Holland Rocked by the Rockies / Why was Borbon Pulled?

The game didn’t start off on a good note in the bottom of the 1^st inning, just a day after being announced as a member of the rotation Derek Holland gave up three runs. All three were scored as earned runs however two runs were the result of Josh Hamilton running down a ball in left field and then losing it in the lights. The official scorer marked this hit from Colorado’s Jose Lopez but clearly was a mistake on Hamilton’s part.

The second and third innings were much better for Derek Holland, no runs earned. Holland also showed off his superb pick off move to catch a runner to wrap up the third.

The Dutch Oven then gave up a lead off home run to Chris Ianneta in the bottom of the fourth. Elvis had a throwing error to Young at first base allowing pitcher Esmil Rogers to get on base, after this he walked Eric Young Jr. to have runners at first and second with no outs.  Jonathan Herrera up next hit a sac bunt and advanced runners to 2^nd and 3^rd, after which Carlos Gonzales hits a single to the gap between third and short scoring both runners.  Gonzales then steals 2^nd base, Todd Helton then came up and hit a fly to David Murphy in center which Murphy dropped scoring Car-Go.

Derek threw 35 pitches in the first inning and 10 in both the 2^nd and 3^rd innings and then 33 in the fourth. 88 pitches through four innings wasn’t the way to say thanks after getting picked for the rotation.

The fifth inning started with more of the same, Holland allowed a double to start the inning and Iannetta then hit a single to put runners at the corners with no outs. The Colorado pitcher then gets another hit to load the bases. Shortly after this Washington finally took Holland out.

Derek Holland: 4.1 IP 13 Hits Allowed 8 Earned Runs –

Missed Opportunities:

Adrian Beltre knocked the first hit of the game to lead off the 2^nd inning; he worked his way to second after a wild pitch in the dirt. Unfortunately the Rangers were unable to bring in Beltre.

Elvis Andrus had a nice single to lead off the 4^th and then advanced to second on a bad pick off attempt by the Rockies’ starter Esmil Rogers. Josh Hamilton hit a single to have runners at the corners.  Michael Young hit a sacrifice fly to right and brought in Andrus from third. Josh Hamilton advanced to second base with two outs on a wild pitch to Nelson Cruz, shortly before Nellie struck out. They were able to get one run here but had the opportunity for more.

This is a missed opportunity on the broadcasters part…Julio Borbon was pulled from center-field early in the game and was replaced by David Murphy, it was quickly announced that it was not injury related.  John Rhadigan and Tom Grieve had Ron Washington on in the fifth inning and neglected to ask him any questions regarding the switch at center-field. Additionally they had Assistant GM in the 6th and asked nothing of him. Maybe the word was put down not to ask about it, hopefully we get more info on this soon. — The Rangers insisted almost immediately that it wasn’t injury related, and there weren’t any really bad plays. I suppose it could have been a mild injury or maybe he upset Washington with something he did. (This is all clearly speculation as no information came out about the switch). Let the Murphy/Borbon controversy begin I suppose.

Final Score: Colorado Rockies 10 Texas Rangers 3

-Jonathan