The Rangers are currently 7.5 games ahead of the Angels in the West after tonight’s loss to the Oakland Athletics.  Colby Lewis pitched 7.0 innings of 5 hit, 1 run ball with two walks and 8 strikeouts before giving the ball to Daren Oliver.  Oliver not in his greatest form tonight gave up two runs on three hits essentially sinking the Rangers who were handcuffed by Athletics pitching only pushing one run across the plate.

As I mentioned earlier the Rangers are leading the Angels by 7.5 games with 61 games remaining to play.  The Rangers acquired Cliff Lee earlier this season for first base prospect Justin Smoak.  Lee has four starts under his belt as a Ranger and is 1-2 with one complete game ending in a no-decision before the Rangers won it in the tenth inning. 

The Rangers currently have the greatest lead in their division in the American League and are second to the St. Louis Cardinals and the Cincinnati Reds who are tied 9 games up on the Milwaukee Brewers.  The Rangers have started off strong pulling so far ahead of the Angels in their division which is something they haven’t done since 1999.  To put how long ago that was in perspective, Pudge Rodriguez was voted American League MVP in 1999. 

Rodriguez stayed with the Rangers through the 2002 season.  He then signed a one year deal to play for the Florida Marlins in 2003 where he has gotten his only World Series Ring.  He then signed a 4 year deal with the Detroit Tigers and appeared in the 2006 World Series before losing to the St. Louis Cardinals.  In late 2008 he was traded to the Yankees and underperformed for the remainder of the season

Before the 2009 season he signed with the Houston Astros before he was traded back to the Rangers and finished the season with them.  Over this past off season he signed a two year agreement with the Washington Nationals.  He actually caught the phenom of the current generation Stephen Strasburg in his first start.  Basically… its been a really long time since the Rangers have made it to the playoffs.

In the American League West the Seattle Mariners went in to this previous off season building a team with great optimism after finishing second last season in the West.  They resigned Ken Griffey Jr. to a one year deal, which most fans assumed would be the last season of his Hall of Fame career.  One thing I have to say I was excited to see junior return for one more season.  I think in a sense it helps me hold on to my childhood when these players were just starting their career. 

The Mariners also made a trade for Cliff Lee to back up ace Felix Hernandez.  Lee was his normal self pitching quality innings, but everything started to crumble around the Mariners.  Earlier this season, it was reported that Griffey missed a pinch hit opportunity because he was asleep in the clubhouse.  In the report it was stated that he had trouble sleeping away from home and was out of it.

Griffey nor manager Don Wakamatsu refuted the report basically trying to get around the subject.  Griffey even stated he wished the players who leaked the report would have talked to him rather than telling the media.  Griffey knew his career was coming to an end, and instead of making the Mariners release him, he abruptly retired effective that day.  He recorded his final hit on May 20th which was a pinch hit walk off single against the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Mariners as of today are 20.5 games back from the Rangers in the West.  Earlier this month the Mariners knew that they were not going to be successful this season, so they became sellers shipping Cliff Lee to the Rangers.  They are still trying to trade away their roster for prospects  in order to prepare for the future. 

The Athletics signed  former Brewers starting pitcher Ben Sheets to a one year $10 million dollar deal.  I was quite shocked they would give him so much money considering he missed all of 2009 with elbow issues.  He almost become a Ranger before the 2009 season before failing his physical and cancelling his contract.  I would have never paid anybody who had missed the previous season recovering from surgery that much, but I guess I am not Billy Beane (Athletics General Manager). 

Unfortunately for the Athletics, it was reported today that he is out for the season and maybe his career due to an elbow tear.  This was confirmed today by an MRI.  The interesting part about it was that last week Sheets name was being thrown around on the trade market.  I figured he wouldn’t finish the season on the field with the Athletics, I figured it would be another team not the 60 day disabled list.  The Athletics are now 8.5 games out from the Rangers and are probably done for the season.

The Rangers closet competitor in the West would be the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.  The Angels have a strong team every season, although they have taken a couple of blows this past off season.  In 2008 Francisco Rodriguez (K-Rod) set the single season record in saves before signing with the Mets over the off season.  During the 2008 season the Angels acquired Mark Teixeira in a trade with the Braves with the hope he would sign a long term deal with the Angels.  He eventually signed with the New York Yankees helping them to win the 2009 World Series   Last off season John Lackey signed with the Boston Red Sox leaving the Angels short another star player. 

The Angels have tried to plug holes where they could, but it seems nearly impossible to make up for these players.  Dan Haren who was the Diamondbacks ace and was rumored to be on the trade block before the Angels acquired him for veteran Joe Saunders and three prospects.   Even though Haren is a big-time pitcher he can only pitch every 5 days, so I do not see the Angels making up the deficit in the West.

