Rangers Win a Close One 6-5 Against Division Leading Mariners

Rangers closer Frank Francisco (right) celebrates with catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia (left) after Francisco closed out ninth inning.
The Rangers increased their record to 13-12 on the season and are now just 1.5 games behind Seattle for the division lead.


This game was a pitcher's duel for the first 4 innings as Kevin Millwood retired the first 12 batters he faced and Felix Hernandez allowed no runs through 3 innings. Hernandez came into the game at 4-0 with a 2.28 ERA and a 2-game, 15 inning consecutive streak without allowing a run, in which he also had 16 strikeouts. Millwood came into the game at 2-2 with a 2.13 ERA. The game was scoreless through 3.

Things changed in the top of the 4th as the Rangers offense broke out. Rangers 3rd baseman Michael Young led off the inning with a single. DH Hank Blalock knocked a double off the wall in left center field and Young scored making it 1-0 Rangers. Center fielder Marlon Byrd came up to bat next and hit a single to center field which scored Blalock from 2nd and increased Texas' lead to 2-0. Right fielder Nelson Cruz followed up with another single to put runners on 1st and 2nd with 0 outs. Seattle pitcher Feliz Hernandez regained his composure and immediately got left fielder David Murphy to fly out to left field, and then got consecutive strikeouts on 1b Chris Davis and Jarrod Saltalamacchia to end the inning.

The Rangers got it going again in the top of the fifth after Millwood pitched a perfect bottom of the 4th. 2b Ian Kinsler began the inning with a strikeout, but then shortstop Elvis Andruws crushed the ball to left. Michael Young (aka Mr. Clutch) came up to bat and nailed a hanging slider over the right field wall (about 8 rows deep) to give the Rangers a 4-0 lead. Hernandez ended the inning with back-to-back strikeouts of Hank Blalock and Nelson Cruz.

Kevin Millwood began the bottom of the 5th with a 4-0 lead and had gotten 12 consecutive Mariner batters out, he would not be able to say the same when the inning was completed. Millwood's fastball through the first 4 innings was consistently between 92-94 mph. His fastball to begin the 5th was between 88-90 mph; which allowed Seattle to get back into the game. Millwood's pitch count was only at 39 to begin the 5th, so fatigue was not the issue. Seattle first baseman Russell Branyon led off the inning and Millwood did what he hadn't been doing all night: get behind in the count, Millwood had been consistently throwing first pitch strikes all night. After seeing the first 2 balls, fouling the next off, and then taking another ball; Branyon took a 3-1 pitch deep to right field for a homer, putting Seattle on the board with the Rangers still ahead 4-1. Millwood got Seattle 3b Adrian Beltre to fly out to left and then allowed a double to 2b Jose Lopez and a double to catcher Kenji Johjima to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. The very next batter, OF Franklin Gutierrez, smoked the first pitch he saw to deep left for a 3-run home run; tying the score at 4-4. Millwood threw another first pitch ball to shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt, but luckily got him to fly out on the next pitch. He threw 2 straights balls to Ichiro before Suzuki tripled down the 3rd base line. Millwood then got ahead of OF Endy Chavez 0-2 and then got a groundout to 2nd to end the inning.

Good news for the Rangers though, their offense is pretty damn good. After a Nelson Cruz groundout to begin the 6th, David Murphy singled to right field. Chris Davis came up to bat next and hit a home run into right field that put the Rangers up for good at 6-5. Hernandez then got Jarrod Saltalamacchia to strike out for the 3rd consecutive time in the game and Ian Kinsler to fly out to center. This was the end of Felix Hernandez' night as he went 6 innings and allowed 10 hits, 6 runs, and got 9 strikeouts for the game.

Kevin Millwood allowed a leadoff double to Mike Sweeney in the bottom of the sixth but then retired the next 3 batters, getting out of the inning.

Sean White relived Feliz Hernandez for the top of the 7th and got the first 2 batters he faced on ground outs before walking Hank Blalock and getting Marlon Byrd to strike out swinging to end the inning.

