Where We Live Today Sports (2012-04-12)

 Texas Rangers, WWLTS  1 Response »
Apr 122012
 

Well, that was disappointing.  Outstanding performance by Colby Lewis leads to a blown save by Joe Nathan.

I’m still not 100% on this move of Feliz to the rotation.  I understand there is tremendous upside, and that Feliz had a terrific first start.  I just wonder if Feliz will be better than Ogando as a starter.  I certainly hope he will be, and most of the experts believe so.

The next question is how long the leash will be on Nathan.  In 4 appearances he has 2 saves, a blown save, and 2 losses.  That does not instill confidence in an organization or a fan base.

Texas Rangers

4-2, 1st in the AL West, Magic Number: 156

Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Seattle Mariners 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 4 11 0
Texas Rangers 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 8 0
W: L Luetge | L: J Nathan | S:B League | Box | Recap

John Jaso finally got in the lineup for the Seattle Mariners, and came through with big hits off two of theTexas Rangers’ top relievers.

Jaso’s RBI single in the ninth inning capped a three-run rally off of new Texas closer Joe Nathan that pushed the Mariners past the two-time defending American League champions 4-3 on Wednesday night.

Today:  Game 7 vs. Mariners (4-3) | J Vargas (1-0) vs. D Holland (0-0) | 1:05 PM | FSSW | Preview

Dallas Mavericks

32-26, T6th in the West, Magic Number: 7

Tonight: Game 59 vs. Golden State | 9:30 PM | FSSW, TNT | Preview

Where We Live Today Sports is the freelancedogs daily wrap-up of Metroplex Sports, inspired by a classic Jerry Jones quote, which can be read here.

Lamar Odom is Done as a Maverick

 Dallas Mavericks  No Responses »
Apr 092012
 

Per Mark Stein of ESPN:

Lamar Odom’s brief and bumpy ride with the Dallas Mavericks has come to an abrupt end.

The Mavericks and Odom spent Easter Sunday working out a parting, according to sources close to the situation, that frees the struggling Odom to leave the team immediately without actually being released.

“The Mavericks and I have mutually agreed that it’s in the best interest of both parties for me to step away from the team,” Odom said in a statement to ESPN.com. “I’m sorry that things didn’t work out better for both of us, but I wish the Mavs’ organization, my teammates and Dallas fans nothing but continued success in the defense of their championship.”

It’s been clear Odom is not a fit in Dallas, and the effort just hasn’t been there.  It’s disappointing, as I thought going into this season that things were going to hinge on the play of Odom.  Unfortunately, it has turned out to be true, and not in a good way.

Where We Live Today Sports (2012-04-09)

 WWLTS  No Responses »
Apr 092012
 

The Rangers took the first series of the season, beating the White Sox 5-0 last night.  2 nights ago the Rangers scored 3 runs on 10 hits.  Last night they scored 5 runs on 6 hits.  It certainly helps that 3 of those hits were home runs.  It just goes to show you that, sometimes, the scoreboard may not reward good play.  Luckily, it does more often than not, as these Rangers played well in each of their first 3 games.

Tonight is likely the most anticipated regular season game 4 in Texas Rangers’ history.  Yu Darvish will take the mound for his first Major League start, and people will be watching from around the world.  It’s time to see if he can live up to the hype.

Texas Rangers

2-1, 2nd in the AL West, Magic Number: 160

Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Chicago White Sox 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 1
Texas Rangers 0 0 1 2 0 2 0 0 X 5 6 0
W: M Harrison | L: G Floyd | Box | Recap

 Matt Harrison was the Rangers’ best pitcher in Spring Training and he carried that over into his first regular-season start. His mechanics are better, his command has been excellent and he has been sharp with all his pitches.

“I’m also seeing one more year of experience out of him and that’s always good,” said catcher Yorvit Torrealba. “Harrison was really working tonight.”