The Rangers are have an amazing year and once every part of the roster clicks as a whole the Rangers will do well deep into October.  Like previously mentioned in this blog the Rangers are doing something they haven’t done since 1999.  In 1999 I was only 15 years old, and I would love to see the Rangers make it to the playoffs in 2010.

In tonight’s series debut against the Oakland Athletics Cliff Lee cruised through 9 full innings giving up 5 hits and one unearned run.  The unearned run came on an error in the six inning allowing CoCo Crisp to advance to third after attempting to steal second base.

 Catcher Bengie Molina threw to second base to attempt to get the out on Crisp’s attempt to steal the base.   It was a decent throw to the base but neither shortstop Elvis Andrus nor second baseman Ian Kinsler were covering the bag and the ball sailed into center field.  Crisp easily advanced to third base and Kinsler was charged with an error.  Lee then gave up a single to Kurt Suzuki which easily scored Crisp in the Athletics only run of the game.

The Rangers started scoring early with Michael Young working a full count walk before Vladimir Guerrero doubled scoring Young from first base.  The Rangers were only able to get 4 more hits off of Athletics pitching going into the 10 inning tied at 1-1.

After Lee’s nine full innings the Rangers sent Neftali Feliz to the mound to pitch the 10th inning.  He worked around one hit and strike out to keep the score tied at 1-1.  Vladimir Guerrero struck out on a 1-2 count to start the inning.  Center fielder Josh Hamilton then walked on four straight pitches.  Nelson Cruz then homered on a fly ball to left field scoring himself and Josh Hamilton to win the game. 

Tonight’s game was the second time out of Lee’s four starts as a Ranger that he pitched 9 innings and either took the loss or a no decision.  Thankfully the Rangers ended up winning the game with Feliz taking the win.  Lee did set a personal high tonight with 13 strikeouts.  Lee threw 118 pitches with 88 of them being strikes, which is pretty impressive considering 74.57% of his pitches were strikes.  So the Rangers acquisition of Lee has made perfect sense as they push towards a playoff spot in October. 

Lee’s pitching

For the third time this season and the fourthtime in a little over a calender year, the Rays were part of a no-hitter with two of those being perfect games.  The only difference is the fourth time it was a player in a Rays uniform celebrating at the end.  Veteran starter Matt Garza pitched a no-hitter against the Tigers.

This is the second time, well should have been the second time the Tigerswould have been involved in a no-hitter’s this season.  Earlier this season Armando Galaraga pitched a perfect game, but on the final out he beat the runner to the base and the umpire missed the call.  Interestingly enough the umpire Jim Joyce who missed the call was voted best umpire by the players after the missed call. 

In tonight’s start Garza threw a 120 pitches with 80 0f them being strikes walking only one player.  He still faced the minimum 27 hitters by giving up a walk to Brennan Boesch before getting Ryan Raburn to hit into an inning ending double play.  Edwin Jackson threw a no-hitter on June 25th throwing 149 hits an giving up 8 walks, so obviously Garza’s no-hitter was more efficient.  I have a feeling that manager A.J. Hinch letting Jackson throw 149 pitches was one of the last things causing him to lose his job earlier this season. 

That makes 5 no-hitters for 2010 with at least one no-hitter coming each month so far this season with two perfect games in 2010.  So congratulations to Matt Garza for throwing a no-hitter and being the first pitcher to throw one for the Rays after being the victim of 3 no-hitter/perfect games in little over a year.

The Rangers finished up a four game series with the rival Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim taking 3 out of four of the games.  After the series the Angels headed home to face off against the Boston Red Sox down 7 games to the Rangers.  During the series Tommy Hunter improved to 8-0 to start the season and former President George W. Bush was in attendance to see Sunday night’s finale against the Angels.

During their time in Arlington the Angels traded veteran Joe Saunders and three other players for Dan Haren the Diamondbacks ace who has been speculated to be moved for at least a month now.  I don’t believe the Diamondbacks expect to do anything this season since they are 22 games back from the San Diego Padres in the National League West.  Last month they dismissed their manager and general manager at the same time, so I am sure Haren was ready to get out of town.  Trading Haren frees up future payroll and got some prospects in return. 

Haren is no stranger to the American League or the A.L. West, since he spent 3 years with the Oakland Athletics.  He made his debut with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2003 and was traded to the Athletics in a package for Mark Mulder.  He then spent three seasons with the Athletics before being traded to Arizona, the only difference was he was the highlight of the trade and not part of the prospect package. 

