08.07.10 Notes.Qxp
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Texas Rangers (64-45) at Oakland Athletics (54-54) RHP Rich Harden (4-3, 5.25) vs. LHP Gio Gonzalez (9-7, 3.69) Game #110 • Road #53 (28-24) • Sat., Aug. 7, 2010 • Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum • 3:10 p.m. (CDT) • FOX / 1080 AM / KFLC WINS AND LOSSES: The Rangers beat the A’s 5-1 in last night’s series open- BROKEN RECORD: Cliff Lee tossed 8.0 innings for a 10th straight game last er…club has won 3 straight, matching longest win streak of 2nd “half” (also night and did not issue a walk…he has still allowed only one unintentional walk July 18-20…last longer win streak was season-high 11 straight, June 12-24, over 51.1 innings and 195 batters faced in a Texas uniform…Lee’s 10 straight 2nd-longest win streak in team history…club is 4-3 on this 9-game, 10-day games of 8.0-or-more innings are the most by any pitcher since Toronto’s Pat road trip to Anaheim (1-2), Seattle (2-1), and Oakland (1-0)…Texas has won 7 Hentgen had a 12-game run in 1996 on his way to the Cy Young Award…Lee’s of 11, 9 of 14 and 12 of 18, and is 14-7 (.667) since All-Star break, 2nd-best current streak is just the 5th double-digit games string of 8.0+ innings in the record in majors since break behind only Minnesota (15-7, .682)…Texas has last 26 years (beginning 1985)…the current streak is the longest by any left- won 6 of last 8,series and are 14-4-0 in last 18 series overall…club has won hander in 27 years, since Yankees’ Ron Guidry had 15 straight from July 18- 31 of 48 beginning June 12 and 50 of 81 since May 6…club’s 59-36 (.621) Sept. 29, 1983…Lee has gone at least 8.0 innings in each of his first 6 outings record beginning April 22 is best in majors…at 64-45 (.587), the Rangers with Texas, the longest streak at any point by any Ranger since Bobby Witt had have the 3rd-best overall record in both the A.L. and majors…current record 12-in-a-row from July 10-Sept. 9, 1988. is 2nd-best in team history after 109 games. LONGEST STREAKS OF 8.0-OR-MORE INNINGS, 1985-2010 RANGERS’ BEST RANGERS’ BEST Single-season streaks only 109-GAME RECORDS 110-GAME RECORDS G Pitcher Team(s) Dates Rk W-L Year(s) Rk W-L Year(s) 12 Bert Blyleven Cleveland/Minnesota June 6-Aug. 3, 1985 1 66-43 1999 1 66-44 1999 2 64-45 2010 2 62-48 1977, 2009 12 Bobby Witt Texas July 10-Sept. 9, 1988 3 62-47 1977 3 61-49 1996 12 Pat Hentgen Toronto July 28-Sept. 24, 1996 11 Doug Drabek Pittsburgh June 30-Aug. 22, 1992 BEST RECORDS IN MAJORS, 2010 10 Cliff Lee Seattle/Texas June 18, 2010-current Win Pct. Team W-L G .620 New York-AL 67-41 108 QUICK 100: Lee improved his career record to 100-57 with his win last .615 Tampa Bay 67-42 109 night…according to Elias Sports Bureau, only 5 active pitchers reached 100 .587 Texas 64-45 109 wins in as few decisions as Lee: Tim Hudson (100-45), Roy Oswalt (100-47), .583 San Diego 63-45 108 Johan Santana (100-47), Roy Halladay (100-50) and Andy Pettitte (100-54). .573 Boston / SF 63-47 110 PITCHING IN: Texas pitchers have allowed a total of one run over the past 2 RARE LEAD: Texas enters tonight with a season-high 9.5-game lead over games (18.0 innings)…the bullpen’s current 3.14 ERA is lowest all season, second-place Oakland in the A.L. West…this marks just the 2nd day in club and ranks 2nd in the A.L., right behind Tampa Bay (3.12)…overall staff’s cur- history to have a lead as large as 9.5 games, as the only other time the rent 3.76 ERA ranks 3rd in the league, and is lowest in nearly 3 months since Rangers held a lead of this size was a franchise-best 10.0-game advantage May 13 (3.57)…some Rangers perspective on current pitching figures: through Sept. 30, 1999…Texas could at least match, and possibly surpass that • The current 3.76 team ERA would be the lowest by a Texas staff since lead- mark with a win today…Rangers have the largest division lead in baseball, a ing the A.L. with a club-record 3.31 mark in 1983, the only year the Rangers full 8.0 games better