Okay...I'm still a little punchy from last night's game...
The 8th inning meltdown is troubling, and will no doubt be pointed to by those who said that the Rangers should have been adding pitching, not subtracting pitching (i.e., Cordero) at the deadline.
The thing that I don't get about last night's game, though, is why Akinori Otsuka didn't come into the game when Rivera was up as the tying run. Otsuka is the best reliever on the team, it was the most critical juncture of the game...it seems to me you'd rather have Otsuka facing Rivera in that situation, even for just one batter, then let Bauer face the bottom of the Anaheim lineup in the 9th, than let Bauer face Rivera there.
At the end of the day, though, it didn't matter, as the Rangers won, getting themselves back above .500, a half-game back of Anaheim, and 2.5 games back of Oakland, which starts a three game set in Seattle tonight.
Kat O'Brien writes on Mark Teixeira getting his power stroke back...if Teixeira gets hot over the last couple of months, well, I feel pretty good about the Rangers chances of playing meaningful games in the last week of the season.
Now on optional assignment at AAA, rather than rehabbing while on the d.l., Kam Loe is going to be pitching out of the bullpen for Oklahoma. It seemed likely he'd end up back in the pen for Texas, when he returns to the majors, so this makes sense.
In the same article, Evan Grant says that John Wasdin has opted to take his release, rather than return to the minors, and that Edinson Volquez has been placed on the disabled list at Oklahoma, although he is expected to just miss a start or two.
Jan Hubbard talks about the way Rangers and Astros fans reacted as their respective trade deadlines approached, using it to illustrate the balancing act g.m.s have to perform.
Javy Lopez got traded to Boston, quelling the Barajas-to-Boston talk. Apparently, he wasn't really happy in Baltimore.