The White Sox felt the same way. Harrison held them scoreless over six innings and three relievers finished the job, allowing the Rangers to earn their first shutout of the season with a 5-0 victory at Rangers Ballpark on Sunday night.

Today:  Game 4 vs. Mariners (3-1) | H Noesi (0-0) vs. Y Darvish (0-0) | 7:05 PM | FSSW | Preview

Dallas Mavericks

31-26, 7th in the West

Last Night: Did not play

Next: Game 58 vs. Memphis | Tuesday @ 7:30 PM | KTXA 21

Masters

Yesterday featured a double-eagle on 2, a Phil Mickelson collapse on 4, an irrelevant Tiger Woods, and a guy named Bubba winning his first major.  It doesn’t get much more interesting than that.

Watson Wins Masters in Playoff:

Sometimes 18 holes simply aren’t enough. Sometimes, the golf is so good, so riveting and so pure, that it deserves more for posterity if nothing else.

And when the 76th Masters was finally over on Sunday, the winner was a 33-year-old Floridian who went to school down the road from Augusta at the University of Georgia. He plays the game with unabashed power and a naturalness that would make Bobby Jones proud.

Bubba Watson watched Louis Oosthuizen hit one of the greatest shots ever struck at Augusta National Golf Club, withstood the sheer majesty and stunning consequence of it, then conquered the brilliant South African with some magnificent shotmaking of his own.

Where We Live Today Sports is the freelancedogs daily wrap-up of Metroplex Sports, inspired by a classic Jerry Jones quote, which can be read here.

Where We Live Today Sports (2012-04-08)

 WWLTS  No Responses »
Apr 082012
 

The Rangers lost their first game of the season yesterday.  I can’t put it any better than Robbie Griffin already did, so I’ll just quote him here:

…you aren’t going to score only three runs when more than a third of your balls in play are line drives, you have at least as many fly balls as ground balls, and you put 12 base runners on over the course of the game. You’re going to score more than 5+ runs in that case most of the time.

Say what you want about the result, I thought the Rangers played well enough last night, the bounces just didn’t go their way.  These things will work their way out in a 162 game season.  Now let’s go win the rubber game tonight.

Texas Rangers

1-1, Tied for 2nd in the AL West, Magic Number: 161

Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Chicago White Sox 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 5 0
Texas Rangers 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 10 2
W: M Thornton | L: J Nathan | SV: H Santiago | Box | Recap

Rangers closer Joe Nathan was ahead 1-and-2 on Alex Rios. Nathan thought the White Sox outfielder would be looking for a slider or something offspeed and instead tried to get him with the fastball.

“If anything, I thought he would foul it off,” Nathan said. “But I still have to throw it in the right spot. He’s still a professional hitter and I’ve got to hit my spot. I thought he would have a little more defensive swing. That was not a defensive swing.”

No it was not. Rios smashed the 1-2 fastball over the center-field fence — just beyond the leaping reach of Josh Hamilton — for a home run to lead off the ninth inning that gave the White Sox a 4-3 victory over the Rangers on Saturday night.

Today:  Game 3 vs. White Sox (1-1) | G Floyd (0-0) vs. M Harrison (0-0) | 7:05 PM | ESPN | Preview

Dallas Mavericks

31-26, 7th in the West

Final 1 2 3 4 T
Dallas Mavericks 10 29 28 22 89
Memphis Grizzlies 29 21 22 22 94
Box | Recap

The Memphis Grizzlies landed a solid first-quarter shot on the Dallas Mavericks and dropped the defending NBA champs further down the Western Conference playoff ladder.

Rudy Gay scored 25 points, Zach Randolph added 15 points and 11 rebounds, and the Grizzlies built an early 20-point lead and held on to beat the Mavericks 94-89 on Saturday night.

In the tightly contested Western Conference, Memphis moved two games up in the race for fifth place on Dallas, which is in a three-way fight for sixth and barely holding on to a spot.

