3/14 Game Report: Rangers fall 8-4 to White Sox

This one started off pretty good, but boy, did it end in ugly fashion.

The scores in March may not matter very much, but there's really no other way to sum up the 9th inning implosion by Texas minor leaguers Zach Phillips and Brendan Garr - the latter of whom gave up the final coup de grace to the 'Sox Brian Anderson. Ugly. But still not disastrous or discouraging, considering neither of the two are on any top prospect lists (and again, it's only March).

The first few innings where pretty crisp (unless of course you suffered the unfortunate fate of listening to "Hawk" Harrelson on the White Sox TV broadcast, in which case you probably had the mute button engaged by the second inning). Southpaws John Danks and Matt Harrison battled pitch for pitch in the early going, with Harrison looking comfortable and in control despite surrendering three extra base hits. Aside from Brian Anderson's second inning homer, he didn't allow a runner to reach third base and struck out four in his four innings of work.

Danks worked through the 5th inning, allowing only a single run in the fourth, when Marlon Byrd doubled home Joaquin Arias, the Rangers offensive story of the day, to tie the game at one. In four AB's, Arias would have 3 of the Rangers 6 hits and up his spring average to a cool .526. His enigmatic throwing arm managed to look fair (for lack of a better description) as he split his time in the field between second base and shortstop.

The Rangers did manage to take a 4-1 lead in the top of the 6th, when they knocked the 'Sox first reliever of the day, DJ Carrasco around for 3 runs, including a 2 out RBI single up the middle by Chris Davis - hopefully a sign that he might finally be finding his swing this spring. But the Sox chipped back into the lead with single runs off Josh Rupe and Jason Jennings (neither of whom looked particularly sharp today in this bloggers opinion, particularly Rupe) in the 6th and 7th innings. Jennings managed to strand the tying run at third in the 8th (after allowing a 1 out double) but for everyone expecting to see CJ Wilson close things out (and apparently make the spring debut of his new full windup), they where in for a disappointment.

As Evan Grant reported after the game, the Rangers one-time closer apparently developed a blister on his pitching hand this morning and didn't even make the trip from Surprise to Glendale today - and according to Jeff Wilson of the FWST, could be out for up to a week. In his stead, the Rangers where forced to call upon minor league lefty Zach Phillips (who spent a lackluster 2008 with the Rangers high-A Bakersfield club) for the bottom of the 9th.

A double, a walk, a single, and a walk later the game was tied and Mike Maddux was removing Phillips for righty Brendan Garr (who did nail down 7 saves last year for AA Frisco). With the bases loaded, Garr threw four pitches to Brian Anderson, the last of which went sailing over the left field wall, sending Hawk Harrelson into a giddy fit of cliches and drawing the curtain on the afternoon's activities.

So, to sum up the afternoon:

Matt Harrison was pretty good, save for the three pitches that got blasted for the homer and two doubles. Nobody else really looked like they impressed on the mound today though - Derrick Turnbow muddled through a scoreless inning in the 5th despite a walk and a hit, but Rupe looked shaky and while Jennings wasn't bad, he just doesn't look like he's 100% recovered from his last arm surgery, either. You probably can just throw out the 9th inning, since Phillips just seemed pretty much overmatched, leading to Garr coming into a tough situation. The bats where fairly quiet, save for Arias - not a bad, just quiet. The real story will be seeing how CJ Wilson recovers from his blister, as a healthy CJ goes a long way towards shoring up the bullpen behind Frank Francisco.

Tomorrow it's back to Surprise to host the Padres. Kevin Millwood will be the starter - I haven't found yet who will follow him on the mound, but I'll update with the names if/when I do.