It's safe to say that a lot of teams struggle with Vladimir Guerrero, but the Rangers probably lose a lot of sleep at night thinking about The Impaler. Guerrero had an off night on Monday, going only 1-for-3 with an RBI and a walk, but he made up for it Tuesday night.
Guerrero went 4-for-4 with a home run, 3 RBI, and an intentional walk as the Angels beat the Rangers 8-3 for their second straight against the Rangers to start the season. Tuesday night's performance improved Vlad's career number against the Rangers to .442 with 21 homers, 49 RBI, and 49 runs in 56 games. So if Guerrero played a full 162 games against Texas, he'd finish the season with 61 home runs, and 142 RBI and runs.
Decent, I guess.
There were also some extracurricular affairs going on in this game. Vladdy was the recipient of three fastballs very high and tight from Vicente Padilla. It's not exactly the first time that the Rangers, and Padilla in particular, have treated Guerrero in such a fashion as the teams had a bench clearing brawl last season.
It's pretty obvious that the Rangers' tactics against Guerrero are ineffective, and maybe it's time they tried something new. Like say, killing him in his sleep? Hitting him over the head with a baseball bat during batting practice? They have to do something, because they still have to face Vlad and the Angels 17 more times this season, including Wednesday afternoon in the series finale.
