Devil Rays @ Rangers (April 9th-11th)

[Molina00]

Game 1 Matchup
Edwin Jackson (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Brandon McCarthy (0-1, 4.50 ERA)

7:05 PM central on My27

Game 2 Matchup
Jae Seo (0-0, 7.11 ERA) vs. Jamey Wright (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

7:05 PM central on FSN

Game 3 Matchup
James Shields (0-0, 4.05 ERA) vs. Robinson Tejeda (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
7:05 PM central on FSN

Game 1 Matchup
Jackson: Starting his 2nd year with the D-Rays, Jackson will be making just his 2nd career start for Tampa Bay and the 16th start of his career. In 23 relief appearances and 1 start for TB last year Jackson had no record and posted a 5.45 ERA in 36 innings.

McCarthy: In his Ranger debut McCarthy lasted 6 innings allowing 5 runs on 10 hits, although only 3 of the runs were earned. McCarthy has struggled in his career against Tampa Bay going 0-2 with a 11.25 ERA

Game 2 Matchup
Seo: In his first start, against the Yankees, Seo allowed 5 runs on 11 hits over 6.1 innings but the D-Ray offense bailed him out for a no decision. In his first year with TB in '06 Seo struggled going 1-8 with an ERA of 5.00 in 16 starts.

Wright: Signed to a minor league contract after going 6-10 with a 5.19 ERA for the Giants last year, Wright will be making his Ranger debut. This is Wright's first career appearance against the Devil Rays.

Game 3 Matchup
Shields: He was solid in his first start of the season going 6.2 innings allowing just 3 runs to the Blue Jays, although he ended up with a no decision. This will be just the 23rd start of his career and is 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA in his only start against the Rangers.

Tejeda: So far Robinson has been the Rangers ace. In his first start of the season, against Boston, he gave up only 2 hits over 7 scoreless innings to end a 3-game Ranger losing streak. In 2 starts against the D-Rays in '06 Tejeda went 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA.

[Molina00]

Game 1 Recap
The Rangers finally got something they haven't had all season, at least at the same time. Great pitching and timely hitting. The Rangers got off to a slow start trainling 2-0 going into the bottom of the 4th. Both runs came in the 2nd inning off Ranger starter Brandon McCarthy who pitched very well going 6 innings allowing just those 2 runs. The Rangers tied up the game with 2 runs in the 4th and it stayed tied at 2 going into the bottom of the 6th. The Ranger managed to get 2 more runs off of Edwin Jackson to chase him from the game, and then the bats really came to life. They finished scoring 6 runs in the inning, all 6 of them after Jackson had gotten 2 quick outs to start the inning. The D-Rays struck back against Kameron Loe with a Carl Crawford 2-run homerun in the 7th, but that was it for the Tampa Bay offense. The Rangers went on to win 8-4 backed by 6 strong innings from McCarthy and a 15 hit assault on Devil Ray pitching.

Everyone batter except Kenny Lofton and Sammy Sosa had a hit, but Lofton still managed to walk twice and score a run. Michael Young doubled and drove in 2 runs, Blalock had 2 hits and 2 runs scored, but the big offensive contribution came from the 7 and 8 spots in the order. Nelson Cruz and Ian Kinsler went a combined 7 for 7 with a double, 2 runs scored, and 2 RBI. Backup catcher Chris Stewart also got the first hit of his big league career in the 6 run 6th inning.

Ranger Record: 3-4

[redsrbetter]

Man, real high scoring game going on tonight. 12-9 right now. WOW, that is sick but expected with these two nice offenses.

Good luck tonight Molina

[browntown653]

Man, Ian Kinsler is seriously helping out my fantasy squad, another HR for him tonight.

[Molina00]

With Jamey Wright on the moung I was expecting some offense from the D-Rays. I didn't know what to expect from Seo though. Luckily he did worse than Wright, although the defense didn't help him out much.

Game 2 Recap
The Rangers jumped on TB starter Seo quick with a Kenny Lofton homerun to leadoff the first inning. Ian Kinsler got to Seo in the 2nd with a 2-run shot to give the Rangers a 3-0 lead. The 3rd inning was when the Rays got the bats going. They scored 5 runs in the 3rd off of Jamey Wright including a 2-out, 2-run homerun by Ty Wigginton. Wright was promptly removed from the game. Scott Feldman came and pitched 2.1 scoreless innings in relief of the ineffective Wright. The Rangers rebounded from the 5 run top of the 3rd to score 7 runs of their own in the bottom of the inning. The big contribution there coming from Frank Catalanotto in the form of a 2-out, 3-run jack which put Texas up 10-5. Jumping ahead to the 9th inning now, the Rangers still have the lead at 12-6. The Devil Rays have the makings of a rally going against Bruce Chen scoring 3 runs off of him including a 2-run shot by Delmon Young. That was all the Rays could manage though and the Rangers went on to win 12-9 and move to a .500 record for the first time this season.

Game Note: Eight games into the season and Mark Teixeira still does not have an extra base hit.

[brewers47]

game threads arent very active here

[Molina00]

game threads arent very active here

That's why I do series threads, because in game threads I'm just talking to myself.
Once in a while someone responds to my series threads.

[Molina00]

Game 3 Recap
For the 2nd straight series the Rangers entered the final game with a chance to sweep. For the 2nd straight series the Rangers lost the final game by 1 run. Last time it was a 3-2 loss to the Red Sox, this time a 6-5 loss to the Devil Rays.

The D-Ray offense jumped all over Ranger pitching early on scoring all 6 of their runs over the first 3 innings, Robinson Tejeda taking credit for all 6 of them while allowing 10 hits, striking out 4, and giving up 2 homeruns. The Rangers were held to just 1 run over the first 5 innings, that coming from a 1st inning solo blast by Michael Young, his 1st homerun of the year. The Rangers trailed 6-1 going into the bottom of the 6th when they finally got the bats going. Texas scored 4 runs in the inning thanks to a 3-run blast by Young, his 2nd of the game, and a solo shot by Ian Kinsler, his 4th of the season. Tampa Bay starting pitcher James Shields stayed in for the 7th and shut down the Ranger offense before being pulled. The Rangers could get nothing done against the D-Ray pen though and lost 6-5.

The Ranger pen also pitched very well to keep Texas in the game. Kam Loe struck out 2 over 3 innings of work and Joaquin Benoit also struck out 2 in 1 inning of work.

[brewers47]

That's why I do series threads, because in game threads I'm just talking to myself.
Once in a while someone responds to my series threads.

Well I would tell you I know an active game thread forum to post in, but i dont want to get in trouble