Happy Birthday, Andy Roddick

On this first day of the U.S. Open, a birthday wish goes out to Andy Roddick, who is off to a good start after a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Frechman Stephane Robert on Monday.

Wilson Gets It Done: Rangers 3 Royals 0

C.J. Wilson is the Rangers’ most dependable pitcher right now. He played the stopper role again Monday, shutting out a team that – honestly, the Rangers should have no trouble leaving scoreless.

The Royals are a team that is 21 games below .500 and the lineup is without five of its Opening Day starters – either because they’ve been traded or have been bitten by the injury bug.

So, unlike much of the Rangers’ rotation lately, Wilson successfully executed what was expected. He needed only 44 pitches to get through the third through seventh innings after a second inning that featured two walks forced him to throw 45 pitches in the first two frames. Wilson also walked two in the sixth, but seemed angry at himself after it happened and was able to quickly snap back into gear.

The guy who had to fight to become a starter threw 110 pitches in 7 2/3 innings, struck out six and now has an ERA below 3.00 at 2.88. He was just solidly good.

Offensively, the Rangers weren’t at their best, leaving nine men on base, but the Royals never put up a fight. Royals starter Kyle Davies deserves some credit, going 8 1/3 innings, striking out six of his own and allowing one walk to Josh Hamilton, who blopped in two soft singles and increased his average to .359.

Although it was enough tonight, I still need to see the offense connect more before the playoff push. Nelson Cruz can help with that.

Happy birthday to Cliff Lee, who heads to the mound Tuesday.

Dallas Too Good For Texas: Athletics 5 Rangers 0

The above headline pretty much sums it up. Athletics starter Dallas Braden, who threw a perfect game May 9, brought some of his best stuff to the mound again. While he wasn’t perfect, he only allowed the Rangers four hits and walked no one in the 120-pitch complete-game shutout that muted a sellout crowd in Arlington.

The four Rangers hits each came in separate innings, which made it impossible to get anything going. For the record, Jorge Cantu doubled in the second, Josh Hamilton had an infield hit in the fourth, second baseman Alex Cora singled in his first game with the team in the eighth, and Elvis Andrus led off the ninth with a single.

Braden only stuck out one batter, but his strategy based on weak contact worked

Rangers’ starter Rich Harden continued to struggle with bouts of inconsistency. In his 4 1/3 innings, he gave up an RBI single in the first, had a 1-2-3 second, surrendered a 2-run shot in the third and delivered a 1-2-3 fourth before allowing three consecutive baserunners to reach with one out in the fifth. His final line reads like this: eight hits, four earned runs, two walks and two strikeouts.

Frank Francisco had to go on the disabled list with inflammation in his right ribcage muscle but no tear. Derek Holland, called up from AAA, took his spot in the bullpen and was immediately used as the long man Saturday. Holland came through in a big way, pitching 4 2/3 innings and allowing one run to complete the game after Harden left.

With the loss, the Rangers are 8 ½ games ahead of the Athletics in the AL West. On Sunday, Colby Lewis opposes Gio Gonzalez and tries to get his 10th win of the season for the eighth time. (Yes, you read that right!)

Vlad is Back: Rangers 4 Twins 3

After the Twins tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the sixth, Vladimir Guerrero stepped to the plate to lead off the bottom of the inning, and with one swing of the bat, gave the Rangers a 4-3 lead on a shot to left field.

Guerrero also had an RBI single in the third inning to score the third run, and his batting average is back up to .300 The first runs came on a Josh Hamilton homer in the first, his 30th of the season,

Now the mission was clear: Protect the one-run lead and get C.J. Wilson his 13th victory of the season. Managing much like a playoff game, Ron Washington used five guys out of the bullpen to get the final nine outs. Rookie Michael Kirkman was first in line, pitching the seventh. He achieved two groundouts and a popout and surrendered his first hit, a harmless single by Joe Mauer. Kirkman debuted in the big leagues Saturday, striking out the first three Orioles he faced. In the eighth, Darren O’Day and Darren Oliver each struck out the one batter they faced. Alexi Ogando fanned his two hitters, I can say the O’s were definitely getting K’s.

With Frank Francisco and Neftali Feliz unavailable, Matt Harrison notched just his second career save. The Rangers go for the seep Thursday night with Cliff Lee on the mound.

Happy 22nd birthday to Elvis Andrus today!

Harden Allows No Hits: Rangers 4 Twins 0

Rich Harden asked Ron Washington to start Matt Treanor at catcher Monday. The pair had a good outing at AAA earlier this week when both players were on rehab assignments.

