Well, so much for a sweep of Oakland, although you can't complain too much about a 3-3 road trip.
Didn't see the game, but in the game day thread, Kevin Millwood was catching a lot of flak for his 4 run 2nd. Evan Grant has a different spin on it, though, indicating that a bad call on the force play at second and a very inconsistent strike zone made the inning worse than it should have been, and Grant has some praise for Millwood for settling down and keeping the Rangers in the game.
Grant also points out that, since Kam Loe's return from the minors, when he went up against the Pirates on June 14, the rotation ERA is 4.06. Not bad...
Grant also has some injury updates...Jason Botts lost a fingernail and fractured the tip of his ring finger a couple of days ago, which is what landed him on the disabled list, although it doesn't sound like it should keep him out for too long. Botts laments that the injury "kind of ruins my dream of being a hand model."
Also from Grant, Akinori Otsuka is to be examined today by Dr. Keith Meister, the team orthopedist, although it sounds like he'll almost definitely be going to the d.l., with Wes Littleton coming back up to take his place.
With the Rangers needed to bring up a starter for Tuesday's doubleheader, it seems to make sense to d.l. Otsuka now, call up Littleton, then send Littleton back down between games on Tuesday to make room for either John Rheinecker or Mike Wood, the two candidates to be called up for the start. Then, if Otsuka is ready to go Wednesday, he can take the spot of whichever of those guys was called up for the start.
Vicente Padilla will start for Frisco tomorrow, if his bullpen session goes well today, and Grant says that if the rehab start goes okay, he'll probably re-join the Ranger rotation. Jamey Wright and Robinson Tejeda would be the guys in danger, with Tejeda, who has gotten progressively worse the past couple of months, seemingly destined for a trip to Oklahoma.
And finally, Grant says that Ian Kinsler is hoping to be activated from the d.l. on July 27. I'm ready to see him back...
Grant also reports that Michael Young will miss the next two games, as he will be in Los Angeles for his wife's grandmother's funeral.
T.R. Sullivan reports that Sammy Sosa is supporting Barry Bonds, despite the steroid controversy that is swirling around him. Shocking, I know...