combined 4 2/3 scoreless innings from rookie relievers Roman Mendez and Matt West. That kept them from having to use long reliever Scott Baker, who is the leading candidate to start Sunday. Texas also used Gimenez, who had a 1-2-3 ninth to help keep the bullpen from being further taxed. ... West became the third player to make his major league debut this week for the Rangers. He had two scoreless innings in relief and was the 28th pitcher used this season by Texas, breaking a tie with the Angels for the most in the majors. Gimenez made it 29. ... • • • • • • • 2. Baseball Briefs: Kershaw sees scoreless streak come to end< Clayton Kershaw (Dallas Highland Park HS) saw his scoreless innings streak at 41 innings with a tying home run in the sixth by Chase Headley, but the two-time Cy Young Award winner finished with a three-hitter and 11 strikeouts in a 2-1 Dodgers win over San Diego. ... Pitcher Homer Bailey (LaGrange HS) left the game against the Cubs in the sixth inning after starting his windup and stopping mid-delivery. Reports say Bailey was suffering pain in the patellar tendon of his right knee. The Reds were in the lead when Bailey left but lost 6-4 in 12 innings. ... Scott Kazmir (Houston Cypress Falls HS) struck out nine in seven scoreless innings to help the Athletics win the annual Bay Bridge series by beating the Giants 6-1. The As (58-34) have won seven of eight overall and have matched the best start in Oakland history. ... Austin Jackson (Denton Guyer HS) and former Ranger Ian Kinsler singled and scored and former Astro J.D. Martínez walked and scored in the first inning to start Detroit onto a 16-4 rout of the Royals. Prosper resident Torii Hunter led the Tigers with a home run and three RBIs. Martinez also batted in three runs. ... The Rangers called up pitcher Matt West (Houston Bellaire HS) from Triple-A Round Rock and optioned Phil Irwin to Round Rock. ... • • • • • • • 3. Sports Notes: Sale of beer nixed at UT football games< According to the Austin American-Statesman, UT System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa said he will not approve beer and wine sales for Longhorn home games this season. Beer and wine sales will continue at the Frank Erwin Center, for mens and womens basketball games, this season, and all season long at UFCU Disch-Falk Field next spring. ... • Texas Tech has announced that all 38,502 season tickets have been sold, shattering the old record of 32,227. Techs Holiday Bowl victory over Arizona State 37-23 erased memories of a five-game losing streak and gave the Red Raiders momentum heading in to the off-season. ... • Andre Johnson has told the Texans that the best was to get him to show up at training camp is to trade him. So far, the Texans have refuse to budge. At least four teams are interested in the 33-year-old wide receiver. ... • • • • • • • 4. 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: Fri, 11 Jul 2014 15:00:36 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015