Texas Rangers

The Rangers have a rare scheduled doubleheader on Monday in Arizona. This is actually a neat idea, and I'm a little surprised more teams don't do it on holidays...I remember several years ago when the Rangers weren't even scheduled to play on Memorial Day, and now they're going to play a pair. In any case, Yu Darvish has been set to start one of the games, but the starter of the second game had been up in the air. Last night, however, the Rangers announced that Martin Perez would be starting the other game. As we have discussed, the new CBA includes a provision that allows teams to add a 26th man for most doubleheaders. The 26th player has to be active for both games. The roster has to go back down to 25 the following day. So Martin Perez will be recalled to start on Monday, although it isn't a given the Rangers will use Perez as the 26th man. For example...the Rangers could, theoretically, add Martin Perez and send someone else -- say, Ross Wolf or Joe Ortiz -- to the minors. They could then bring Cory Burns up as the 26th man, since the player brought back as the 26th man isn't subject to the 10 day waiting period after being optioned to be recalled. Then, if the Rangers wanted to keep Burns up, they could send Wolf or Ortiz -- whichever wasn't originally sent down -- to the minors the next day, getting the roster back to 25. Perez has pitched four games in the minors this year, all in May, after missing time with a broken arm in spring training that likely cost him the opportunity to be in the Opening Day rotation for the Rangers. While his first three outings weren't great, Perez went 7 innings against Reno on May 21, striking out 7, giving up 3 hits, and allowing no runs or walks. That outing apparently earned him the start on Monday over Josh Lindblom and Ross Wolf.

That was a weird game last night. T.R. Sullivan's game story is all about the "phantom double play," as he refers to it, where Justin Grimm caught a ball intended for Mitch Moreland, but the umpire thought Moreland caught it and called the runner out at first. Sullivan has quotes from Grimm and Moreland about the play. Jeff Wilson's game story also talks about the double play that really wasn't, which bailed out Grimm, who was struggling early in the game. Todd Wills has his Rapid Reaction at the ESPN Dallas blog. Evan Grant has a story about Justin Grimm relying on his sinking fastball to get ground balls when he gets into trouble. Wilson has a story on how minor league call-ups Ross Wolf and Neal Cotts have contributed this week to the Rangers' success. Sullivan's notes talk about Martin Perez starting on Monday in one of the games of the doubleheader, the status of Nick Tepesch and Alexi Ogando, Mitch Moreland hitting 2nd, Mike Olt resuming baseball activities, and Ross Wolf being the oldest starter the Rangers have had this season. The S-T's notes talk about Joe Saunders yesterday breaking a streak of righthanders starting against the Rangers and various issues relating to pitchers with Texas.

The Juice returns for season No. 6! It’s almost eligible for free-agency! Stop by daily for news from the action, along with great photos, stats, video highlights and more. Anibal Sanchez’s bid for his second career no-hitter fell just two outs short on Friday night. After retiring Jamey Carroll on a somewhat questionable strike three call to begin the ninth inning, Minnesota Twins star Joe Mauer laced a 1-1 pitch right back up the middle for a clean single, which keeps Sanchez from joining Justin Verlander, Mark Buehrle and Roy Halladay as the only active pitchers with multiple no-hitters. At least temporarily. The way he’s throwing this season, another bid is probably around the corner. ”It’s not that I go to the mound and want to do something special, it’s just that I want to go nine innings, go deeper, get a good command, get a good game,” Sanchez said. ”When I come to the eighth inning, I think about it. But when I come to the ninth inning, it’s really tough with those guys.” Much like his Friday night start back on April 26 when he struck out 17 Atlanta Braves, Sanchez had everything working against Minnesota. That was especially true during a stretch from the second inning to the seventh inning where he retired 18 straight batters. He ended up going the distance for his fourth career one-hitter , striking out 12. The outing required 130 pitches, which is sure to make a few fans uneasy, but he’s been no worse for the wear after throwing 122 in the April start. As for how Mauer felt about his latest history-breaking hit, which by the way is his third career ninth inning knock to break up a no-no attempt. ”He’s nasty, and he had everything working tonight,” Mauer said. ”Obviously, you know exactly what is happening, and you don’t want to get no-hit. I’m just up there trying to put the bat on the ball. He threw me a really good cutter and I was just able to square it up.” View full post on Yahoo! Sports – MLB – Texas Rangers News

