Derek Holland is on record saying he was really looking forward to pitching in Wrigley Field, and it showed last night (See here for a great piece on Holland). Derek did what Wash asks for all his starring pitchers to do: keep the Rangers in the game. Then Adrian Beltre did his thing. A two run homer late in the contest put the Rangers on top 4-0 and appeared to seal up this sleepy game. But as we all know it didn’t quite happen like that. Tanner Scheppers began having some trouble so Wash went to the pen and got closer Joe Nathan. Lets just say that Joe did not have his best night as a closer. In fact, if it wasn’t for a great diving catch by Craig Gentry (if you didn’t see it you really need to) the Cubs would have wound up stealing that game away from the Rangers. Now I heard a multitude of people question why Jeff Baker was still in left field in the ninth inning, and although it may be a fair question, you have to remember that the Rangers were up 4-0 and cruising along just fine before all that broke lose. And last night Gentry made a case for himself to get more playing time. He basically stole home, even though he was called out on the play the replay showed he was safe. And then of course the pre-mentioned game saving catch. I would not be surprised to see Ron reward him with more time. Of course, knowing Ron I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t reward Gentry either.
The Rangers send Grimm to the hill tonight. He just needs to keep the ball down and allow 3 runs or less, on my opinion of the Rangers want to win yet another series. Have fun watching the game.
