I blame Jason for not having a birthday every day.
I hate it when there’s an afternoon game and nobody tells me. I was home all day with nothing to do and could have been listening to the game. I couldn’t have watched the game, but who am I to complain? I didn’t even check the schedule. Instead, I found it by accident about the 7th. Oh well.
In any event, it’s too bad for the rain delay — sounds like Freddy was pitching well once again. Since he started working with Pat Borders, he’s put up the following line: 19 IP, 11 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 6 BB and 15 K.
As for the part of the game I did catch, I don’t understand why Box Melvin refuses to use Rafael Soriano for longer stretches. He hasn’t worked longer than 1 2/3 innings since August 14th, when he held the Blue Jays to one hit in three innings. Melvin should have been able to get three innings out of him again today, meaning Hasegawa — who pitched last night — wouldn’t have had to pitch a second inning (the 10th). It’s a small sample size, sure, but Shiggy’s ERA this month now sits at 5.40. He also seems — I don’t have numbers to back this up — to fail when Melvin leaves him out there for a second inning.
In the end, though, none of this should matter. You’ve got to score some freaking runs against Texas pitching, particularly down in Arlington. Any time you hold the Rangers to a lone run over nine innings, that should pretty much be an automatic win, no questions asked. Ugh.
Baseball’s the only part of my life where I’m superstitious at all, which is why I’m reluctant to post this but… maybe the M’s should take Freddy to arb, kick his butt this time, get a 10% pay cut, and then spend the Useless Roster Spot on Borders, who gets signed for not a whole lot.