via vagary.tv Metal Gear Solid (Japanese: メタルギアソリッド Hepburn: Metaru Gia Soriddo?, commonly abbreviated as MGS) is an action-adventure stealth video game directed by Hideo Kojima.[4] The game was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and first published by Konami in 1998 for the PlayStationvideo game console. It is the sequel to Kojima's MSX2 computer game Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. The game featured cinematic cutscenes rendered using the in-game engine and graphics, as well as voice acting in numerous codec sequences.[5] Metal Gear Solid follows Solid Snake, a soldier who infiltrates a nuclear weapons facility to neutralize the terrorist threat from FOXHOUND, a renegade special forces unit.[6] Snake must liberate two hostages, the head of DARPA and the president of a major arms manufacturer, confront the terrorists, and stop them from launching a nuclear strike.[7] Metal Gear Solid was very well received, shipping more than six million copies,[8] and scoring an average of 94/100 on the aggregate website Metacritic.[9] It is recognized by many critics as one of the best and most important games of all time,[10][11] and heralded as the game which made the stealth genre popular. The commercial success of the title prompted the release of an expanded version for the PlayStation and PC, titled Metal Gear Solid: Integral;[12] and a remake, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes was later released for the Nintendo GameCube.[13][14] The game has also spawned numerous sequels, prequelsand spin-offs, including several games, a radio drama, comics, and novels. via vagary.tv Metal Gear Solid (Japanese: メタルギアソリッド Hepburn: Metaru Gia Soriddo?, commonly abbreviated as MGS) is an action-adventure stealth video game directed by Hideo Kojima.[4] The game was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and first published by Konami in 1998 for the PlayStationvideo game console. It is the sequel to Kojima's MSX2 computer game Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. The game featured cinematic cutscenes rendered using the in-game engine and graphics, as well as voice acting in numerous codec sequences.[5] Metal Gear Solid follows Solid Snake, a soldier who infiltrates a nuclear weapons facility to neutralize the terrorist threat from FOXHOUND, a renegade special forces unit.[6] Snake must liberate two hostages, the head of DARPA and the president of a major arms manufacturer, confront the terrorists, and stop them from launching a nuclear strike.[7] Metal Gear Solid was very well received, shipping more than six million copies,[8] and scoring an average of 94/100 on the aggregate website Metacritic.[9] It is recognized by many critics as one of the best and most important games of all time,[10][11] and heralded as the game which made the stealth genre popular. The commercial success of the title prompted the release of an expanded version for the PlayStation and PC, titled Metal Gear Solid: Integral;[12] and a remake, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes was later released for the Nintendo GameCube.[13][14] The game has also spawned numerous sequels, prequelsand spin-offs, including several games, a radio drama, comics, and novels.

The revolving door to the Rangers' injury-plagued starting rotation picked up another fill-in late Friday when manager Ron Washington announced that left-hander Martin Perez would start one of the two games Monday in a doubleheader at Arizona. Perez is likely to start the first game, with Yu Darvish starting the second. Perez was the choice over right-handers Josh Lindblom, who started Monday and lost to Oakland, and Ross Wolf, who beat Oakland on Wednesday. Major-league rules allow for teams to carry a 26th player for a doubleheader, so Wolf will be in the bullpen. Perez, 22, allowed three hits in seven scoreless innings Tuesday for Triple A Round Rock. He is the Rangers' top pitching prospect and was headed toward a spot in the season-opening rotation before being struck on the arm by a line drive during a spring game March 3. He suffered a broken ulna and missed the next eight weeks. He made his major-league debut last season, going 1-4 with a 5.45 ERA. He will become the ninth different pitcher to start a game for the Rangers this season. Matt Harrison (back) and Alexi Ogando (biceps tendinitis), and Wolf filled in for Nick Tepesch on Wednesday after he was scratched with a blister on his right finger. Tepesch is expected to start Sunday. -- Jeff Wilson