than any other division leader, as no other team has a have ever pulled that trick…would be first sub-4.00 figure since 1990 lead larger than 1.5 games…have led by at least 7.5 games for 12 straight (3.83)…would be 7th-lowest ERA in team history. days…Rangers have had sole possession of first for 60 straight days and have • Team’s current .244 opponents average, which ranks 2nd in A.L. behind spent 96 total days in first this season (5th-most in a season in club history). Tampa Bay (.240), would be lowest since 1989 (club-record .239). • Relievers’ current 3.14 ERA would be Rangers’ lowest since 1981 (2.91), HIGH WATER: Rangers enter today at season-high 19 games above .500 and would be the 5th-lowest in team history…bullpen’s .232 opponents aver- for the first time in 2010…high water mark in 2009 was 19 games twice: after age ranks 2nd in A.L. and would be 3rd-lowest in franchise history (including wins both Sept. 9 at Cleveland (79-60) and Sept. 13 vs. Seattle-G1 (80- the Washington years) behind only 1979 (.225) and 1981 (.230). 61)…this is just the 5th season in club history to reach as many as 19 games • Rotation’s 4.08 ERA would be lowest since 1992 (3.91), which would make over .500 at some point in a campaign…the others: 1999 (31 over), 1977 (26), it lowest since moving into Rangers Ballpark in 1994. 1996 (22), and 2009 (19)…this is just the 3rd time since 1999 for the club to be at least 19 games over, the other 2 instances coming last year. ON THE ROAD: Rangers have won 7 of last 9 road series since the beginning of June, with only series losses in that span coming in Anaheim…club’s 28-24 LAST, NOT LEAST: Taylor Teagarden contributed to 3 of the Rangers’ 5 runs, (.538) road record is 4th-best in A.L. and 5th-best in majors in ‘10…this marks doubling and scoring with 2 outs in the 3rd to tie the game, then hitting a 2-run 2nd time this season for Rangers to be 4 games above .500 away from homer in the 5th to extend a 2-1 lead at that point…it was the 2nd home run Arlington…last time to be 5 games over on the road in a season?: Sept. 5, in a span of 3 starts for Teagarden, who has more home runs over the past 9 2006 (37-32)…Rangers have won 3 straight and 18 of last 25 away from days than Josh Hamilton, Vladimir Guerrero, or Nelson Cruz (one HR each). home, going 20-9 beginning June 1, this after starting 2010 8-15 on the road. BEST ROAD RECORDS IN MAJORS SINCE JUNE 1 Teagarden’s performance extended a season-long trend for Rangers no. 9 bat- Win Pct. Team W-L G ters…Texas 9-hole batters lead the majors with a .282 average and .328 on- .690 Texas 20-9 29 base pct. this season, ranking 3rd in slugging (.392) behind only the White Sox .654 New York-AL 17-9 26 (.416) and Blue Jays (.398)…oddly enough, the .282 average ranks as the 4th- .600 Chicago-AL 18-12 30 highest for any slot in the Texas lineup, trailing only 2-hole (.299), cleanup .600 San Francisco 21-14 35 (.304) and 5th slot (.344). .563 Cincinnati 18-14 32 HIGHEST BATTING AVERAGES FOR NO. 9 BATTERS, 2010 Avg. Team H / AB BAY AREA: The Rangers are 6-4 vs. Oakland this season, 2-2 at the .282 Texas 107 / 380 Coliseum…Texas has won 5 of last 6 overall, including taking 2 of 3 last week .276 Chicago-AL 102 / 370 July 27-29 in Arlington…Texas has gone 8-14 vs. Athletics beginning May 31, .271 Kansas City 102 / 377 2009…in the all-time series, the Rangers lead, 289-282 overall, but A’s lead .265 Oakland 95 / 358 149-135 in Oakland…the club is is 6-8 at the Oakland Coliseum since the start .253 Boston 98 / 388 of 2009 after going 21-20 from 2005-08. O.K. AT PLATE: Texas batters have 5-or-more runs in 3 straight (3-0), batting GO WEST: Rangers are in a stretch of 16 straight vs. West (9-5), having gone .297 (33-111) in those 3 contests to rise from .275 to .276…it marks the first 23-12 (.657) against the West in 2010, including 9-7 on the road…Texas owns time for Texas to score 5+ runs in 3 consecutive games since doing so in 4 the best intradivision record in baseball.