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- David Murphy raked an opposite-field hit off John Danks, and that's good. Let's be emphatically...

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- David Murphy raked an opposite-field hit off John Danks, and that's good. Let's be emphatically clear about that. It's good for the Rangers when Murphy plays well. Don't conflate the highlighting of his baseball shortcomings with dislike or hatred for the man himself. I mention that because Murphy was shown up by Alex Rios in the sixth inning when, on a two-out pitch with Rios running from first base, Alexei Ramirez slapped a single to short left-center field that left Murphy paralyzed for a split-second (the liner had already cleared the infield and was nearing the outfield grass by the time Murphy began his break), followed by Murphy pumping the ball into the cutoff man with no real sense of urgency. - Rios scored all the way from first on a shallow single, the game was knotted at 2-2, and though all turned out well in the end, that's the kind of non-heads-up play that, if committed by Julio Borbon, would have led to him being skewered by his manager and quite possibly the Metroplex baseball media contingent. We know Murphy is capable of better, so this isn't a concern so much as it is an idle observation, but hey, there you go.

Joey Matches.