Rangers vs. A's - Battle for the West

[WilltheThrill]

Monday - Holland vs. Straily
Tuesday - Darvish vs. Milone
Wednesday - Perez vs. Parker
Thursday - Harrison vs. Blackley

On paper, I like the Rangers in 3 out of those 4 matchups (not Wednesday). Of course, we all just saw in Seattle how reliable paper matchups are in predicting results. Still, Holland and Darvish have both been red-hot and both Holland and Harrison drew weaker opposing starting pitchers.

A possible good sign for the Rangers is that Oakland hits about ten points lower and for far less power against lefties than righties. We've got 3 lefties ready to face them.

Pennington has been on fire lately, but he's only 3 of 16 lifetime against Holland.

Cespedes, Moss, Carter, and Reddick pose threats in the top half of their order, but their bottom half is extremely weak statistically speaking. I think one of the keys to this series will be the Rangers' pitchers making sure those bottom half hitters look like the .210 hitters they are instead of the clutch RBI machines they've been over the last month.

The magic number is 7, so a sweep would clinch the division and winning 3 out of 4 would put us only 1 win or 1 Oakland loss away. Even a split of the series would really put Oakland in a major hole being 4 back with only 6 to go.

 

[fanman8825]

Monday - Holland vs. Straily
Tuesday - Darvish vs. Milone
Wednesday - Perez vs. Parker
Thursday - Harrison vs. Blackley

On paper, I like the Rangers in 3 out of those 4 matchups (not Wednesday). Of course, we all just saw in Seattle how reliable paper matchups are in predicting results. Still, Holland and Darvish have both been red-hot and both Holland and Harrison drew weaker opposing starting pitchers.

A possible good sign for the Rangers is that Oakland hits about ten points lower and for far less power against lefties than righties. We've got 3 lefties ready to face them.

Pennington has been on fire lately, but he's only 3 of 16 lifetime against Holland.

Cespedes, Moss, Carter, and Reddick pose threats in the top half of their order, but their bottom half is extremely weak statistically speaking. I think one of the keys to this series will be the Rangers' pitchers making sure those bottom half hitters look like the .210 hitters they are instead of the clutch RBI machines they've been over the last month.

The magic number is 7, so a sweep would clinch the division and winning 3 out of 4 would put us only 1 win or 1 Oakland loss away. Even a split of the series would really put Oakland in a major hole being 4 back with only 6 to go.

Good info Will. I have a feeling Perez will pitch much better on Wed. Taking 3 out of 4 would be nice but we also need the Mariners to take at least 1 from the Angels this week. If the Angels sweep that series then they could be in a tie with the A's by Thursday or ahead of them if we sweep. It would be nice if we could eliminate the Angels from the playoffs but it looks like we have to face Weaver and Greinke again this weekend. The Whitesox did us no favors over the weekend by getting swept

 

[Xx srs bsns xX]

Honestly, I'm hoping for a split..... anything to help the A's clinch a wildcard spot over the Angels.

That said, Angels have 9 games left. 6 of those against the M's. A's have 10 games left. 7 of those against the Rangers.

Not liking the A's chances at the moment......

 

[1502tuley]

It would be nice to split this series then take it out on LAA this weekend. That way we could potentially let some people rest for the last series with the A's. Man that would be sweet, letting our guys rest while and booting the LAA's out of the playoffs in the process.

Angle fans would be livid. That would be awsome.

 

[jaar01]

My dream scenario would be to win the West and eliminate the Angels from the playoffs the very same day. This could very well happen on Sat or Sun against the Angels. Now that would be fun. Splitting with the A's and taking 2 of 3 against the Angels should do the trick. (as long as Seattle takes one game against the Angels)

 

[WilltheThrill]

I know everyone is afraid of the Angels grabbing that last Wild Card, and for good reason, but remember two things:

1) We still play the Angels 3 times while the A's are playing the Mariners 3 times. That combo right there puts the Angels' backs against the wall.

2) Don't count out Tampa Bay yet either. Besides worrying about the A's, the Angels also have to fight off Tampa Bay. The Rays are only 1 game behind the Angels and have some cupcake games against Boston remaining. Rays also play the Orioles, which could really make the Angels sweat because one team would have to win every night.

Angels still face an uphill climb. Their current playoff odds are at 9.4%.

I want the Angels out of the picture too, but I'd rather the Rangers finish off Oakland in a sweep now and then perhaps let Oakland take a few against us in the season finale to prevent the Angels from getting in.

 

[Xx srs bsns xX]

Kinsler, 2b
Andrus, ss
Hamilton, cf
Beltre, 3b
Cruz, rf
Young, dh
Murphy, lf
Napoli, c
Moreland, 1b


All hands on deck tonight.

 

[romeo212000]

Any specs on hamilton's recovery?

 

[Xx srs bsns xX]

They mentioned it on the ticket.... something about dry corneas or something.

Basically too much caffeine / sports/energy drinks.


Here... Anthony Andro tweet -

Anthony Andro ‏@aandro
Hamilton diagnosed with eye issue that causes dry corneas. Causes are too much caffeine and energy drinks.

EDIT: here's more.

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2...ffeine-and-sports-drinks-for-vision-problems/

However, the diagnosis has changed somewhat. According to Richard Durrett of ESPN Dallas the Rangers “say Hamilton has ocular keratitis, which is blurred vision from too much caffeine and sports drinks” and “the cornea dries because of it.”

Well, that’s certainly a new one. Johns Hopkins’ website has a whole lot more information on Hamilton’s condition if you’re interested.

 

[WilltheThrill]

Not the start we wanted. Already 0 for 1 with RISP and 2 K against a very mediocre pitcher.

 

[WilltheThrill]

Holland looks like garbage too. Nice walk followed by a HR.

 

[romeo212000]

Well holland looks like shit already.

 

[fanman8825]

The long ball continues to be holland's nemesis

 

[WilltheThrill]

48 pitches through 2 innings and no command at all. Yikes. Let's hope he finds some kind of groove next inning.

 

[WilltheThrill]

1st and 3rd, only 1 out. Let's make this count!

 

[romeo212000]

And Napoli k'd

 

[WilltheThrill]

Cheapest hit and cheapest inning ever, but we'll take it!

 

[romeo212000]

That works.

 

[WilltheThrill]

This kid Straily strikes me as the type who can fall apart in a hurry if you rattle him but can also just dominate if he gets on a roll.

 

[WilltheThrill]

Not to state the obvious, but this is a HUGE opportunity.