Jen Engel Loves Up Tom Hicks

Jennifer Engel of the Star-Telegram loves up Rangers owner Tom Hicks waaay too much.

She says I’m Cowboys safety Roy Williams publicist…so it’s all good.

BUT…..today’s she was loving up Tom instead of calling him out for being a dreadful baseball owner who hasn’t gotten much right since firing Doug Melvin, who’s Milwaukee Brewers made the playoffs.

Hicks told her while discussing the dreadful John Danks for Brandon McCarthy deal with the White Sox, “We have made some mistakes and that was clearly the biggest one we made,” Hicks said Wednesday during his postseason postmortem with me.

“That wasn’t just JD. Our staff made the judgment that Danks was two years away, and they were absolutely wrong. The comforting thing for me now is we have a new leader, and if Nolan had been there, we never would have done [the Danks deal]. And we will never trade a No. 1 pick, a left-handed pitcher again.”

Whatever.  I just have zero faith in that organization.  None.  It’s a shame because I think they could have something good if Hicks would spend some cash.

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Matt Harrison Throws A Gem For Texas

Rookie pitcher Matt Harrison was dealing tonight in Arlington.  The kid mowed down 8 Tampa Bay Rays in 8 innings and only gave up 3 hits Saturday night.

Outstanding.

Harrison did it on 109 pitches.  The Rangers needed that.

Everyday Eddie Guardado closed it out and Harrison improved his record to 5-2.

Here’s the take on his night from the Newberg Report:

Tonight Matt Harrison:

a. Struck out more batters (eight) than he had in his other seven big league
starts combined (seven).

b. Allowed three singles — two of which came in the first inning — and no
walks.

c. Retired the final 18 batters he faced.

d. Threw one of the best games any Rangers pitcher has thrown this season.

e. Threw one of the best games of his pro career, at any level.

f. Earned his fifth win in eight starts, one victory less than Kevin
Millwood has in 21 starts.

g. Became just the sixth Rangers starter this season to complete at least
eight innings (and the first Rangers rookie to do so in more than two
years).

h. Needed only 109 pitches — 72 percent of which were strikes and a greater
percentage of which looked absolutely aggressive — to get his 24 outs.

i. Gave the bullpen a badly, badly, badly needed break.

j. Got an eighth-inning hug in the dugout from Ron Washington . . .

Only The Rangers Can Score 17 Runs And Lose

The Rangers were down 10-zip in the 1st inning thanks to Scott Feldman in Boston.  He gave up 12 runs and did not get the loss.

So what, the Rangers banged out 20 hits and scored 17 runs…and lost.

Frankie Francisco gave up a 3-run bomb to Kevin Youkilius in the 8th inning.  The Rangers choked away what would have been a great comeback win.

Poor Ron Washington.  His bullpen is not very good.

A No Hitter For Rangers Minor Leaguer

For the second time this year a Texas Rangers minor league pitcher has thrown a no hitter.

Dustin Nippert threw a seven-inning no-hitter for Triple-A Oklahoma today. Nippert walked two and struck out five. He is now 6-2 on the season with a 3.98 ERA.

Maybe they really do have some arms down on the farm.  I hope they don’t trade them away.