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Rockies 9, Rangers 2
- At a certain point, when a team is playing badly, losses all tend to run together, all tend to blend into one enormous ball of suck. You think, now, which game was this, the one where Colby Lewis got rocked, or the one where Robbie Ross got rocked? The one where Elvis Andrus made a key error, or the one where Leonys Martin made a key error? The one where the Rangers scored just one run, or scored just two run? Right now, that's what it feels like...the games are all bad, and the Rangers are performing poorly in all phases of the game.
- Colby Lewis gave up 7 runs on 12 hits in 3.2 innings. 12 of the 22 hitters Colby faced got a hit. While not all of the balls were hard hit, enough of them were that it doesn't really matter that some that weren't crushed fell in. Colby Lewis doesn't have the stuff to succeed without having very good command and location, and he had neither tonight. From the first batter, he was leaving balls up, and the Rockies smacked him around.
- Scott Baker, called up today because the Rangers needed a long reliever, was pressed into duty immediately, being brought in in the fourth inning. He got into the swing of things right away by allowing a pair of runs in the fifth, then shut down the Rockies the rest of the way, so at least the rest of the pen got a day off.
- The Rangers sent Daniel Robertson down to make room for Baker, but he might be losing his spot tomorrow despite his solid performance today, as Donnie Murphy went down while trying to beat out a two-out, bases loaded ground ball in the 6th. John Blake said he had a neck strain, and if he's not available, the Rangers bench consists of whichever catcher isn't starting and whichever one of Mitch Moreland or Michael Choice isn't starting. If Murphy is on the sidelines just a day or two, Luis Sardinas could come back up, and either Baker or Nick Martinez would likely be sent back down. If Murphy is going on the d.l., either Ryan Rua or Rougned Odor -- like Sardinas, infielders for Frisco -- would seem likely to get the nod.
- Adrian Beltre hit a home run. Michael Choice had two hits. The only other two batters to get a hit were Elvis Andrus and Leonys Martin. There's really nothing good to say about the offense right now.
- Oh, and Robinson Chirinos threw a ball into center field on one stolen base attempt, and allowed a stolen base on a pitchout. And Leonys airmailed a throw home for another error. So there's that.
- Still, as bad as this team is playing, they are just 17-17. Their performance to date would suggest that record should be a lot worse. So, an optimistic way of looking at it is that the team has survived with a .500 record despite playing very poorly, and are in decent position for when they turn it around.
- Which hopefully will be tomorrow, when I attend my first game of the season.