Last night the Rangers tried to stop the bleeding that has gushed forth lately in Camden Yards against the Orioles by sending out Ace Cliff Lee to follow up a mercurial performance by C.J. Wilson. The previous night Lewis performed at a personal best level in terms of strikeouts and completely shut down the Oriole’s bats and did his part to put an end to recent woes in Baltimore.
After dishing out a 30-3 epic shellacking still in recent memory at Baltimore, the Rangers have become endemic of late when in town, and cannot seem to put together what it takes to get consecutive wins and close out a series.
Enter General Lee to put the hammer down.
Like the Civil War general, Lee, who showed his brilliant mastery and superior strategic skills only to be suffered a lack of man-power and resources, our Lee cannot be pinned to his outings results alone. These are after all team efforts: the bats have been anemic and the defense lacking.
Lee is suffering from lack of a win in the box score, but not necessarily through any fault of his own. On Friday night he was once again following his game plan in the way he worked the outside of the strike zone, except this time Baltimore was waiting, and pounced. It was his first true failure alone wearing Texas Blue and Red: can’t blame the offense or defense.
Lee, as he has done for various reasons to date since he was traded here from Seattle, lost against his opponent and this time gave up long balls to Wiggington and Scott, insuring the loss. It was a big disappointment for those of us who watched. We were left once again to envision a late season collapse in the making, and Lee’s performance and the lack of Ranger offense and rash of recent injuries sharpened that perception.
But the Rangers needed to write off that loss and get on with the season. Play the next game and rely upon short term memory so a win could be acheivable.
A team must do that, especially this time of year where the club enjoys such a late season lead over the Angles and Athletics. Look at the clubs that rally to advance to the post season. They do it.
And tonight the Rangers did.
Enter Tommy “Big Game” Hunter, who was recalled from the Brick Yard. He stepped in where he left off before being placed on the DL and commanded the game: 8 IP, 5H, 3R, 3ER. All he did was sandwich in the otherwise lack luster performance of Lee and helped the Rangers salvage a 2-2 split in Baltimore. Am excellent way to leave the road and head home.
The concerns of previous seasons for the Rangers though have been the starting pitching down the stretch. Young arms get tired and the team suffers. Over the last six weeks of the season many games are lost due to a failure of the starters to give a quality start. The Rangers go through a swoon that just kills the fan base and introduces question marks for the off season Hot Stove conversations.
But this year is different. Quite different. The pitching has matured to such a level that opening day starter Scott Feldman finds himself as long relief in the bull pen. How is that for maturity?
Wilson, Lewis and Hunter have emerged as take control guys. Even though Wilson has not won a game in several starts, he still keeps the team in a position to win. That luck is bound to change. Let leaves Harden and Lee.
Harden was a gamble in the off season, arriving here in large part due to his yet fulfilled potential that was based upon his ability to paint. So far that experiment has failed, but he is close to (once again) being healthy. The organization seems fit to keep sending him out every five days to see if he fulfills his expectation.
Feldman, who has at times shown his off sped brilliance and pitch to contact philosophy that rewarded him with a long term contract in the off season, struggled and seems comfortable relegated to long relief.
That Leaves Lee and the question begged to be asked and answered: should he be signed long term, considering his success since he arrived? I say YES for these reasons:
Lee is a stud, and if you compare his numbers over the last 4 years to the league, the only one who might shine brighter is Roy Halliday, which is the reason he was signed and Lee was traded.
Lee is a gamer, and he lays it on the line every game. His approach to the plate is solid, and he does seem after a handful of games to treat each like the other. He has not slacked.
He is a veteran, and with the young guns in the system he can be relied upon each and every game STILL to give the club 8 innings and. The upstarts cannot always be relied upon to do so.
