Wow, Padilla put up an ugly line last night. So did the bottom 2/3's of the order, I guess. But really, the Brewers did everything they could to give us that game, including stranding 10 men through 5 innings.
Todd Wills has some notes at the bottom of his game recap, most notably that Junior Mayberry is being promoted to Frisco to patrol the Roughriders' outfield in place of the injured Ben Harrison. It's hard to get too excited about a guy that has dominated A pitching to the tune of .230/.314/.496 at his age, I guess, but whatever.
Jean-Jaques Taylor says that Washington is still the man for the job. As evidence, he gives us:
Well, it's certainly possible. I mean, the backup infielder isn't going to be intimately involved in the in-game decision making process of the manager. Backing up Cal Ripken didn't make Washington part of the managerial brain trust in Baltimore. Hell, Joe Morgan was one of the greatest middle infielders around, but you wouldn't see too many folks around here knocking down his door to fill out Ranger lineup cards. Further, you could be a bench coach for 16 seasons and do nothing more than be an affable doofus spitting sunflower seeds in the dugout, hollering "there's the ol' Rufus Goofus," and still have a "pristine reputation." I know Chavez gave his gold glove to Wash, but how many of us have given someone a "World's Greatest Grandpa" mug when that title wasn't, well, technically deserved? That's not to say Washington doesn't know a hell of a lot about baseball, just that the reasons Taylor is giving don't exactly make the case.
"For now, his focus is not solely on winning and losing, but whether the Rangers are playing the game the right way." I don't think that I agree with the underlying meaning when Taylor says that, because he probably means that there isn't enough heart or grit or hustle, but I think everyone, casual fan, stat head, and Joe Morgan alike can agree that the Rangers are definitely not playing the right way. At least that goofball Mench is out of here.
Whittleman had a nice night, 2 for 5 with 2 homers.
Ken Rosenthal says that the Nationals are looking at Elijah Dukes. As much as people are complaining about Dukes in the diary to the right, I can't imagine anything but that there are going to be a number of suitors, when all is said and done.