Cliff Lee started off the series on Thursday with a dominating 8 1/3 innings before turing the game over to Feliz for the final 2 outs. Lee is going to be a major difference maker down the stretch for us. He's very, very good and reports are our other pitchers, mainly CJ and Big Game Hunter, have been learning everything they can from him. CJ is apparently a quick learner. CJ topped Cliff's start by throwing 8 shutout innings and only giving up 4 hits before, once again, turning it to Feliz for the save. CJ was completely dominant Friday night, and has been lights since the break going 14 2/3 innings giving up 1 run on 7 hits. Saturday Feldman turned in his best start in a month or so, but it still wasn't at a 2009 level and the Rangers fell in a rather uneventful game 6-2. Sunday, Big Game Hunter followed Cliff and CJ by putting up another dominating start. Hunter threw 6 1/3, giving up 3 runs on 2 home runs, but only 3 hits in all. Feliz got his 3rd save of the series and continues his domination of the Angels. Angels hitters are a combined 2-22 lifetime off of Neftali.
Our offense was exactly destructive in the series but it was enough. MY, Nellie, and Hammy all had good series and showed why they are all all-stars. MY homered in the first 3 games, while Nellie hit 7-15 in the series. One guy I was impressed with this series was Chris Davis. He had good at bats throughout the series and drove the ball well a few times. Davis went 4-11 with 2 walks and 2 doubles in the series, and looked better than he has in a long time. Hopefully he is beginning to turn a corner and can be a productive 1B for us down the stretch.
The Rangers have a tough schedule ahead with the majority of our games coming on the road and 8 more games against the Yankees and RedSox. Our schedule is much tougher than the Angels the rest of the way, but a 7 game lead and a team playing this well gives me confidence in our chances the rest of the way.
Cowboys in Camp
The Cowboys kicked off the start of pre-season camp on Saturday with as little fanfare as they have had in a long time thanks to the Rangers. The beginning of camp is mostly insignificant, except it means that football is just around the corner. There are a few story-lines leading up to camp that had significance.
The first is that Dez Bryant and Sean Lee signed contract in the days leading up to camp and will be in camp for the duration. Bryant is the only 1st round pick who has signed a deal so far, and that's a big thing for the Cowboys. Most people believe Dez was a top 10 talent, and will start in the slot for the Cowboys this year. This is a viable option with him getting in camp on time. Bryant said from the get-go that he wanted to get in early, and play football. Bryant was itching to get on the field, which makes sense with him not playing since last September. Bryant was suspended for the season for having improper contact with Deion Sanders in the off-season. Bryant is the most talented, young receiver the Cowboys have had since Michael Irvin (he's also #88), and they can't wait to get him on the field.
The 2nd big story out of camp also deals with Dez Bryant. Reports today are that Bryant refused to carry veteran WR Roy Williams pads after practice. This is a rookie rite of passage that all young players go thru. Bryant believes Williams was trying to "punk" him into doing this, and Bryant declined. Their are many different thoughts to this. Some believe that this proves what many scouts thought initially, and he has a bad attitude and will never be a team player. I don't buy this. I think Bryant will be a great player for us. I think he has some ego, and didn't like the idea of having to do grunt work just because a veteran player said to. I realize this won't win him a lot of friends right now amongst the media or with fans, but once Bryant starts making acrobatic catches and scoring touchdowns all will be forgotten. I think this story is being blown out of proportion due to the fact that there are very few stories coming out of camp right now. This will be a non-issue very, very soon.
The next 2 months are going to be exciting for Ranger fans as they look for their first division title since 1999. The Rangers are in great position to, not only make the playoffs, but have a legit chance at advancing once they get there. The Cowboys will be kicking off their season during the stretch month of the Rangers season. I love watching Cowboys football. It's what I look forward to every weekend during the Fall. But hopefully this year, at least during September and October, Dallas fans can focus on their other championship caliber team- The Texas Rangers.
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