During his first season (2008) in a Diamondback’s uniform Harden signed a four year extension for 44.75 millions dollars with a team option for 2013.  During the 2008 season, he was teamed up with Brandon Webb who finished second that year in the Cy Young voting.  Webb made the opening day start for the Diamondbacks in 2009 and hasn’t pitched in a game since, eventually needing shoulder surgery and has had a tough recovery.

In 217 career appearances, 208 starts Haren has a 86-70 record with a 3.71 ERA.  The Angels did pick up an above average starter, but as we all know it takes more than one player to get to the playoffs.  Remember how the A-Rod experiment, not so well with the Rangers having losing records all three seasons during his tenure in Arlington.  So even though the Angels have Haren, we have Cliff Lee and I would take him over Haren any day.

In tonight’s win over the Angels the Rangers extended their lead in the division to seven games.  The last time the Rangers had that large of a lead in their division was 1999 and the Rangers made it to the playoffs before before losing in the first round.

The 2010 Rangers have a pretty strong roster with the rotation now headed by Cliff Lee and the offense headed by unofficial team captain Micheal Young.  In tonight’s win over the Angels, C.J. Wilson pitched 8 scoreless innings only giving up fours hits and no walk with three strikeouts.  Neftali Feliz picked up his 27 save of the season pitching a scoreless/hit less ninth inning for his 27 save of the season preserving a 1-0 win over the Angels.

The only run of the game came on a solo shot in the bottom of the first inning by Michael Young.  The shot which left the field in left center field and was Young’s 14th of the season.  Thankfully the Rangers pitching was better than the Angels pitching and did not give a up run giving the the Rangers their 57th win of the season.

In other baseball news former Ranger Alex Rodriguez is currently sitting at 599 home runs knocking on the door of the exclusive 600 home run club and will be just the 7 Major League Player to hit at least 600 home runs.  He hit the 599th home run yesterday and the pitcher, Kyle Davies whom he his 500 blast off of is starting for the Royals tomorrow, so there is a very good chance that he could give up A-Rod’s 600th home run.  

Since February of 2009, when he admitted to using steroids during his three years in a Rangers uniform his reputation has been somewhat tarnished and most people are not considering his entry to the 600 club legitimate.  All I can say is, I do not think that hitting home runs in the Majors are easy and I do not think that steroids do anything but make you stronger.  Steroids I do not think improve your bat speed, or hand and eye coordination.  So what am I saying?  I believe that Rodriguez’s entry into the 600 home run club should be celebrated just like any other player, when we look back the steroid era will just be speck in overall baseball history. 

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Cliff Lee pitched 8.1 innings tonight giving up only 5 hits and two runs improving his record to 9-4 and picking up his first win as a Ranger in three starts.  The win no less game against A.L. West rival Angels and improved their lead to six games over them.  The Angels sent Jered Weaver to the mound and he took the loss tonight dropping his record to 9-6.

The Rangers started early with Michael Young homering in the first inning for his 13 knock of the year on a fly ball to right field.  The other two runs in the win came on small ball attempts with Josh Hamilton doubling in the bottom of the six to score Vladimir Guerrero.  With Hamilton on second base Nelson Cruz singles and moves Hamilton to third base.  Then during Bengie Molina’s at bat Cruz steals second base.  Molina flies out to center fielder Torii Hunter and Hamilton tagged up and easily scored from third.  It was not a high scoring game, but it was enough runs to outscore the Angels by one run thanks to Lee’s stellar outing and the Rangers picked up a game on the Angels in the division race.

In other Rangers news, as we all know the ownership situation has plagued the Rangers since before the start of spring training and it may finally come to a resolution on August 4th.  Tom Hicks and MLB have approved a bid by a group led by Nolan Ryan and Pittsburgh attorney Chuck Greenberg, but the creditors holding the debt acquired by Hicks have balked at the deal saying that there were higher bidders.

We all hoped the ownership group would be in place by the trade deadline so the they could make a move for a big name player like Cliff Lee, but I guess the Rangers counted their change in their sofa’s and were able to get Lee anyhow.  So as of right now the pending ownership group will not affect any player moves and the Rangers roster has the tools it needs to push deep into October.

Several attorneys for the creditors have tried arguing that the Aug 4th auction is not enough time for the potential bidders to secure financing.  Thankfully the bankruptcy judge overseeing the sale of the Rangers has the team and it’s players interest in mind.  He has refused to push back the auction in order to get the Rangers ownership situation resolved.  I am glad the judge has the team in mind and not the creditors.

