Blue Jays @ Rangers (7/3-7/5)

[Molina00]

Projected Matchups
Game 1: Ted Lilly vs. John Rheinecker
Game 2: Roy Halladay vs. John Koronka
Game 3: Casey Janssen vs. (To be announced)

Game 1 Matchup Notes
Lilly: Has gone 3-0 with a 1.50 ERA in his last 3 starts and has struck out 33 batters in his last 26.2 innings pitched. Lilly is 3-3 with a 3.71 ERA in 10 lifetime starts against the Rangers.

Rheinecker: Has been hammered in his last 4 starts going 1-2 with a 7.71 ERA, having allowed 46 base runners in 19 innings. Right handed hitters have crushed John batting .383 against him this season. Hopefully he can carry over his Arlington success to this game though, where he has gone 2-1 with a 3.74 ERA this season.

Game 2 Matchup Notes
Halladay: Has not pitched well his last 3 games posting a 5.49 ERA, although he has won 2 of them. Halladay has been hit hard by the Rangers in his career going 3-4 with a 6.40 ERA. The last time Halladay faced the Rangers (July 8th, 2005) Kevin Mench hit a line drive that broke his leg. He went on the DL and missed the rest of the season.

Koronka: John has been mediocre his last 5 starts going 2-1 with a 4.61 ERA. He pitched well against the Giants last time out allowing just 1 run on 4 hits over 6 innings. This will be his first career start against the Blue Jays.

Game 3 Matchup Notes
Janssen: This will be Janssen's first career start against the Rangers. He pitched 6 scoreless innings against the Phillies in his last start but had allowed 17 runs on 27 hits over 12.1 innings in his previous 3 starts.

[Roy31]

This is a series I have been waiting for! I love it just hope we dont hurt Roy Halladay like last season

[mattyfatty4]

Hello win column.


I was very impressed with Rheinecker's performance tonight. I just wish Buck would have left him in for the eigth inning(pitchers babied to much), because I still get nervous whenever Cordero comes in.

The Rangers have finally broken out and scored 11 runs in the last 2 games. Hopefully that's the end of the slumps and getting shut-out for a lilttle while at least.


Matt

[Molina00]

Definately a very solid performance for Rheinecker, against possibly the most dangerous offense in baseball. I agree Buck should have let him pitch the 8th. 7 innings and he wasn't even up to 100 pitches yet. He could have gone 1 more.

Anyway, the Rangers have finally snapped the losing skid. Rheinecker allowed just 1 run on 5 hits over 7 innings to improve to 4-2 on the year and lower his ERA to 3.88. Jerry Hairston went 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored, Mike Young hit his 29th and 30th doubles of the year and drove in 2 runs, but Mark DeRosa was the catalist for Texas. He went 3 for 4 with his 4th homerun, a 6th inning solo shot off Ted Lilly to give Texas a 2-1 lead, and drove in 3 runs. Mark Teixeira also stole his first base of the year in the 2nd inning after Lilly had picked him off first.

The Rangers finally win a game but still couldn't gain any ground as the A's defeated the Tigers last night.

[Raphictor]

I just wish Buck would have left him in for the eigth inning(pitchers babied to much), because I still get nervous whenever Cordero comes in.

Matt

Just thought I would throw out these stats...

April: 12 G, 11 IP, 16 H, 14 ER, 11 K, 11.45 ERA, 1.82 WHIP and a .333 OBA as well.

May: 15 G, 14.1 IP, 13 H, 4 ER, 16 K, 2.51 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and a .245 OBA as well.

June: 13 G, 13 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 12 K, 2.08 ERA, 0.69 WHIP and a .167 OBA as well.

These May and June months have been the Cordero of old. Bettering his stats almost across the board in each month, he has definately earned my trust back. 0.69 WHIP and .167 OBA? That is sick closer stats.

[Molina00]

I knew he had been doing better but I didn't realize he was doing that great. I always just kind of assumed Coco would get the closer role back when he pulled it together but now, Coco and Aki are making a great 8th and 9th innings tandem.

[mattyfatty4]

Just thought I would throw out these stats...

April: 12 G, 11 IP, 16 H, 14 ER, 11 K, 11.45 ERA, 1.82 WHIP and a .333 OBA as well.

May: 15 G, 14.1 IP, 13 H, 4 ER, 16 K, 2.51 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and a .245 OBA as well.

June: 13 G, 13 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 12 K, 2.08 ERA, 0.69 WHIP and a .167 OBA as well.

These May and June months have been the Cordero of old. Bettering his stats almost across the board in each month, he has definately earned my trust back. 0.69 WHIP and .167 OBA? That is sick closer stats.

His April stats still make me nervous whenever he comes in. I don't have trust in him when a "CoCo meltdown" can happen at any time.

[Roy31]

I love Coco!

[Molina00]

The Rangers made it a much closer battle against Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay than I expected. Both teams offenses were totally shut down until the 6th inning when Russ Adams homered off of John Koronka. Hinske also homered off Koronka in the 8th to give the Jays a 3-0 lead. The Rangers were down 3-0 going into the bottom of the 9th and managed to get a rally going against closer B.J. Ryan who had allowed only 2 runs all season long. Texas managed to double Ryan's runs allowed total to 4 by scoring 2 runs in the 9th but fell short in a 3-2 loss.

Koronka Note: Coming off a great start against the Giants where he allowed only 1 run on 4 hits over 6 innings, John allowed just 3 runs on 6 hits in 8 innings against one of the league's most dangerous offenses.

Tonight's Game Note: Vicente Padilla will be given the start tonight against Casey Janssen. Padilla dominated the Astros in his last start allowing just 1 run on 4 hits over 8 innings.

[Molina00]

Mid-Game Report:

The Rangers got off to a powerful start against Toronto start Janssen hitting 3 homeruns off of him and knocking him out after just 3+ innings. Blalock and Kinsler went back-to-back in the 2nd inning with Blalock's being a 2-run shot. Michael Young added a 2-run homerun of his own in the 3rd to give Texas a 5-1 lead. Right now the score stands at 7-3 Texas. Vicente Padilla gave up 3 runs and struck out 10 in 6.2 innings.

The offensive star for the Jays has been former Ranger Frank Catalanotto who has gone 2 for 3 with a homerun and 2 RBI.

The Tigers also defeated the A's today 10-4 so if the Rangers can hang on and win this one, they will pull to 1.5 games behind Oakland again.

[Raphictor]

That Coco monster dominated in his 2.1 innings.

[mattyfatty4]

That Coco monster dominated in his 2.1 innings.

Haha. Yeah, he dominated.

Hello win column.


Nice outing by Padilla. He became the first since Juan Dominguez(who we realeased earlier this year) to strike out 10 in a game. I only wish Kinsler, who had a great night tonight, had a chance at the AL ROY. However, with Papelbon and Liriano there's little chance he'll win.

[Raphictor]

He became the first since Juan Dominguez(who we realeased earlier this year) to strike out 10 in a game. I only wish Kinsler, who had a great night tonight, had a chance at the AL ROY. However, with Papelbon and Liriano there's little chance he'll win.

Ahem, traded for Rheinecker and Koronka. What a deal that turned out to be. Last I heard of Juan was that he was failing in Oakland's AAA staff.

Those Kinsler hits sure were no freebies today. He looked like he's been around a bit.

[Roy31]

Kinsler rocks! Nice to see mike hit one out too.

[mattyfatty4]

Ahem, traded for Rheinecker and Koronka. What a deal that turned out to be. Last I heard of Juan was that he was failing in Oakland's AAA staff.

Oh yeah. Same thing. Why did we trade him again anyway? Poor behavior or something wasn't it?