Millwood began the bottom of the 7th inning getting a ground out to the shortstop from Kenji Johjima but then allowing a single to Franklin Gutierrez . Yuniesky Betancourt followed with another single to put runners on the corners with 1 out. Ichiro Suzuki followed with a slow hit ground ball to Rangers 2b Ian Kinsler who quickly tossed the ball to shortstop Elvis Andruws at second base then Andruws quickly threw the ball to first but Ichiro hauled some serious ass down the first base line and was safe. Gutierrez scored on the play making it 6-5 Rangers. After Suzuki stole second, Endy Chavez grounded out to end the inning.

Nelson Cruz began the eighth for Texas with a ground out to first base. David Murphy followed with a walk but was caught trying to steal second after he stumbled coming out of his break from 1st. Chris Davis grounded out to end the inning.

Kevin Millwood stayed in for the eighth inning as he had only threw 78 pitches going into the inning. After a 9 pitch at-bat that culminated in a Mike Sweeney ground out to third, Millwood was done for the night. He pitched 7.1 innings allowing 5 runs on 8 hits. C.J. Wilson came into the game and got Russell Branyon, who had hit a home run in the 5th, to fly out to left. Then it was up to Frank Francisco to get the next 4 outs to win it for the Rangers.

Francisco came into the game tied for the longest consecutive scoreless streak to begin the season in Texas Rangers history with 11 straight games and 0.00 ERA. He also led the American League in saves at 7 coming into the game. After getting up on Adrian Beltre in the count at 0-2, Francsico got Beltre to pop out deep to center which ended the eigth inning.

Denny Stark relieved Sean White for the top of the ninth and got the Rangers 9th, 1st, and 2nd hitters in order.

Frank Francisco came back out for the bottom of the ninth to close it out for the Rangers. He got the first hitter he saw, Jose Lopez, on the second pitch of the inning to fly out to center. Then came the play of the night and a play in which Seattle Mariner fans will be complaining about for a while. Kenji Johjima came up to bat with 1 out in the bottom of the ninth. After 2 consecutive balls, Johjima crushed the ball to the outfield grass between shortstop and 3rd where Elvis Andruws completely laid out and dove for the ball trapping it in his glove. Andruws rose to one knee and threw the ball to first, the instant replay looked as though the play at first was extremely close. Further replays showed that while the play was close, Rangers first baseman Chris Davis might not have had his foot on the bag the whole time. It might not have been legit, but damn what an outstanding play by the rookie Andruws at second. This was huge for the Rangers as it gave them 2 outs for the inning and the next batter, Franklin Gutierrez, singled to right field. Then in an odd turn of events, Frank Francisco (who had only walked 1 batter in 11 outings) walked Yuniesky Betancourt (who hadn't walked the entire season in 93 at bats) to put runners at 1st and 2nd for lead off hitter Ichiro Suzuki. Luckily for the Rangers, Ichiro swung at the first pitch he saw and hit a soft liner to center field, ending the game.
Rangers win 6-5.

News and Notes:

• This was Francisco's AL leading 8th save of the season and he now has the Ranger record with 12 outings to open the season without allowing a run.
• Michael Young's home run in the 5th inning was his 7th of the season. Young had 12 all of last year and only 9 in 2007.
• Kevin Millwood allowed 5 runs on the night, but he is still 5th in the AL in ERA at 2.78.
• David Murphy was caught stealing in the 8th inning, it was only the 3rd time all season that the Rangers have been caught on a steal attempt.
• The Rangers hit 2 home runs for the game (Young, Davis) and are still leading the Majors with 44 home runs.
  
• Texas closes out their brief 2 game series with the Mariners tomorrow at 3:40 pm central.
  

Lebron James Wins NBA MVP

Lebron James was named the MVP for the NBA today. James averaged 28.4 points, (2nd in the NBA) 7.6 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.69 steals, and 1.15 blocks per game while shooting 48% from the field. He received 109 of the 121 possible 1st place votes which gave him 1,172 points. Kobe Bryant (698 points) was second in the voting, followed by Dwyane Wade (680 points), Dwight Howard (328 points), and Chris Paul (192).

It is the first MVP for Lebron James and he is also the 3rd youngest to receive the award at 24 years of age and the youngest since Moses Malone in 1978. James is also the seventh player in NBA history to win a Rookie of the Year and an MVP in their career. He is also the first ever Cleveland Cavalier to receive the honor. Cleveland won 66 games during the regular season (66-16) and went 39-2 at home. James also leads the playoffs in scoring at 32 ppg.

