Series Preview: Texas Rangers (79-80) @ Seattle Mariners (76-83)
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by user ASwaff
Business First: Well, I figured I should get on the ball and try to redeem myself by getting out one last series preview. The only real news about this series is that you have two bottom dwellers playing for pride. The Texas Rangers need to redeem themselves by winning their last few games to at least finish a very disappointing season with a record above .500. On the other hand, the Seattle Mariners will be looking to sweep the series, which would tie them with the Rangers so they won’t be the sole last place team of the AL West.
The Lowdown: The Rangers come into this series on some kind of hideous, horrible slide. I observed at the beginning of August that the Rangers were playing like a team that didn’t want or deserve to be the playoffs. If that was true then, one could only say that they are now playing like a team that doesn’t want or deserve to finish the season with a winning record. They have lost six of their last eight games, contributing to a 10-14 record for the month of September. The only other month that they’ve been this bad was July, when they stumbled out of the All-Star break by losing 11 out of 18. Probably didn’t think you’d have to relive that nightmare, did you?
September has been pretty representative of a lack luster season for the Mariners. They have lost four of their last five, but have a 12-13 record for the month. That includes four wins in six games against their up-coming opponents, the Rangers. It’s a far cry from the four game series sweep the Rangers took back in August. The Rangers are 10-6 against the Mariners on the season.
Players to Watch:
Raul Ibanez - Don’t ask me how, but Ibanez leads the Mariners with 122 RBI this season. And he’s been a Ranger killer. Although he’s batting just .270 against the boys in blue this season, he leads the M’s in homeruns (4) and RBI (13) and is second in runs (10) in 16 games.
Mariners baserunners - Although Gerald Laird and Rod Barajas have combined to stifle would-be basestealers all season (caught 40 while allowing 61), the Mariners have had surprising success stealing the bases against the Rangers this year. Five players have combined for 11 stolen bases in 16 games. Two players (Ichiro Suzuki and Willie Bloomquist) have stolen four bases each. That’s a striking ratio for the Rangers, who have allowed an average of about one stolen base for every three games this season.
Mark Teixeira - His late run has given Rangers fans at least one point to be optimistic about for the future. Although his post-All-Star batting average is only marginally higher than his pre-All-Star batting average (.283 versus .275), he has made his hits count a heck of a lot more. He had just nine homeruns going into the break, but 23 post-break dingers has given him a respectable total of 32. He has 11 more RBI in 17 fewer games played, and there have been drastic improvements in his on-base percentage and slugging percentage. He has three games to get thee homeruns to make this his third consecutive season with 35 or more round-trippers. Have I ever mentioned that my favorite number is three?
Probables:
Friday, Sept. 29, 9:05 CST
TEX: RHP Vicente Padilla (14-10, 4.44)
SEA: LHP Ryan Feierabend (0-1, 3.75)
Saturday, Sept. 30, 3:05 CST
TEX: RHP Kevin Millwood (16-11, 4.52)
SEA: RHP Felix Hernandez (11-14, 4.65)
Sunday, Oct. 1, 3:05 CST
TEX: RHP Robinson Tejeda (5-4, 4.19)
SEA: LHP Jake Woods (6-4, 4.27)
- FOR MORE RANGERS NEWS AND OPINIONS, VISIT BASEBALL TIME IN ARLINGTON
Date
Thu 09/28/06, 4:01 pm EST
