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Fear the beardWhat does it take to stop the Texas Rangers? Justin Verlander, apparently.
He was the only thing to get in the way of a sweep this weekend with wins of 10-4, 10-3 and then two sets of 3-2 and 3-2 (thanks to a phantom suicide squeeze), the Rangers losing the former.
Verlander won. Yes. But the Rangers made him work for it. He threw 116 pitches in six innings. Rangers hitters drove him bananas fouling off most, working counts from Ian Kinsler down to Craig Gentry. Darn near won the thing.
The question hanging over everyone's heads about this team was whether beating up on Chicago, Seattle and Minnesota meant anything. Well, I don't think anyone doubts beating up on Boston and Detroit (in their parks) means a lot.
Alberto Gonzalez
It's eerie how the Rangers pick up these dudes to be a fourth or fifth outfielder or a utility infielder and they wind up doing little things along the way to win. I remember watching Gonzalez fill in for Derek Jeter years ago and he wasn't terrible. He wasn't Derek Jeter, but that's the point. If Gonzalez was as good as Jeter, you wouldn't need Jeter. Gonzalez will not deliver much with the bat. A suicide squeeze will probably be the apex of his year. Still, he plays three positions, is at least a swinging bat and he knows his place. We've seen it before with Brandon Boggs, David Murphy, Omar Vizquel, Ramon Vazquez and Andres Blanco. Low ceilings, but sometimes that's all you need.
Colby Lewis
The story of the season, in my eyes. Posting a 2.03 ERA allowing just one (1!!!!!!!) walk in four starts and 26.2 innings. This isn't good. This is unbelievable. Also, the home run rate is lower. Just three jacks allowed.
Michael Young
No one's paying a ton of attention to Michael Young. Never you mind. Just hitting .403 with a 10-game hitting streak, in which he's totaled 21 hits. Along the way, he posted his first three walks of the season in Detroit. On-base percentage up to .431. On pace for 250 hits.
Mike Napoli
Of all the guys on this roster, no one may be more electrifying. Kept the homer streak going through Saturday. Worked in a couple of wimpy singles Sunday.
Matt Harrison
Despite giving up three runs and a homer Saturday, Harrison might have had his strongest performance of the year. Pitched into the eighth, struck out six and walked none. Better yet, he was staked to a 8-0 lead before he even took the mound. A lot of pitchers -- a lot of Texas Rangers pitchers -- would pitch loosey-goosey and allowed a run here and a run there. Harrison, instead, sat down the Tigers in order through the first three innings. By then, it was 9-0 and there was only 15 outs left. Love that guy.
Neftali Feliz
He didn't out-duel Verlander, but Feliz deserves some props. He pitched all eight innings in the ass-end of the doubleheader Saturday and threw 119 pitches, which has to be the most in one turn since he left the islands. He allowed just three hits, but it was his control that did him in. Three of his four walks and two of the three hits came in the fourth inning along with a hit batsman, which was probably the catalyst for all of it. Opponents are hitting .171. With control, will come better times.
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