Things were back to “normal” tonight as the Rangers dropped a winnable game to the Angels. Dan Haren, who has not been Dan Haren this season, looked more like Cliff Lee as he handled the Rangers. More trouble moving runners and getting the job done. Josh Hamilton remains clueless at the plate and seems to be in a free-fall. There has been absolutely no sign of life from him other than the occasional home run that is now starting to appear to be on lucky swings. He did stop swinging at first pitches, but his refusal to use his immense talent and try to hit the ball the opposite way is killing the Rangers. But he is not alone. Yes we got a key 2-run homer from Nelson Cruz tonight but based on Haren’s total lack of success and inflated ERA this season plus our past success against the “good” Haren makes me think we still have major problems with our offense.
Matt Harrison appeared to feel the pressure in the first couple of innings, then settled in to pitch a pretty good game. But for whatever reason, Ron Washington decided to put Alexi Ogando on the mound so he could continue his struggles against Albert Pujols. What I do not understand about this is Wash is one of those guys who plays the percentages and uses our bullpen situationally. This is the second time this week he had Snoop out there in a place where he had failed in the past.
So we take our (now) five game lead back home to face the Red Sox. But it’s not that simple as we’ll have the (what’s the opposite of sufficient?) fill-in talents of Scott Feldman and more than likely Martin Perez this week. Colby’s injury is still bugging him and Oswalt has a bum back. If there was a time that it looks like we need some starting pitching help, that would be now. But the trade front doesn’t look that promising these days.
Sure enough, teams that are selling are learning that rentals are not “in” this year. We covered it a lot here. Based on his current “break” Zack Grienke doesn’t look possible and Hamels appears near a deal with the Phillies. The was almost a deal for Ryan Dempster to go to the Dodgers but they said the price (high-end prospects) was too high for a rental and turned their attention to Matt Garza. All well and good except Garza is now banged up. Unless J.D. has something up his sleeve, there is a long-shot possibility for Cliff Lee. Not as long but still not good odds for Anibal Sanchez or Josh Johnson from the Marlins. James Shields might be available from the Rays but the Angels appear to have an edge on a deal right now. If they get Shields (and reportedly Ben Zobrist too) it will just make them that much tougher. I am pleased to see that their bullpen is still a mess. Then there is the matter of Mike Adams and Ogando having problems retiring hitters.
It’s gut check time.
No Pepper 