Impressions from last night’s Rangers beatdown

So last night was not the high point of the Rangers season. But they’re still 13 games over .500 and still only 1.5 out of the Wild Card.

Combine Scott Feldman’s worst start in nearly a year with an already overworked bullpen and Justin Verlander at the top of his game, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.

Still, here are a few thoughts I had from my seats up in Section 313:

• Ian Kinsler could take a few hints from Omar Vizquel as a leadoff hitter. First at-bat of the game, Omar grounds out on eight pitches. That’s what I like to see from my leadoff hitter. Omar had another fine game, collecting two hits and making a sparkling defensive play in the eighth.
• Combine last night’s game with Monday’s contest, and I think I’ve seen three of the four hardest hit home runs at Rangers Ballpark this year. Andruw Jones can certainly still hit.
• Why, though, does Ron Washington insist on playing Marlon Byrd every day while Nelson Cruz sits on the bench at least once per week? I guess that’s one mystery that will remain unsolved. Tonight’s lineup will have Cruz in it – Seattle is starting Garrett Olson, a lefty, so David Murphy will probably take a seat.
• Speaking of my boy DMurph, he couldn’t have looked worse in his first three at-bats. Verlander was just blowing him away with pure gas. The one that hurt the most was the third one, as it came in the 5th inning during the middle of a Rangers rally. MY and Omar were on base, and if David and Marlon could have gotten those guys in, it would have been an 8-6 game…
• Josh Hamilton is a liability just about everywhere right now. The Tigers scored in the top of the 6th solely because of him. Hamilton let a ball drop right in front of him then air-mailed the throw on a fly ball that allowed former Ranger (and current) spare Gerald Laird to score from third. He did look better in his second and third at-bats, but Josh’s bat may be starting to affect his fielding right now.
• Guillermo Moscoso should have made the start Tuesday night. Doug Mathis has been great out of the bullpen, but I’ve read quotes saying that he’s more comfortable in that long relief role than actually being a starter. I’d be willing to bet that Moscoso is more comfortable out of that starters’ role than the long relief role he was in last night, judging by his numbers as a starter at AAA.
• According to reports, Warner Madrigal will most likely be called up today in order to relieve the pitching staff a little bit. Jason Grilli and C.J. Wilson both got last night off, and Darren O’Day could probably go an inning tonight if need be, but Derek Holland needs to string together six good innings. Warner has posted an ERA of around 2 at AAA this year, but he has yet to see any kind of major league success. Let’s hope this stint is the one where he shows a little something.
• Neftali Feliz has to be getting close to getting the call. With Matt Harrison out for the year, he could easily go on the 60-day DL and create a 40-man roster space for Neftali. I saw him once at Frisco last year, and wow. He could really help this bullpen down the stretch.
• Who else could really help this bullpen? Frank Francisco. He’s pronounced himself ready, but the club is being understandably cautious with how they handle their closer. I think Frankie should slot in as the 8th inning guy until the club knows he’s fully healthy, but that would just make things so much easier with another power arm out there.
• Ian Kinsler also hopes to be back tomorrow, but I bet Joaquin Arias stays up for another couple of days just in case.
• The crowd, especially during the 5th inning rally, was into it. More than 33,000 last night for a weeknight game against Detroit – an impressive total. People must really like $1 hot dog night. If they could only figure out how to get those crowds on Mondays and Tuesdays…
• The next eight are against Seattle and Oakland. That’s going to help. Six of the next eight needs to be the goal here. That would put the Rangers at 64-45 heading into their next series against the Angels. California (I’m protesting that name) sits at 60-40 right now, but starts a six-game road trip Friday at Minnesota and follows it up with three at Chicago. 3-3 for the Halos and 6-2 for Texas equals a meager 1.5 game deficit heading into that series.

I think the Rangers have a shot at winning the Wild Card, especially with the number of games Boston has to play inside its own division and considering they don’t look all that great right now. With a trade for Halladay, I think the Rangers even become the favorites to take the WC. California just looks unbeatable right now, and they’re only 1.5 games behind the Yanks for best record in the AL. The next four series might give the Rangers a chance to gain some ground, but the four right after that seem to be great chances for the Angels to gain it right back. I’m not saying they’re out of reach, but the Rangers have a killer road trip coming up in August (@TB, @NYY, @MIN). To have any shot at winning the division, the Rangers need to be in first place when that trip starts. Otherwise, they may simply be too far back to catch the hated Angels.