Photo Courtesy: Dominic Ceraldi
By Lew Patton
It was a so-so week for your Texas Rangers, as they won three games but lost four games for the week.
The Rangers split the four game series with the Royals during the first part of the week, then lost the three game set to the Indians to finish the week.
Some positives for the week include Adrian Beltre hitting his 400th career homerun and Josh Hamilton is doing pretty well and getting his hitting down in the minors before probably joining the Rangers sometime this week (probably).
It looks like the bullpen is a little better today since Tanner Scheppers and Ross Ohlendorf were brought up from the minors as Texas designated Kyuji Fujikawa for assignment and used Ross Detwiler’s trip to the disabled list (thank goodness) to bring in another arm for a bullpen that was growing more concerning by the day.
On Sunday, Ohlendorf and Scheppers went right into the fire. Nick Martinez gutted out five innings and allowed only one run despite the Indians getting nine at-bats with runners in scoring position.
Ohlendorf came in for the sixth and sent the Indians down 1-2-3. Scheppers followed with an eight-pitch seventh inning and came back out for spotless eighth. It was one of the better victories for the Rangers and a moral victory for the bullpen.
Also take note that Neftali Feliz’ role as the team’s closer might be in jeopardy. Rangers skipper Jeff Banister said that there are currently no roles for the bullpen. Which means that Feliz might not get the nod for every save situation allowing Shawn Tolleson and Keone Kela some opportunities.
Upcoming Schedule
May 19 @Red Sox 6:10 PM
May 20 @Red Sox 6:00 PM
May 21 @Red Sox 6:10 PM
May 22 @Yankees 6:05 PM
May 23 @Yankees 12:05 PM
May 24 @Yankees 7:00 PM
