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Oh, hey, runs, I'd forgotten about those! Now we'll leave Oakland no worse than tied for first, so take that Josh Reddick's beard.
Jeff Wilson says the pitching has been carrying This Thing, with Yu Darvish and Derek Holland combining for a 21-13 record and a 2.93 ERA despite sharing the league-worst will to win.
Wilson's notes column tells us that A.J. Pierzynski has been irritating opposing players for at least 100 games a season for 13 straight seasons, and that Elvis Andrus doesn't even want to watch the games because he's so frustrated about having to sit out. All of us that watched the Minnesota series can relate, Elvis.
T.R. Sullivan's Notebook plays up the tension as to who will be starting Sunday, with Tepesch and Blackley and "someone else" being mentioned as candidates by Ron Washington. We also learn that Leonys Martin got a day off after a Hamiltonesque 1-5 with four strikeouts on Monday, and that David Murphy is aware he's had a terrible season.
Evan Grant says that the Rangers are resetting the rotation for the stretch run, which will allow Perez, Holland and Darvish to face the A's next week and would put Darvish on track to start the first playoff game (if it happens).
Todd Wills tells us that Washington could have rushed Elvis back into the lineup last night, but felt it was better to give him an extra day with today's day game.
Eric Gilmore has a notes roundup that touches on Pierzynski's catching milestone and says that Joey Gallo will receive the Joe Bauman Award for Pornographic Power.
Finally, here's a story called Bartleby, the Scrivener, which was written by someone we typically associate with whales and being consumed with unhealthy compulsions to vengeance and homoeroticism. A guy named Scribner pitched last night, so I thought some of you might like to read the original Office Space.