Just call Michael Young "Hansel," because he's so hot right now...
Part of what made last night's win feel so good is the fact that it is the type of game that this team, the past few years, seems like it would have lost. Vicente Padilla was getting squeezed and saw his pitch count go up early, but rather than have a meltdown and get yanked after five, he settled down and gave the Rangers 7 innings, thus keeping the soft underbelly of the bullpen from being exposed.
Michael Young made a huge defensive play. Elvis Andrus made a great play to save a run. Marlon Byrd got a key run home in the 8th by busting it down the line and getting on base on a play where he should have been out by just hustling, and then made an incredible play in the 9th to snag a long foul ball against the wall.
And you know? I'm already starting to get sad over the fact that Byrd is likely gone after this season. I like what he brings to this team.
Evan Grant talks about all the big plays made late in the game yesterday that contributed to the win.
Jeff Wilson has a quote from Ron Washington in his game story, saying that he made the decision to go with Chris Davis against George Sherrill rather than send Andruw Jones up to pinch hit because Davis is someone the team is going to be depending on to produce, and he wanted to show he has confidence in him. And personally, I don't have a big problem with that.
Wilson also has a plethora of notes up, including the news that Kris Benson is expected to be ready to be activated from the d.l. as soon as his 15 days is up, and that the Rangers aren't interested in Pedro Martinez.
T.R. Sullivan says that the Rangers are sticking with David Murphy, and have no plans to send him down to AAA.
Sullivan also says that Scott Feldman wasn't happy about getting bumped to the bullpen at the end of spring training, and is excited about getting a shot back in the rotation.
And Richard Durrett has some notes and observations from the game yesterday.