Next: Game 58 vs. Memphis | Tuesday @ 7:30 PM | KTXA 21

Masters

Couples and Dufner dropped off the lead, while Tiger pretty much stayed put.

Hanson, Mickelson Go Low to Lead Masters:

On Saturday, Sweden’s Peter Hanson staked his claim with a rousing 7-under-par 65 that has him alone at the top with a 9-under 207 total. Hanson shot 31 on the second nine, with five birdies on the final seven holes spurred on by Phil Mickelson’s heroics.

Three-time Masters champion Mickelson shot 66 and is one stroke behind. The 66 is one shot off Mickelson’s career best at Augusta National, in the first round of the 1996 Masters. Mickelson shot 30 on the second nine with an eagle and four birdies.

Where We Live Today Sports is the freelancedogs daily wrap-up of Metroplex Sports, inspired by a classic Jerry Jones quote, which can be read here.

Where We Live Today Sports (2012-04-07)

 WWLTS  2 Responses »
Apr 072012
 

The Rangers certainly impressed yesterday.  Colby Lewis struck out 9 in 6 innings, while allowing only 2 runs.  Meanwhile Ian Kinsler had another opening day home run (can we please get him a long term deal?), and Michael Young had the go ahead RBI in the 6th, knocking in Josh Hamilton.  All-in-all it was a solid effort by the 2 time reigning AL champs, and hopefully a sign of what’s to come in the upcoming season.

Texas Rangers

1-0, Tied for 1st in the AL West, Magic Number: 162

Yesterday:

                1  2  3   4  5  6   7  8  9   R H E
                -  -  -   -  -  -   -  -  -   - - -
White Sox       0  0  0   0  0  2   0  0  0   2 8 1
Rangers         1  0  1   0  0  1   0  0  X   3 6 0
W: C Lewis | L: J Danks | SV: J Nathan | Box | Recap

Ian Kinsler homered, Michael Young drove in the go-ahead run and Colby Lewis struck out nine over six innings to lift the Rangers to an Opening Day win. Chicago’s Adam Dunn tied a Major League record with his eighth home run in a season opener.

Today:  Game 2 vs. White Sox (0-1) | J Peavy (0-0) vs. D Holland (0-0) | 7:05 PM | FSSW | Preview

Rangers ranked the #3 organization by FanGraphs.  Only Boston and New York were ranked higher.

Dallas Mavericks

31-25, 6th in the West

Yesterday: L 99-97 vs. Trail Blazers (OT) | Box | Recap

Aldridge’s buzzer-beating 17-foot jumper lifted the Portland Trail Blazers to a 99-97 overtime victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night.

Today: Game 57 vs. Memphis | 7:00 PM | KTXA 21 | Preview

I’m afraid Tim MacMahon is right:  The dirty truth: These Dallas Mavericks are mediocre

Tim barely mentions him in the article, but this season has been a letdown primarily because of the apparent apathy of one Lamar Odom.  If he could have reached his potential this season, this would be a totally different team.  Unfortunately he’s decided to mope up and down the court game after game, bringing the Mavericks down with him.

Masters

Tiger Woods dropped to 40th after posting a 3 over par 75.  He put up 5 bogeys in round 2 dropping him virtually out of contention, 8 strokes behind the leader.

Couples, Dufner Take Second Round Lead

Where We Live Today Sports is the freelancedogs daily wrap-up of Metroplex Sports, inspired by a classic Jerry Jones quote, which can be read here.

Where We Live Today Sports (2012-04-06)

 WWLTS  No Responses »
Apr 062012
 

Welcome to the first edition of Where We Live Today Sports.  Today is Opening Day for the 2012 edition of the Texas Rangers.  It’s perhaps the most anticipated opening day in the history of the franchise as we all look to see how the team can rebound from the 2011 World Series, specifically Game 6.  I know that Chris is already over it, but I personally need this season to get going in order to put the collapse behind me.

I can only imagine how the team feels.

