Week 20 In Review

Here’s a wrap-up of the week that was in Texas Rangers baseball. All stats listed are just for the previous week of play.

Rangers Record: 4-2

Overall: 79-54 (1st Place AL West) (+3)

Jalapeno Hot (Offense):David Murphy .500/.571/.944,  1 3b, 2 HR, 3 BB and 5 RBI

Adrian Beltre .478/.520/1.043,  4 2b, 3 HR, 7 RBI

Honorable Mention: Jurickson Profar became the youngest player in American League history to hit a home run in his first major league at bat. Sorry I can’t post it, but here’s the link to the video: http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=24424835&topic_id=17807232&c_id=mlb&tcid=vpp_copy_24424835&v=3

Raspa Cold (Offense): Mitch Moreland .104/.143/.263  1 HR, 3 RBI, 6 K in 19 AB

Jalapeno Hot (Pitching): Yu Darvish  1-0, 0.00 ERA in 7 IP, 10 K

Joe Nathan 3 Saves in 3 Opportunities, 6 K in 2.2 IP

Raspa Cold (Pitching): Matt Harrison (after 2 straight weeks in the Jalapeno Hot category)  0-1, 11.81 ERA 12 Hits in 5.1 IP

It isn’t often you can lose 2 1/2 games off your lead following a 4-2 week, but thanks in part to the Boston Red Sox deciding to totally lay down and play dead, the A’s managed a 7-0 week and gained that much ground on the Rangers. It should have been just 1 1/2 games, but an uninspired performance Saturday against the Tribe kept Texas from winning a game they should have won. This week will hopefully make up for it. Texas is on the road the entire week, first for four at Kansas City (they won the 1st game today 8-4), then for three at Tampa. The A’s and Angels are caught up in each other for three games to start the week at Oakland. The Angels follow up with three at home against the Tigers, while the A’s  travel to Seattle for three. As much as I have considered the Angels to be the primary obstacle to a third straight Western Division Championship, the current standings call for me to hope LA wins the series, 2-1 while Texas goes 3-1 at KC. By week’s end, I think the Rangers have added either a half game or a game and a half to their lead over Oakland and either gain half a game or lose half a game on the Angels.

DVD SET WINNERS TO BA ANNOUNCED TOMORROW!