The Rangers are, ostensibly, feeling a lot like the New York Mets at the moment.
The Mets would have won the N.L. East by 12 games in 2008, had it not been for that ever-pesky ninth inning. Of course, baseball games last 9 innings, the Mets went home, and their rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies (and their league-best bullpen), went on to win the World Series.
This is why the Mets spent $37 million to bring K-Rod to New York. This is also why they went out and got the large, and in charge, J.J. Putz for the set-up role. This is why the bullpen can be somewhat of a lynch-pin for a baseball team.
And this is why the Texas Rangers’ locker room resembled a wake after Sunday’s loss to the Detroit Tigers.
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Kevin Millwood pitched better than anyone could have ever hoped, posting four hits, no walks, and six strikeouts over seven shutout innings. The game seemed to be in control, the Rangers up 4-0 on home runs by Ian Kinsler and Josh Hamilton, when C.J. Wilson took the hill in the eighth.
Of course, this wasn’t the case. Wilson and Warner Madrigal endured an ugly eighth, as Detroit posted six runs, stealing the win.
Sunday marks the second time the bullpen has struggled in the past three days. In Friday’s 15-2 loss, Warner Madrigal and Josh Rupe combined to surrender seven runs on only four hits over three innings.
Scott Feldman struggled in his appearance on Thursday against Cleveland, though the Rangers escaped with the win.
This trend is increasingly frightening.
However, for the sake of optimism, I should mention that closer Frank Francisco has a 0.00 ERA, 2 strikeouts and a save on the season.
Getting him the ball, it seems, will be the tricky part.
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