[milatown]

The Rangers have had a powerful offense all year long and they show it to the White Sox Sunday in a 10-2 victory that proves to everybody that the Rangers are a valid contender in the Al West.

Rookie John Rheinecker (2-0) pitched eight innings giving up seven hits and two runs with four strikeouts in his third start. It was his second consecutive strong outing since being recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma.

The Rangers are in first place now and they will hold to it if they play like that the rest of the season. It will be a very nice surprise to see the Rangers as the winners of the AL West at the end of the regular season. With the talent and the discipline they have it won’t be difficult for that to happen.

Lineup
1. Gary Matthews Jr., CF. 2. Michael Young, SS. 3. Mark Teixeira, 1st B. 4. Hank Blalock, 3rdB. 5. Mark DeRosa, RF. 6. Kevin Mench, DH. 7. Brad Wilkerson, LF. 8. Jerry Hairston, 2nd B. 9. Gerald Laird, C.

Ortiz and Ramirez hit two of Boston's four homers and drew two of its three bases-loaded walks to lead the Red Sox over the Tigers 8-3 Sunday. Matt Clement pitched six effective innings, allowing six hits, three runs and three errors for his fifth win of the season.

Detroit only trailed 5-3 going into the eighth, but three pitchers combined to walk four batters and hit another in a 50-pitch inning that gave three runs to the Red Sox extending the lead to five leaving the final score of the game like that.

It was a good series for the Red Sox who won two of the three games against the first place Tigers and with that their kind of saying they can still defeat any team in the league and are also big contenders for the World Series.

This Sunday Boston match against a very powerful Texas team and it will be a hitting duel between these two that will raise the pulse of all the spectators at Fenway Park. If you like sports betting don’t miss the chance to bet on this exciting game.

Lineup
1. Coco Crisp, CF. 2. Kevin Youkilis, 3rd B. 3. David Ortiz, DH. 4. Manny Ramirez, LF. 5. Trot Nixon, RF. 6. Jason Varitek, C. 7. J.T. Snow, 1st B. 8. Alex Gonzalez, SS. 9. Alex Cora, 2nd B.

[pete_b]

This is a great post. I have to agree with the author. The Rangers are a definite power house and their pitching isn't too shabby. However the AL is so strong this year. Just look at these teams. The Yankees, BoSox, WhiteSox, Tigers. Now look at the teams that aren't even in contention: Indians, Jays, A's ...heck even the M's or the Angels could surprise the West. The AL has a great lineup of hitting and pitching this year. The rivalries between the BoSox and the Yanks has fueled an onslaught of acquiring mega talent teams. The White Sox are incredibly strong and have a lot to defend. The Tigers are hungry. The Indians have a ton of potential and are starting to show it. The Jays aren't far behind first place in the East and have a solid team that would be leading the West right now. It will be very interesting to see what owner wants it badly enough to make the trade that will make or break them. Injuries are a big issue too. Nothing is predictable in the AL right now..or in baseball for that matter.

[legend]

That's for sure. Just look at the Cardinals. Rolling along and then Pujols gets hurt, allowing the rest of that division to creep back into things. I will be absolutely amazed if Detroit can hang in there too much longer, unless they make Zumeya the closer soon and get Todd Jones out of that role. They do not have the bats to stay where they are against good pitching, but the owner may be willing to spend to bring some in.
Texas is lucky to be in a sorry division. The Oakland lineup is suspect and the Angels have been unable to get things together. I believe that before the year is out, the Angels will make a run at things under Scosia and be in first by September.