The addition of Yu Darvish to replace C.J. Wilson, the movement of Neftali Feliz to the starting rotation, and the looming free agency of both Josh Hamilton and Mike Napoli add further intrigue to an already fascinating 2012 campaign.

Anyways, on to the news:

Dallas Cowboys

Joe Avezzano Dies of Heart Attack

I hadn’t even intended on mentioning the Cowboys in this post, but this deserves top billing.

“Joe Avezzano was a very special part of our Dallas Cowboys family and our organization’s history. He was also a wonderful father, husband and friend. No one enjoyed life more than Joe, and no one that I know had a greater appreciation for the people that he loved and the lives that he touched,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. “We grieve with Diann and Tony and the thousands of fans who loved Coach Joe. He was an original. There was no one else like him.”

Texas Rangers

0-0, Tied for 1st in the AL West, Magic Number: 163

Yesterday:  Did not play

Today:  Game 1 vs. White Sox | J Danks (0-0) vs. C Lewis (0-0) | 1:05 PM | FSSW | Preview

Lone Star Ball Series Preview

@JimBowdenESPNxm: Rangers & Kinsler are working towards a deal according to source that will include exercise of ’13 option & add 5 yrs at approx 14m per yr

@JimBowdenESPNxm: Sources told me that Kinsler’s AAV will be between $13.5m & $14m & Phillips AAV will be between $12.5m &$13m with some work left in both dls

5 situations to watch, per Chris:

1. Will Josh Hamilton and Mike Napoli career in 2012, or will pending free agency be a distraction?  I anticipate that neither will be back in 2013.  With that in mind, will Jon Daniels try to add their potential replacements as part of a 2012 push for a third straight World Series berth, or will the Rangers keep their powder dry until the winter?

2. Robbie Ross leaped past Martin Perez and Neil Ramirez on the organizational depth chart to earn a bullpen spot in Arlington.  Last season, Ramirez skipped AA entirely and spent the entire season at Round Rock.  Which of these pitchers will be in line to succeed Colby Lewis in the rotation in 2013, and which will be used as trade bait in the next 9-12 months?

3. When (not if) the club decides to make a move to shore up the offense, what will it be?  Ron Washington has talked openly of his wish for a right-handed hitting outfielder.  Will the Rangers acquire a starting outfielder and push David Murphy back to the fourth outfield spot, or will they be shopping solely for a bench bat?

4. Will Jurickson Profar be in Round Rock or Arlington by the end of the season?  How will his progress affect the potential shift of Ian Kinsler to the outfield (a position change to which Kinsler has indicated he is open)?

5. There’s a lot of smoke around a Kinsler contract extension, the most specific being the Jim Bowden tweet shown above…too much smoke for there not to be fire, I hope.  Look for Kins to be here for a long time, and to take over as FOF when Michael Young leaves after 2013.

Dallas Mavericks

31-24, 6th in the West

Yesterday: Did not play

Today: Game 56 vs. Trail Blazers | 7:30 PM | FSSW | Preview

Masters

Rory McIlroy melted down during the final round of the 2011 Masters Tournament, coughing up a 4-stroke lead and hitting golf shots into areas of Augusta National that had perhaps never been seen on television during tournament play.  It was painful to watch.  McIlroy, however, handled his disappointment with dignity, answered all media questions calmly, and vowed to learn from the experience.  At the very next major championship he entered, a mere two months later, he won the U.S. Open by 8 strokes.  There were no lingering effects from the Masters.  Therefore, it’s amazing to me that the collapse from a year ago is being pursued as a storyline at all.  Still, I saw this angle in numerous tournament previews, and even after a solid opening round of 71, apparently, some people still want to dredge it up.  Sports pundits, it’s ancient history…just like Game 6.

Go Rangers.

Where We Live Today Sports is the freelancedogs daily wrap-up of Metroplex Sports, inspired by a classic Jerry Jones quote, which can be read here.