Going for the sweep today...life as a Ranger fan is pretty good right now...
Jeff Miller's game story captures the mood of a Ranger team that feels good about what they are doing, but still have improvements to make.
Jeff Wilson notes that the third sellout crowd of 2009 saw Brandon McCarthy struggle with his mechanics in the first, but ultimately give the Rangers 6 solid innings.
One of the things that I was glad to see was McCarthy leaving after 6 with a 10-1 lead at 87 pitches. Coming off the longest outing of his career, and with a big lead, there was no need to push McCarthy any farther...one of the things I worry about with the "work deeper" edict is if we're going to see guys consistently pushed to high pitch counts even in situations where the game is out of reach. But the fact that Ron Washington made the move when he did gives me some reassurance that the workloads are being managed in a pragmatic fashion.
Evan Grant points out that the Rangers have an ERA of 3.51 in the month of May -- since 1994, the only time the Rangers have had a lower ERA for a full month is May 2005. That, of course, was the last time the Rangers were 10 games over .500, and the Rangers followed that strong month up by falling flat on their face and finishing well out of the race. Here's hoping 2009 is different.
Derek Holland is staying in the rotation for now, although his next appearance won't be until Saturday in Boston. Holland is available to pitch in relief today.
Randy Galloway has a "be careful what you wish for" column up today, regarding the Rangers ownership situation. He's long pushed for Tom Hicks to sell, but with that possibility now seemingly turning into reality, Galloway is concerned that if Nolan Ryan doesn't end up fronting the new ownership group, he could end up leaving the organization.
It is a column worth reading...Galloway indicates that MLB is pushing behind the scenes for Hicks to get this resolved quickly, and it is certainly sounding like, at this point, there are two serious contenders: David McDavid and Nolan Ryan. McDavid, of course, has the case and as Hicks indicates, isn't likely to be out-bid. Ryan would have to get partners to put together financing, and that takes time. At this point, McDavid looks like the favorite to end up with the team.
Phil Rogers suggests that Mark Cuban could make a run at the Rangers, but I think that's been pretty well shot down.