One interesting thing that came out today was that Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban who is a billionaire businessman has been approved by MLB to bid on the Rangers.  He is a fiery owner who has been fined millions of dollars by the NBA for his actions.  He attempted to bid on the Chicago Cubs but his bid eventually was not selected.  In some aspects I feel Cuban would be good as the Rangers owner because he has a strong desire to win at all costs pretty much.  I feel the Greenberg group is honestly the best to lead the Rangers with Nolan Ryan at the top.  He knows how to win and knows what he can and cannot expect from his baseball team, where Cuban has no clue.

I spent last week in the D.C. Metro area on vacation and since last week was the All-Star Break I did not get the opportunity to make it to a game.  Now, the games that I have seen at Major League Stadiums, I have sat in the upper levels where you almost needed binoculars to see the field.  I have been to a few spring training games and I enjoy those games because you are so close to the field.  Although in those games, if you go early in spring training you end up seeing a lot of prospects and not the players who will end up on the 25 man roster.

One of my goals in life is that when I take a vacation, I try to squeeze something baseball into it.  I hope to see each of the 30 MLB teams play at home.  I try to go to games or if its in the middle of the winter I at least go and see the stadium.  This vacation I did something I have never done before, tour a MLB Stadium.

I got online and purchased the tickets for a tour of National Park and I arrived pretty early since I rode the metro there and checked out the team store,  From the look of the store you would think that Strasburg was their only player on the team.  I did see a couple of Rodriguez and Zimmerman jerseys on hangers though. 

The tour guide made it to the center field gate and the tour group was my wife and I and another couple and that was it.  We started off seeing the concessions and the family friendly areas of the park.  I have never seen this before, but there was literally a play ground inside the gates. 

Within the tour we were able to enter some of the luxury boxes.  The view from the box was pretty amazing, compared to any seat I have sat in a park.  I was even able to see the press boxes and sit down in the chairs where USA today sits for the game which were pretty impressive seats for getting paid to watch the game.

We thing saw the luxury club where you can eat prime rib and watch the game on TV.  We then walked out onto the outside seats available to the patrons of the club  and these seats are right behind home plate, close enough to even hear players talk at home plate.  During the tour we then headed down to where we could look into the clubhouse, unfortunately Pudge’s and Strasburg’s lockers were at the back of the clubhouse where we were not allowed to go.  Outside of the Clubhouse there was a podium for security and there was a desk right inside the clubhouse door which was probably also security.  I guess the Nationals do not want Lady GaGa scantly dressed entering their clubhouse. 

We then headed down the tunnel towards the dugout, but before getting there we entered the indoor batting cages and he showed us what a 100 mph fastball coming from a pitching machine looks like.  After that we then went out to the dugout and I was able to sit on the bench in the dugout and see what the view of the field looks like from that perspective. 

After touring the dugout we were able to step on the field level, where the groudscrew was working on the mound, although we were prohibitted to step on the grass.  The tour guide told us that they are constantly working on the field.  He then guided us down along the warning track to the Nationals bullpen.  One thing he did tell us is that the Nationals Bullpen is in the shade most of the game and the Visting Bullpen is in the sun all day. 

We then went into the bullpen and since it had been raining earlier that day the mounds in the bullpen were wet and he couldn’t let us throw from there.  He but out this square target, that I assume pitchers throw out to get lose before the game.  I was little nervous, but I took two throws at the target and hit it dead center each time, although I was afraid I would miss horrible and make a fool out of myself.

We then ended the tour in the tunnel which was under the seats and walked back to the center gate entrance.  This entrance was something I really liked about the park because if you take the Metro to the game you get off the subway and then ride and esculator up literally 6 floors before coming to groud level.  You then exit the metro and turn left on the street and the street runs straight into that entrance.  From that gate you can somewhat see into the park, although the actual playing feild is 24 feet below sea level. 

 One thing I have to say is no matter where you go on vacation take a tour of the park, because it was one of the most enjoyable baseball experience I have seen.  I can now say I have actually stood on the field level in a MLB Park and only a few feet from the mound where probably the best pitching phenom of this current generation Stephen Strasburg made his Major League debut.  It will be an experience that will be with me forever.

The Rangers won for the fifth time in six games since the All-Star break improving Starter Tommy Hunter’s record to 7-0.  The Rangers walked all over Armando Galarraga and the Tigers beating them for the second night in a row in a final score of 8-0.  Thankfully tonight’s win only took nine innings unlike last nights marathon 14 inning game.  David Murphy, Ian Kinsler and Josh Hamilton each homered in tonight’s game with Hamilton now having 23 home runs so far this year.  Surprisingly Hunter is the very first Ranger to start a season 7-0. 

