If you had told me that the Rangers would win three of four from the Tigers going into the weekend, I likely would not have guessed that the Rick Porcello start would be the one that the Rangers would lose.
Nevertheless, the Rangers took three of four from the Tigers and did so by beating Justin Verlander, Anibal Sanchez, and Doug Fister. The only entity that the Rangers couldn't seem to handle was Miguel Cabrera and that's because he basically isn't human.
Todd Wills provides the Rapid Reaction to the Rangers' 11-8 series-clinching win over the formidable Detroit Tigers.
Behind the DMN paywall, Evan Grant writes about all of the mounting issues that the Rangers faced in last night's game and how Texas was able to overcome them to win a rather exciting game against one of the American League's best teams with the American League's best player.
Dave Sessions recaps the game for MLB.com and notes that the Rangers were able to withstand Cabrera's three home run night to pick up the win.
Anthony Andro writes his own game story and focuses on the Rangers showing that it takes more than just one man (again, maybe not a man) to beat them. (I mean, Ron Washington manages them every night, right?)
Jeff Wilson writes about the game as well, but here's the important part; Adrian Beltre on Cabrera:
Said Beltre, jokingly: "He can't hit. We know that. He hit three bloopers today."
It should be noted that Beltre hit an absolute perfectly placed bloop double down each line last night. It's really no wonder that everyone loves Adrian Beltre.
David Schoenfield provides a Weekend wrap and notes that Jurickson Profar's call-up was one of the bigger stories of the weekend even though he didn't see action last night.
Of particular interest, Schoenfield warns to not expect a Mike Trout, Bryce Harper or Manny Machado-type stint from Profar and I think that's important to keep in mind. Let's keep those expectations tempered. Not because Profar will be bad, but because the rapid elite success of the Trout, Harper, and Machado is pretty rare.
Wills updates Pitchcountgate with quotes from Yu Darvish who seems pretty business as usual after his 130 pitch start last Thursday.
Mike Petriello has an ESPN Insider article on the Rangers winning despite being a perceived "loser" this past winter.
Sessions handles the MLB.com Notebook by writing on Josh Lindblom's debut, the Rangers taking a cautious approach to injuries, David Murphy in the No. 2 spot, and other items.
Drew Davison's notes also cover Lindblom's arrival as a starter, an update on lineup matters, and a handful of injury updates.
The Monday morning DMN Top Prospect weekly slideshow update does not include Nick Williams, but it does include other good things.
Lastly, in other news from the farm, four Hickory Crawdads (Luis Parra, Keone Kela, Ryan Bores and Alex Claudio) from the Rangers' Class A South Atlantic League team combined to no-hit the Delmarva Shorebirds in the second game of a doubleheader yesterday. The game was only 7 innings in length, but in the first game, C.J. Edwards allowed only a first inning single, so the Crawdads combined to no-hit the Shorebirds over 13 innings.
Hickory has an interesting team, much like the Texas Rangers.