Like Ron Burgundy, this series against the Royals is kind of a big deal. A sweep by the Rangers, and they are two games over .500, they have a 4 game winning streak head out on the road, people are going to be feeling good about things.
If the Rangers get swept, and in particular if they get swept while making bad decisions on the basepaths and playing poor defense, the Ron Washington Ax Watch will be working double-shifts. I really think an ugly series against the Royals could lead to Jackie Moore managing this team next week when they get to Toronto.
Anthony Andro says that, despite the bullpen having three members posting double-digit ERAs (not counting Warner Madrigal, whose 13.50 is in Oklahoma now), there are some signs of life out there, with Frankie Francisco being the most prominent bright spot.
Jeff Wilson has a Rangers mailbag up, that includes questions on the possibility of dealing a catcher to Boston, the relief situation, Chris Davis's slump, and the possibility of guys in the minors right now getting put into the rotation.
Davis having a couple of big games this week seems to have quieted the talk down, but I'm still amazed at the amount of "maybe we need to bench/send down Davis" talk his slow start generated.
Wilson also talks to John Hart about the Nick Adenhart tragedy, and how the Indians dealt with a similar situation when Steve Olin and Tim Crews were killed in a boating accident during spring training in 1993.
Brett Perryman has a write-up on the Frisco game, including his observations on Kasey Kiker, over at the DMN blog.
Richard Durrett talks to Willie Eyre about his return to the majors.
And T.R. Sullivan has some bloggy notes up this morning.