I was a bit nervous about CJ Wilson coming into this game. Too many people were saying how this game is one that the Rangers should not have a problem winning, with CJ sporting 15 wins this year, and the pitcher formerly known as Big Game James Shields on the mound as his opponent. Shields had struggled throughout September, but pitched great against the Rangers back in mid-August. If this was football, they'd call a set up like that a "trap game."
However, it looks like the analysts were right. CJ goes out there and allows only 2 hits, the lead off single in the 1st, then the double that Aybar hit just past Hamilton's reach at the wall in the 7th. He was dominant. There was concern that he would not be able to stop the Rays running game, since runners steal pretty well against him, but he neutralized that by not letting them get on base. There was also concern about his walk total this year, which lead the league. But CJ was around the plate all day, and walks were not an issue.
Give credit again to the Rangers catcher, this time Matt Treanor, for calling a great game for Wilson and keeping his head in the game when it looked like he was about to let it slip. Treanor had a good game at the plate, though not getting any hits. Shields hit Treanor in the back twice in a row to lead off innings in which the Rangers would score. Solid effort, even if it was just sticking his last name out there to get nailed.
Michael Young came through with a big hit, a 3-run homer in the 5th that came right after it was ruled he checked his swing on the previous pitch. The Rays went nuts, saying it should have been strike 3, but it was a border line call.
And on that note, if you've got Young almost swinging for strike 3 on the 2-2 pitch on a slider down and away, why not throw it in that area again for the 3-2 pitch? The fastball down the middle didn't work out too well for Chad Qualls.
Another solid effort by the Double Darrens, this time to close out the game. They did a great job of combining with Wilson to extinguish the one Rays threat in the 7th, then Oliver buzzed through the 8th and 9th without any problems.
So we go back to Arlington, up 2-0, with a chance to close it out on Saturday at 4:00 PM with Colby Lewis against Matt Garza. It's a game the Rays need to win, and probably should win if you look purely at the pitching match up. But that might be a challenge for the Rays, who are frustrated, pointing fingers at teammates and coaches, and have only managed 1 run on 8 hits in 18 innings.
It's baseball, so anything can happen, and I haven't gotten my broom out of the closet yet, but this is the best position the Rangers have ever been in during a playoff series.
So far, so good.
I'd like to toss my .02 in on the Mike Young "check swing" issue. I've heard a lot of complaining about this call and how we need replay in baseball and all that junk. Here's the thing, thats a judgment call for the umps, there aren't any really concrete rules to follow in that situation, so they made the call they felt was right with the info they had. Does this rule need to be revisited, maybe, but I strongly disagree with everybody screaming for replay. That will drasticly change the face of the game, which I'm not for. Had the shoe been on the other foot with the Rangers down by 3, yeah I'd be hollaring too, believe me, but even if it is called strike 3, the Rangers were still up by 3 and still held the Rays to 0, the 3 extra runs from Youngs homer were great, but when your opponent can't score any runs, you really only need 1. I heard a guy on ESPN radio this morning talking about this, his point was that this stuff happens in baseball and the really good teams know how to take advantage of it and use it to thier advantage. Mike Young, being the player he is, did just that. Ok, rant over, I'm just glad to be watching my team in the post season and having something to talk about. GO RANGERS!!!!
ReplyDeleteFair point. On the issue of replay, I'm in favor of checking on blown calls that are black and white in the rulebook. Safe/out at a base, for instance. But you're right about judgment calls being hard to review.
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