Twins @ Rangers (July 7th-9th)

[Molina00]

Projected Matchups
Game 1: Carlos Silva vs. John Wasdin
Game 2: Francisco Liriano vs. John Rheinecker
Game 3: Johan Santana vs. John Koronka

Game 1 Matchup Notes
Silva: Coming off 3 solid starts where he allowed just 5 runs over 20 innings, the Brewers rocked Silva for 7 runs on 9 hits over 4.1 innings. Since Silva is the weakest of the Twins pitchers the Rangers will be facing, hopefully he can carry over his Brewers outing into Arlington.

Wasdin: John has gone 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA in 3 starts so far this year and is starting today in place of an injured Kevin Millwood. He pitched a decent game against the Astros on July 1st and hopefully that will carry over.

Game 2 Matchup Notes
Liriano: Francisco has established himself as the front-runner for ROY and even a Cy Young candidate with his 9-1 record and league leading 1.99 ERA. He pitched onced against Texas earlier in the year, out of the bullpen, and gave up 4 hits striking out 3 in 3 scoreless innings.

Rheinecker: John has struggled his last 3 starts going 2-1 with a 4.41 ERA but is a solid 3-1 with a 3.14 ERA at home this year. He is coming off a stellar outing against the Blue Jays where he allowed only 1 run on 5 hits in 7 innings. This is his first career start against the Twins.

Game 3 Matchup Notes
Santana: The former Cy Young winner Santana is having another stellar season. He will be going for his 10th win of the season against the Rangers and has posted a 2.76 ERA. The Rangers are hoping his poor start against the Royals can carry over where he allowed 5 runs on 6 hits in 5.2 innings. This is Santana's first start of the year against Texas.

Koronka: The 3rd of 3 John's starting for Texas in this series, Koronka has gone 2-1 with a 3.33 ERA in his last 4 starts. John pitched well in has last start against the Blue Jays allowing 3 runs over 8 innings in a pitchers duel with Roy Halladay. With 6 wins he is only 2 away from the record for wins by a left handed rookie. Mitch Williams and Doug Davis hold the record with 8.

On another note, I find it very interesting that the Rangers have 3 pitchers named John starting each of the game of this series.

[Raphictor]

If Ian Kinsler is going to make a mark in his race for ROY, looks like game 2 would be a good time for a 4-4, 2 HR, and 5 RBI ballgame

[mattyfatty4]

If Ian Kinsler is going to make a mark in his race for ROY, looks like game 2 would be a good time for a 4-4, 2 HR, and 5 RBI ballgame

Haha, yeah. Most years I think he would be a fairly good ROY canididate but with Liriano, Papelbon, and Verlander he has very, very little chance...

[Molina00]

The Rangers started the Twins series off with a bang. In the game that was their best chance to win, Texas knocked out Twins starter Silva after he gave up 5 runs on 6 hits over 1.2 innings, including a 2-run homerun to Mike Young. Texas led 6-1 going into the 3rd inning when Gary Matthews Jr. hit a 2-run homerun to give Texas an 8-1 lead. The Twins started pecking away at the lead scoring single runs in the 5th, 6th, and 7th innings but the Rangers went on to rout the Twins 9-4. John Wasdin did not pitch a very good game but picked up the win. Hank Blalock also contributed 3 RBI and Mike Young had 3 runs scored.

The Angels beat the Athletics 3-0 enabling the Rangers to pull within 1 game of first place.

[Raphictor]

If Ian Kinsler is going to make a mark in his race for ROY, looks like game 2 would be a good time for a 4-4, 2 HR, and 5 RBI ballgame

I was mistaken. I mean game 3 against Santana. He's supposed to be the better one right?

[Molina00]

Supposed to be, but Liriano is absolutely awesome. Curse the Twins for not trading him to Texas last year.

Well, here is your review of the Liriano domination over Texas:

The linescore should say it all: 7 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 8 K's, 0 Runs Allowed.

The Twins outhit the Rangers 14-6 and won the game 4-0. The only good guy on offense for Texas was DeRo who went 2 for 4 with his 25th double of the year.

In other news, the Angels beat the A's 6-4 enabling the Rangers to remain 1 game behind Oakland in the AL West race.

If nothing else, the Rangers are guaranteed a .500 record going into the all-star break.

[Molina00]

THE RANGERS BEAT JOHAN SANTANA!!!!!

The Twins jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with runs in the 2nd and 3rd but that would be all they would get off the Ranger pitching. Santana went 7 innings striking out 7 Rangers but gave up 5 runs, including 2 homeruns. Teixeira hit a 2-run shot off Santana in the 6th and Matthews hit a 2-out, 2-run homerun off of him in the 7th. That put Texas up 5-2, which would be the final score. John Koronka allowed just 2 runs over 5 innings but did not figure into the decision. Aki Otsuka pitched a scoreless 9th for his 17th save of the year.

The Angels are also leading the Oakland A's 4-2 in the bottom of the 6th inning. If the Angels hold on to win the Rangers will go into the all-star break tied for first place.