The 3-6-1 double play the Rangers turned for the first two outs of the second inning should have never happened, but first-base umpire Jeff Nelson wrongly thought Mitch Moreland had caught a throw from Elvis Andrus in time to put out Jesus Sucre. The problem for Nelson and the Mariners was that pitcher Justin Grimm, standing well off the base, caught the ball. Brendan Ryan followed with a game-tying RBI single, and Seattle should have had runners at second and third with one out. Instead, Michael Saunders looked at strike three to end the inning. Here's Grimm's take: "That happened so fast I didn’t realize the ump had called him out. Mitch came up to me and said, 'Well, he called him out, so walk with me.' "I just started walking back to the mound like, 'Dang it. What did I do?' They’ve got a tough job, and not many people realize how quick things happen out there. We caught a break, for sure." Moreland had stretched for the ball, and appeared to be limping as he walked toward the mound. "I think that's just more the way I walk," he said. "I kind of wondered where it went, and then I looked up and saw Grimm there and was like, 'Well, I guess he caught it.' Then, I heard, 'Out.' "I told him to walk with me because I figured there was going to be an argument. That's the way it works sometimes. Nobody's perfect, especially in this game. It went our way." Mariners manager Eric Wedge argued, but not because Grimm caught the ball. Wedge thought that Moreland's foot hadn't held the bag. "It would have been a much bigger argument if I had known that at the time," Wedge said. Rangers manager Ron Washington was asked if he had seen a replay of the disputed play. "I don't have to see the replay," he said. "We caught a break there." -- Jeff Wilson      

SEATTLE – On Friday, the Rangers pulled off perhaps the greatest trick play in the history of baseball: the unintentional hidden ball tick. Whatever. It worked. And it was also a key play in the Rangers’ eventual 9-5 win over Seattle that sent the Mariners to their seventh consecutive loss. Here’s what actually happened: With the Rangers leading 2-1 heading to the bottom of the second inning, Seattle put the first two runners on base against wobbly starter RHP … [visit site to read more]

SEATTLE – RHP Ross Wolf may have beaten the Oakland A’s this week, but it’s not enough to earn him a second major league start. At least not yet. Instead, the Texas Rangers will turn to LHP Martin Perez the next time that spot in the rotation comes up Monday when the Rangers play a doubleheader against Arizona. Perez is expected to start the first game of the doubleheader and RHP Yu Darvish will start the second. Wolf goes into the Rangers bullpen and will be available to … [visit site to read more]

Who caught the ball? Grimm caught the ball: Player of the Game: With Justin Grimm looking hittable in the early innings, Lance Berkman's three-run dong in the 3rd, to put the Rangers up 5-2, was the biggest hit of the evening

SEATTLE — Lance Berkman hit a three-run homer, Jeff Baker had a two-run shot, and David Murphy delivered a two-run single as the Rangers backed Justin Grimm en route to a 9-5 victory Friday over the Mariners at Safeco Field. Baker’s homer, his fifth, came with two outs in the second off Joe Saunders and lifted the Rangers into a 2-1 lead. Berkman’s blast, his fourth, came in the third and broke a 2-2 tie. With the Rangers leading 6-3 in the seventh, Nelson Cruz singled up the middle for a two-out RBI single and, after A.J. Pierzynski walked to fill the bases, Murphy dumped a soft single into left to make it 9-3. Murphy had pinch-hit for Baker in the sixth, so the Rangers got four RBIs from their left fielders.Grimm allowed two-out runs in each of the first three innings and allowed 10 hits, but he pitched into the seventh. He got the first out of the inning before giving way to Neal Cotts. Grimm (4-3) benefited in the second inning from a blown call on the back end of a double play. Jesus Sucre was called out at first even though Grimm had caught the ball before it got to first baseman Mitch Moreland. Brendan Ryan followed with a two-out RBI double, but the Mariners could have had a bigger inning. -- Jeff Wilson