As the battery for the Rangers on Monday, the two clicked and delivered a sparkling performance that gave the team an opportunity to achieve something that has only happened nine times in team history and hasn’t been witnessed in seven years in Major League Baseball: a combined no-hiter.

Harden went to too many full counts but always seemed to execute the shutdown pitch. The crowd booed as Washington came to the mound at the 6 2/3 inning mark, but Harden’s long at-bats, five walks and 111 pitches prevented him from going all the way in the game. Matt Harrison and Darren O’Day pitched hitless ball in relief of Harden, who still needs to prove he can deliver consistently.

The no-hitter disappeared when three-time batting champion Joe Mauer singled just beyond a diving Elvis Andrus with one out in the ninth off closer Neftali Feliz.

New owner and team president Nolan Ryan knows how that feels.

Wilson Gets Rangers A Needed Win: Rangers 2 Orioles 0

With the team in a four-game skid coming into this game, C.J. Wilson is one of those guys you want to see on the mound. He’s focused, unrelenting and tough on himself.

Well, I hope his performance Friday lived up to his standards. It was one of his best of the season in which Wilson has consistently been very good. Wearing gray uniforms in Baltimore instead of his usual pick of blue on the road, Wilson pitched 8 2/3 innings, struck out a career-high 12 batters and walked one on 118 pitches. If it wasn’t for a double in the ninth, he probably would have his second complete game of the year.

Most of the strikeouts came during a mid-to-late stretch in the game where the 29-year-old fanned seven of 11 hitters. The Orioles took exception to the strike zone of home plate umpire Jeff Nelson, leading to the eventual ejection of right fielder Nick Markakis in the sixth and new manager Buck Showalter in the eighth. Markakis was called out on strikes three times in three at-bats.

Despite the offensive struggles highlighted by getting swept in Tampa Bay and shut out for just the second time all season in the first game at Camden Yards, the Rangers got just enough offense Friday to complement the excellent pitching.

Moreland homered in the second for a 1-0 lead. While Josh Hamilton, recently in a 1-for-16 spin (for him), knocked in the second run in the seventh, while going 2 for 5. Hitting .354, Hamilton continues to lead the Majors in batting average by 14 points.

With the final out, Neftali Feliz recorded his 30th save of 2010, but his first for the month of August.

It was TCU product Jake Arrieta’s turn for the Orioles. Going 6 2/3 innings, he gave up two runs (1 earned), struck out three and walked three.

Giving Up Big Inning Hurts Rangers Again: Rays 6 Rangers 4

For the first four innings, Monday’s contest between the Rangers and Rays was definitely classified as a pitchers’ duel. Cliff Lee allowed one single through four while striking out six batters, half of them accounting for all the outs in the fourth inning, This year’s All-Star game starter, the Rays’ David Price, surrendered two hits and recorded five strikeouts through four innings.

But things began to get more complicated in the bottom of the fifth. Lee very, very, very uncharacteristically walked Carlos Pena – his first walk to a lefty all season and only his 10th overall. Did I mention it’s the middle of August! But walks hurt even the top guys. Pena would come around to score the first of two Rays’ runs in the frame, an inning in which the former Cy Young winner looked human. After the walk came a single, a sacrifice bunt and a two-RBI single,

While holding the Rays in check, the Rangers did their part to eventually take the lead with two runs in the seventh and another duce in the eighth. The Rangers take 4-2 lead into the bottom of the eighth.

Then Rangers’ team and fans were reminded that even ace pitchers leading statistical categories are hittable and second, that the Rays a team of division-leading talent. Through simply making contact and some miscommunication from Joaquin Arias and Andres Blanco, four runs crossed the plate. The Rangers; lead evaporated into a victory for the Rays.

To be a playoff team, the No. 1 aspect of the game the Rangers need to work on is not allowing the big inning.

Rangers Outlast Red Sox in Finale: Rangers 7 Red Sox 3

• C.J, Wilson went 7 2/3 innings in 100 degree heat, walking just one and striking out eight.
• With Josh Hamilton at DH, Julio Borbon displayed both his bunting and center field skills Sunday. Borbon had a beautiful two-out bunt single to second base for an RBI, another single in the eighth and a possible homerun-saving catch on Ryan Kalish up against the wall in the top of that inning.
• In his second consecutive start, Taylor Teagarden proved he can execute fundamentals with sacrifice bunts in the second and eighth that led to the Rangers scoring.·
• Michael Young gave the Rangers a 5-0 lead on what turned out to be a huge three-run homer in the seventh, considering Pedro Strop would surrender three runs in the top of the eighth.
• Chuck Greenberg partook in some hot chocolate thanks to Josh Lewin’s bet that he would give anyone who drank some a $1. The new ownership group lowered prices Friday on parking as well as some food and merchandise items.