Mavericks Keep it Close Early, Lose Big Late 109-95

Dirk Nowitzki complains to the referee after being called for a foul in the third quarter. The Nuggets were 25-36 from the free throw line, Dallas was 9-13.

The Dallas Mavericks laid an egg in the second and fourth quarters' of this one, as they were outscored 35-23 in the 2nd and 27-20 in the fourth. Their inability to hold onto the ball also led to their demise as they committed 20 turnovers as a team, the Mavericks were 5th fewest in the NBA in turnovers for the regular season at 12.7 per.

Denver's defensive philosophy towards Dirk Nowitzki didn't work as he went off for 28 points on 12-22 shooting. Although he consistently went to the basket the entire game, Dirk only had 4 trips to the free throw line to show for it. He also had 10 rebounds 4 assists 2 steals and a block for the game. Jason Terry, Jason Kidd, and Josh Howard each scored 15 points and the Mavericks did shoot 48% for the game. Unfortunately for Dallas, Denver shot 54%.

3 Keys to a Blowout Loss:

1. Interior Defense: After Erick Dampier came down with an ankle injury in the first quarter, he was largely ineffective for the rest of the game. Ryan Hollins came into the game and although he had OK stats (6 boards and 6 points) he looked lost out there. Brandon Bass gave just about nothing off the bench as he had 2 points and 2 rebounds in 14 minutes. None of these three had an answer for Denver center Nene as he had a career playoff high with 24 points on nearly 70% shooting for the night to lead the Nuggets in scoring. As a team, Denver had 40 points in the paint through 3 quarters and ended the game with 52. That's almost half of their total points (109) for the game going to the basket. If the Mavericks want to get out of the second round of the playoffs they are going to have to stop penetration that lead to easy baskets.
   
2. Jason Kidd: Kidd did have 15 points and 4 assists but was far too careless with the ball and committed a Mavericks playoff record 8 turnovers. His sloppy play led to Dallas having 20 turnover's and Denver scoring 25 points off those turnovers. If Dallas wants to win this series they have to be able to expect that their veteran PG can hold onto the ball. On a good note, Kidd did give Billups some problems on the defensive end as he only shot 2-8 from the field and had 4 turnovers himself.
   
3. Role Players: Aside from Dirk, J-Ho, J-Kidd and Jason Terry who combined for 73 points; the rest of the Mavericks team (7 players) combined for 22 points. This is completely the opposite of how these players (Barea, Dampier, and Bass specifically) played against San Antonio. Barea started the game again for the Mavericks but was held in check with 4 points and 5 assists. These players need to step up if Dallas hopes to even the series tomorrow night.
   

There are plenty of excuses the Mavericks can use after this game 1 loss in Denver: It was on the road, J-Ho and Damp went out early with injuries and then were mostly ineffective upon return, the free throw shooting disparity, etc. But the truth is the Mavericks lost this game because of poor ballhandling, careless passes, and overall sloppy play. Although the final score tells a different story, the Mavericks had plenty of chances to win this game. There were 9 ties and 10 leads changes throughout, so I don't see Dallas hanging their collective heads in the locker room. The Mavs know this series is long from over and as I have always felt, the series doesn't start until somebody wins on the road. I'm sure Dallas hopes this series will start on Tuesday.

Dallas Cowboys' Bubble Bursted?

ESPN has proof of that crazy DFW weather.



(UPDATE: 5 people injured.)

Best Playoff Series Ever?

The 1st round series between the Chicago Bulls and the Boston Celtics has been riveting television. These two almost completely evenly matched teams have left it all out on the court for 6 games. The final chapter of this unbelievable series comes to an end tonight. Game 7 is at 7:00pm.

Series notes:

• This series has already had 4 games go into overtime, an NBA record. The previous record was 2 games.
• The series has had 7 total overtime periods which is another NBA record.
• 5 of the 6 games played have been decided by 3 points or less, an NBA record.
• The series has had 106 lead changes and 65 ties.

(UPDATE: The thrill is gone, Celtics take game 7 109-99. Ray Allen had 23 and Paul Pierce had 20 to lead Boston to a first round victory. The Celtics also held the Bulls to 39% shooting for the game. The C's have won the battle but Chicago is a young team with a great PG who will be contending for years to come. Derrick Rose = Jason Kidd with a jump shot.)