Two steps forward, two steps back. The Rangers had won four in a row as of Saturday morning, and seemed to be gaining momentum, but then lost two in a row, dropping them back to .500 and 4.5 games out of first.
Texas has three in Oakland, starting tonight. Huge series. A sweep by Texas, and they are just 1.5 games out and have all kinds of momentum. A sweep by Oakland, and the Rangers are 7.5 games out, and Jon Daniels starts fielding calls from teams interested in his players that have cleared waivers.
As I mentioned last night, Evan Grant says Edinson Volquez will be making the start tonight for the Rangers, stepping in for Kip Wells, who is being bumped back due to injury. You can see Volquez's numbers for Oklahoma here...a ton of Ks, but also a bunch of walks...
My guess is John Koronka gets sent down to make room for Volquez, although Josh Rupe is also a possibility, given how much he threw yesterday. Having a rookie come up and make a spot start -- particularly a rookie like Volquez, who hasn't been real efficient in the minors -- when the bullpen has been taxed isn't the best of scenarios, but given that the A's are one of the worst offensive teams in baseball, I have to figure it could be a lot worse.
A minor league note, for those interested...Taylor Teagarden has been activated from the disabled list, finally, and is DHing for the Rangers AZL club.