Rangers vs. Orioles

[BigTex]

6:00 start since they are on the east coast.

They won't have to face Manny Machado - MLB suspended him for throwing bats against the A's earlier this month.

http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/8879234/v3 ... /?c_id=mlb

[Bob Of Burleson]

Yeah, but the Orioles have to face Bazooka Joe. Is that fair.

[BigTex]

The Rangers really pack the house, don't they?

[BigTex]

Joe Saunders last start?

[BigTex]

Do you realize that at this moment Saunders has given up more runs than recorded outs?

Well, now they're even.

[Mark]

U-G-L-Y!!!!

4-0 is most assuredly an insurmountable Oriole lead.

[Bob Of Burleson]

The only way Saunders is going to have a good game is if he gets lucky and batters hit the ball directly to fielders. His pitches have NOTHING on them.

[Bob Of Burleson]

[BigTex]

(If my numbers are correct)

When Robbie Ross was sent down, his ERA was 5.61. Saunders ERA is now 6.13.

[Bob Of Burleson]

Saunders allows four homers in loss to Orioles
Left-hander gives up seven runs on nine hits over five innings

By T.R. Sullivan / MLB.com

BALTIMORE -- Joe Saunders did not want to be interviewed on camera on Monday night. He was afraid he would say the wrong thing.

After three poor starts, the frustration is building.

"You can't imagine," Saunders said.

Saunders gave up four home runs for only the second time in his career and the Rangers opened a four-game series against the Orioles with a 7-1 loss on Monday night at Camden Yards.

Steve Pearce hit two of the home runs and the Rangers finished the month of June with a record of 9-17. It was their worst record for the month since going 7-20 in 2000. The last time the Rangers lost 17 games in a month was April 2008.

Saunders exited after five innings, having allowed seven runs on nine hits with two walks and two strikeouts. He has an 11.19 ERA in his last three starts and is 0-5 with a 6.13 ERA in eight starts on the season. The Rangers are 2-6 with him on the mound.

"This is a game where it's, 'What have you done for me lately,'" Saunders said. "I've done nothing. I've got to pick it up."

Manager Ron Washington was not interested in discussing Saunders' spot in the rotation. One reason is that the Rangers don't have many other choices for his spot until Derek Holland is ready to come off the disabled list -- and that's not going to happen any time soon.

"Right now, it's Joe," Washington said. "He didn't have much command and he missed his spots. As far as getting into a conversation about Joe and the future, I have nothing to say."

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[BigTex]

Get a hold of yourselves - Joe Saunders has been DFA'd.

[Bob Of Burleson]

Rangers call up Mikolas, designate Saunders
Right-hander replaces southpaw in rotation, set to start on Wednesday

By T.R. Sullivan / MLB.com

Miles Mikolas was 3-1 with a 3.58 ERA in six Triple-A starts. (AP)

BALTIMORE -- The Rangers have designated left-hander Joe Saunders for assignment and called up right-hander Miles Mikolas from Triple-A Round Rock to go into their rotation. Mikolas will start on Wednesday against the Orioles.

A former reliever who pitched in the big leagues for the Padres the past two seasons, Mikolas was converted to a starter this season. He was 5-1 with a 3.22 ERA at Round Rock, including 3-1 with a 3.58 ERA in six starts. Assistant general manager Thad Levine said Mikolas will be given a real chance to show he can be a starter at the Major League level.

"This is not a spot start," Levine said.

Saunders was designated for assignment after going 0-5 with a 6.13 ERA in eight starts. He is 0-3 with an 11.19 ERA in his last three starts.

Mikolas will pitch Wednesday, followed by Yu Darvish on Thursday. Nick Tepesch has been pushed back to Friday against the Mets, followed by Colby Lewis and Nick Martinez.

[BigTex]

And it begins again.

[crocmommy]

What is taking Derek Holland so long to get back? I guess I missed that story....

[BigTex]

Wash says he wants to be sure he's ready. (At this point, is there really any urgency?)

[crocmommy]

Just hoping the dog stays out of his way...

[Bob Of Burleson]

At some point in the next couple of weeks, the Astros are going to pass the Rangers in the standings. (You read it here first.)

[BigTex]

Miles Mikolas has a nice looking mom. Don't let Big Game Brent see her.

[BigTex]

And now Mikolas can't get the win. I would like to console his mother.

[Bob Of Burleson]

Mikolas solid, but Rangers let lead slip away
Orioles rally behind Flaherty's homer off Cotts in bottom of seventh

By T.R. Sullivan / MLB.com

BALTIMORE -- Miles Mikolas was terrific for five innings in his first start for the Rangers on Wednesday night. Then everything unraveled with one out in the sixth, the Rangers saw their three-run lead slip away and their latest losing streak is now at four games.

The final blow was a seventh-inning home run by Ryan Flaherty off reliever Neal Cotts that gave the Orioles a 6-4 victory over the Rangers at Camden Yards. The Rangers have also lost 13 of their last 16 games.

"A bad day," said reliever Jason Frasor, who couldn't stop the sixth-inning bleeding when the Orioles rallied to tie the score. "We didn't do our job. I made it hard on Neal because I let our momentum slip away."

The game was stopped at 9:11 p.m. CT by light and intermittent showers plus the threat of heavy storms in the Baltimore area. It finally started raining hard at 10:05 p.m. CT.

"It was a lot of fun to be out there," Mikolas said. "I thought I pitched a pretty good game until the sixth. Things didn't go our way after that."

The Rangers let this one get away after Mikolas was given a 4-0 lead after three innings and seemed ready to make it stand. Mikolas gave up a one-out home run to Adam Jones in the fourth before retiring the next six batters. Four of them were on strikeouts. Then Mikolas did what he had not been doing at Triple-A.

He walked the next two batters. Mikolas had walked just three batters in 44 2/3 at Triple-A. Using that as a warning sign, manager Ron Washington went to the bullpen and brought in Frasor.

"He hadn't thrown that many balls the whole game," Washington said. "He was losing it. It was hot out there and I felt he was losing it. He did a great job. At that point, I brought in the two best guys I have, they just didn't get it done."

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