Texas Rangers @ Boston Red Sox -- April 18, 2012

1st

It's all the more impressive that Hamilton is hitting for power but still staying focused enough to know when to just make contact and drop in a line drive. His head is right on every pitch and he's waiting on the ball when he needs to.

There's not really an excuse for walking the leadoff hitter when the Rangers have been hitting the way they have. Holland should be attacking the zone right from the start and trusting his teammates to back him up if they need to.
Great pitching, even in pressure situations, has been the story of the Rangers rotation so far.

2nd

More tests coming up for Holland with runners on and nobody out.

2-0 RED SOX

Home run and the Red Sox go up by two early; sounds strangely familiar. Let's hope the rest of the game goes like last night too.
Interesting mix of strikeouts and loud outs so far from Holland. Hard to gauge where his stuff is at tonight.

3rd

Kinsler seems a little too relaxed on the basepaths sometimes.

The Red Sox outfield has mastered the art of relaying a ball off the Monster, but definitely still a blown call at second by the umpire.

2-1 RED SOX

I was starting to wonder when we would see the first "OH NO" inducing head-first slide from Hamilton. He's getting it done with power, batting average, his glove, his arm, and now speed on the basepaths.

Cruz has looked like he's letting the pressure to perform get to him in certain situations this year. I think a big part of the Rangers' success has been their ability to show great focus while still being able to avoid letting the mental stress of any situation impact them. Cruz sometimes looks like he has room to work on bringing this calmness to his game. 

Nice work from Holland to get back to the dugout quick. The offense was threatening last inning, and you like to see him give them a chance to stay in their rhythm.

4th

3-2 RANGERS

Once again, the Rangers don't waste much time before they use the long ball to make up a deficit. Napoli is officially on fire. 

Beckett is giving Brandon Snyder some serious trouble tonight.

If the Rangers put up a few more runs soon, we might start to see a very discouraged Red Sox team. With the game unfolding in a very similar way to the beatdown that happened last night, I'm sure they would be a pretty frustrated group with a little more separation in this score after already giving up the lead.

5th

Holland's quick innings and Hamilton actually grounding into an out for once could be signs that these pitchers are starting to settle in. 

Seems like the leadoff batter has been a struggle for Holland in several innings.

Hard to get the high curveball for a called strike on a batter as small as Pedroia.

Holland has done a great job of damage control tonight.

6th

Cruz has got to know when to take a little bit off his swing.

The Red Sox batters have been pretty demonstrative with their disagreement about a few called strikes in this game, but they really haven't been that questionable of calls from the umpire. 

7th

Beckett's curveball continues to baffle Snyder. I'm sure Bobby Valentine is willing to push Beckett as far as he can go, and then some, with how much his bullpen had to work last night.

Even with the tying run in scoring position, Holland looks like he should stay in this game. His pitches are still looking very sharp.

Good idea by Napoli and nice pitch from Holland testing the same spot over the inside corner after a near miss. Thought the umpire would call it the second time. 

Napoli is calling some very smart pitches from Holland based on the way these at-bats are unfolding. He's playing mind games with the Red Sox batters. 

8th

Have to agree with the move by the Red Sox of walking Beltre to get to Cruz.

A walk after an intentional walk has got to be infuriating for a manager. After showing a pitcher confidence in his ability to attack a certain batter, the pitcher responds by shying away from contact.

4-2 RANGERS

What a job by Gentry holding his ground and letting that pitch hit him in the ankle to push in a run. Ouch.

6-2 RANGERS

Bad execution by the Red Sox pitchers and more great hitting by the Rangers is adding up. This is how a team is supposed to respond when the opposition gifts them with baserunners.
I'd say a double play was more along the lines of what Valentine was looking for with his second attempt this inning at the intentional walk strategy.

 9th

Kinsler finally pushes his luck too far straying away from first base.

The Rangers don't change their style of play when they have a comfortable lead, just like they don't change it when they're trailing. Consistency of effort has translated into wins.

I like that Ron Washington is bringing in Nathan in this type of game. It's as close to a save situation as it could be without actually being one. Hopefully that makes for a little bit less stress and a quick inning to end this game.

Even with the umpire bailing him out on one of the pitches, Nathan still manages to find a way to walk the leadoff batter. No way is he going to let this happen again though, not with a four run lead.

Nice use of the breaking pitches to get Ortiz out of the way. He's a batter that can spark a comeback pretty quick if he gets a hold of one, especially with the crowd looking like they're dying for any excuse to get back into this game.

The moment of hesitation by Beltre as he looked for a play at second seems like it led to the wild throw. Snyder came way too close to getting trampled at first.

6-3 RANGERS

Not much blame goes to Nathan for that run; Nelly misplays another ball in right field by hesitating on a sinking line drive.

Washington looks like he's getting fed up with the 9th inning dramatics.

FINAL: 6-3 RANGERS