Rangers' Sale Complete

The drama is finally over! The sale of the Texas Rangers to a group headed by sports attorney Chuck Greenberg and Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan was approved by Major League Baseball and the other owners Thursday morning.

The Greenberg-Ryan bid of $593 million beat out a group led by Mark Cuban and Jim Crane in an auction that began on August 4 and continued into the early morning hours. At the time the Greenberg-Ryan team was submitting its final bid, Michael Young connected on a very timely grand slam to put the Rangers ahead of the Mariners.

At least there is some good news after the Rangers' abysmal loss to the Yankees on Wednesday night.

Small Ball Enough for the A’s: Athletics 3 Rangers 2

The game ended with Ron Washington’s favorite score posted on the scoreboard. Unfortunately, the Rangers were on the wrong end of a 3-2 game Sunday.

On a combination of infield hits and sacrifice flys, the offensively-challenged A’s squeezed one out against the division-leading Rangers. After losing the last two contests, the Rangers’ lead in the American League West is now 7 ½ games.

Colby Lewis drew the A’s young ace, Trevor Cahill, for the fourth time this season. That only happens in intra-division games where in the AL West, the teams play each other 19 games per year. This game remained scoreless through five innings until the Rangers finally broke through in the sixth against Cahill, the owner of the lowest opponents’ batting average in the league. But of course, that doesn’t scare Josh Hamilton, who doubled to score Elvis Andrus, who reached first on an error by his A’s counterpart, Cliff Pennington. The heads-up Hamilton reached third on a separate miscue in left field by Rajai Davis. He scored on a sacrifice fly by Nelson Cruz, and the Rangers went ahead 2-0.

In the sixth, Lewis finally cracked after skirting around baserunners in every inning to that point. Kevin Kouzmanoff doubled to start the inning, but the next batter, Mark Ellis, advanced him to third with one out and Davis hit a sacrifice fly.

Darren Oliver came out of the bullpen for the seventh. From the bottom of the order, Pennington led off with a single and crossed home plate on Coco Crisp’s double. A sacrifice bunt put Crisp at third before bringing him home on yet another sacrifice fly by Kurt Suzuki, the leading hitter for the A’s.

Darren O’Day finished the game, and Oliver took the loss and Cahill the win.

Harden Reverts Back To Past: Athletics 6 Rangers 2

The million dollar question Saturday: Which Rich Harden will pitch today – the one who pitched seven innings on a more than manageable pitch count during his first start off the disabled list or the often erratic pitcher who is hurt by walks and struggles to close out hitters?

Unfortunately, the answer was the latter. Despite drawing the Athletics in Oakland – a place with which he is very familiar after spending the 2003 -2007 seasons with the A’s. On May 3, he had by far his best start of the season there. On Saturday, Harden threw 65 pitches in just 2 1/3 innings, allowing three runs and five walks, which accounted for most of the base runners. He walked three in the first inning alone.

In relief, Scott Feldman, who was recently demoted to the bullpen, allowed three runs on three hits in 4 2/3 innings. Alexi Ogando pitched a scoreless eighth in 6-2 loss. Taylor Teagarden homered in the eighth for his third homer against the A’s and second in two days in very limited big league action.

The Rangers still maintain an 8 ½-game lead in the American League West. Colby Lewis faces Trevor Cahill on Sunday.

A Weekend Wrap Up

• Rich Harden returned to the mound Saturday, giving up one run in seven innings and keeping his pitch count in the 70’s. – a welcome change from the high numbers that had hindered his success. To make room for Harden, the Rangers opted to put Scott Feldman in the bullpen.
• Cliff Lee deserves more run support – The Rangers only scored one run for Lee Sunday afternoon in a 4-1 complete game loss. This time. The Angels took two out of three. The Rangers have not scored more than three runs for Lee in his first five starts with the team.
• The Rangers acquired infielders Jorge Cantu and Cristian Guzman to fill an infield that now features no Ian Kinsler (DL) or Chris Davis (sent to AAA).
• Jarrod Saltalamacchia was traded Saturday – three years to the day after he was the centerpiece of the Mark Teixeira trade to the Braves. In the deal, the Rangers got Elvis Andrus, Neftali Feliz and Matt Harrison. Need I say more?