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Slingin' it: Holland in a complete game Holland tossed his second straight complete game shutout last night, dominating the Seattle Mariners 5-0 last night to give the second half of the MLB season a proper welcome.
Since getting just two outs against Florida July 2, here's Holland's damage:
18 IP - 9 hits - 0 runs - 3 BBs - 15 Ks.
That is what you might call strong to quite strong. Any talk of it being "against the Oakland Athletics" or "against the Seattle Mariners" is a moot point. Blanking the A's is one thing. Doing it two straight games is another.
What the Rangers want most is not to have to make a decision. Throwing complete games or going less than an inning during a start makes the Rangers' decisions easy. It's allowing 12 hits in six innings that drives you more crazy. You want him to be good or bad so you know what you've got.
Of Holland's 19 starts, 13 have come against marginal to bad teams, meaning, squads that are at .500 or below. He's 6-2 with five no-decisions against those bad teams. Of those five no-decisions, I'd say he pitched well in three. If Holland can beat the bad teams, there is zero reason to worry about the kid. Frankly, most teams you face in the regular season are marginally bad to awful. Joe Torre always preached during his time with the New York Yankees beating the bad teams and holding your own against the good ones. Whipping the bad teams gets you 95-105 wins a year.
Right now, the Rangers are whipping the bad teams. They've won eight straight and are 9-2 in July. Remember, it was June 2010 that put the Rangers out front of the AL West.
Also, dating back to their last series, the Rangers haven't allowed a run in 20 straight innings and have tossed two straight shutouts. The Rangers' bullpen have throw 20 total pitches since Saturday night. They've had two complete games (both Holland) and three shutouts since Josh Hamilton parked that walk-off homer into the upper deck last Saturday. Amazing.
Notes:
1. If Mike Napoli gets a day off, I'll be shocked. He's got three doubles, three homers, nine RBI and a stolen base (for kicks) since returning from the DL.
2. However, the hottest bat is Elvis Andrus: 12 hits in six games.
3. Well, Mike Young has 15 hits in his last nine. He's 34 hits from 2,000. And with 60 RBI, he's driven in more runs than Nellie Cruz and Josh Hamilton.
4. Jason Vargas, who's been good this year, had to be frustrated. I didn't think he was bad last night. A couple of mistakes and the Rangers batters worked him over. He threw 106 pitches in six innings allowing all five runs. He never had the offense supporting him.
5. Last 18 innings for Rangers pitching: No extra-base hits.
6. If Miguel Olivo is your clean-up hitter, you're in deep shit.
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