The Ranger’s scored quick with two runs in the first inning to give Tommy Hunter an early need and that’s all he needed although the Rangers scored six more runs to cap off the win.  Hunter pitched seven shutout innings only giving up three hits and two walks, but no runs.  He also recorded 3 strikeouts.  Darren Oliver pitched the eighth inning working around one walk with one strikeout and no hits or runs. 

The Rangers recalled Doug Mathis to replace an injured Dustin Nippert who was struck in the side of his head with a line drive off the bat of the Tiger’s lead off hitter Austin Jackson.  Luckily Nippert did not have any structural damage, but he would be out for a few days and the Rangers decided they needed the help.  Mathis saw game action quickly pitching tonight’s ninth inning only giving up one hit, but sealing the win for Tommy Hunter.

The Rangers now have the second best record in the American League behind the New York Yankees, but are leading the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim by five games and the Athletics by 8.5 games.  The Rangers have the roster to push through the dog days of summer and finish strong eventually winning the American League West title for the first time since 1999.  With the acquistion Cliff Lee the Rangers now have a proven playoff pitcher and Rangers fans finally have a October to look foward to.

After taking two of three games from Boston to start the second half of the season the Rangers won the first game of a three game series against the Detroit Tigers in the 14th inning.  It was a crazy outing with a reliever getting hit by a line drive to the side of his head and Manager Ron Washington was ejected for the fourth time this season arguing balls and strikes from the dugout.

Starter Scott Feldman started the game and pitched five innings giving up 7 hits and five earned runs.  In 19 games started this season Feldman currently has a record of 5-8 with a 5.48 ERA.  He gave way to reliever Dustin Nippert who recorded one out and a hit before being hit in the head by a line drive off of lea doff hitter Austin Jackson.  Nippert is listed at 6′8″ and I am sure most pitchers the ball would have just sailed over their head.

Darren O’Day relieved Nippert and got the final two outs of the inning working around one walk.  Alexi Ogando then pitched 1.1 innings giving up one hit and one run with one run and one strikeout.  In the eighth  inning with the Rangers leading by one run, Ogando gave up a single to Raman Santiago and he ended up on second base on an throwing error by Michael Young.  Ogando then walked the next batter to put men on first and second. 

Frank Francisco then replaced Ogando and gave up a single to Johnny Damon on a one out full count scored Santiago and moving base runnerAustin Jackson to third base.  Francisco then retired the next two batters and pitched a scoreless ninth inning, although he was credited with a blown save. 

Starter converted reliever Matt Harrison then pitched four scoreless innings with 2 hits and four walks and strikeouts.  In the top of the 14th inningVladimirGuerrero led off the inning with a ground out before Josh Hamilton walked on a 3-1 count.  Nelson Cruz then saved the day by sending a 1-2 pitch over the right field wall to score him and Hamilton to put the Rangers up 8-6.  Neftali Feliz then pitched the bottom of the 14th inning picking up his 25th save of the season giving up only one hit.

The Rangers improved their record to 54-38 leading the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim by five games.  The Rangers have a pretty amazing season so far and have pretty much plugged their roster effectively by acquiring catcher Benjie Molina and Starter Cliff Lee.  In four games back since the All-Star break the Rangers three out of the four games.

I have spent the last week vacationing in Washington D.C.  We actually made the trip here from Little Rock, Arkansas by car so we could take our dog with us, which was an interesting situation.  I was lucky enough to have Internet access on the drive up there, so I was able to blog on the way up.

While in the D.C. area we spent time with my mother-in-law and we stayed pretty busy during the day seeing D.C. and at night we would get something for dinner and we would spend time with her, so by the time I had free time to write, I was exhausted and pretty much went to bed.

So I am sorry about the absence of writing this past week, I have so much to write about including my trip as a whole and all of the interesting aspects of it, including the 16 hour each way car ride which seemed to never end.  Since it was the All-Star break and there were no games going on during the week, I was unable to attend a game while in D.C.  I just sat in the hotel on Tuesday night, heartbroken after the American League lost the game.

One thing I did do during my trip was take a tour of Nationals Park with my wife.  It was an awesome experience and I can’t wait to tell you all about it, and why you should take a tour of a park on a non-game day some day.  During the tour we were able to see some pretty cool stuff.

As far as the Rangers have done so far this second half has been pretty good, even though we are only one series into the second half.  There is a lot to write about that one weekend series, including some amazing plays.  We spent 13 hours in the car today and I can barely stay awake, so starting tomorrow night I will be back on track.  Sorry I did not give any notice before I left for vacation, I honestly thought I could still blog.  So I look foward to this week and the remainder of the season, thanks  for taking the time to stop by Nolan Writin’ and follow me here as the Rangers make their push for the playoffs.