NEW YORK – Thanks in part to the influence of a 300-game winner, and the brother of a 300-game winner, the Rangers no longer have to try to out-slug people.In the most remarkable turnaround of the season, Texas' pitching staff is actually pretty good, with a 4.46 ERA after shutouts Thursday and Friday and allowing three runs Saturday. If the Rangers can keep it there all year, it would mark the first time since 1993 the franchise had an ERA better than 4.50.
Not coincidentally, Texas leads the AL West at 35-26, the second-best record in the league.
"This is my third year here," right-hander Brandon McCarthy said, "but in two years I got sick to death of hearing, 'Texas pitchers stink. Texas pitchers stink.'
"Now we can turn those tables a little bit, be the group that maybe changes that whole mindset. It would be an awesome accomplishment."
The credit goes mainly to the pitchers, who like to share it with a solid defense.
And there are two other men involved. Team president Nolan Ryan, the Hall of Famer who pitched into his mid-40s, challenged Kevin Millwood late last season to get in better shape. And Ryan has preached the value of endurance and old-fashioned starters' working deep into games.
"He let it be known that he wants starters to throw more pitches, stay in games longer," said Millwood, who is second in the AL to CC Sabathia with an average of 110 pitches per start. "And that's what we've done. Maybe that gave us a little confidence to know that they want us out there longer."
But in order for pitchers to work deeper into games, they had to be more efficient with their pitches. And that's where new pitching coach Mike Maddux comes in. The Rangers hired Maddux, the older brother of 300-game winner Greg Maddux (and a former big-league pitcher himself) away from the Brewers, and he has had an immediate impact.
"He's a teacher," manager Ron Washington said. "He's been helping them to make adjustments through the course of the the ballgame. ... He's certainly built up their confidence. He has them pounding the strike zone. Those are the type of things you want your pitching staff to do.
"He deserves a lot of credit for building the trust that he has with those pitchers. They trust him and the results have shown."
Millwood praised Maddux for his preparation and gameplans, but Maddux's biggest point of emphasis has been eliminating timidity.
"Pitching's a mindset, man," Maddux said. "You've got to take the at-bats to them and be the aggressor."
McCarthy echoed the idea: "Just let them hit it, let our defense take care of what they're supposed to do and always be on the attack. Take the at-bats to the hitter instead of letting them take it to you. Kind of simple things, but you forget about them."
The defense is a major factor. The Rangers are second in the league in defensive efficiency – percentage of balls in play turned into outs – after moving Michael Young to third base to allow 20-year-old whiz Elvis Andrus to play shortstop and bringing in Andruw Jones and Omar Vizquel (21 Gold Gloves between them) as reserves/mentors.
"It's as good as you can ask for," McCarthy said of the defense.
Said Millwood: "The defense has been a huge part of it. We're not a team that's going to strike out a ton of guys. We're going to pitch to contact. And that means we need our defense to play well. And they've been pretty outstanding so far."
Second baseman Ian Kinsler said it's a symbiotic relationship. The defenders are more into the games, and more on their toes, because the pitching staff is more aggressive and the games are closer.
"It's fun to play defense," he said. "[The pitchers] have confidence in their ability. They have confidence in the stuff that they're throwing to the plate."
Some of statistical change isn't radical: from 17.3 pitches per inning last year to 16.4 this year, a dropoff of only about 5 percent. But the staff has gone from 25th in the majors in walk percentage to 13th.
And the starters are averaging 6.1 innings per start, second in the AL to Toronto.
"We're aware of pitch counts," Maddux said. "But they're not limits. That's not a limit. That's not a ceiling – 'As soon as you get to this number right here, you're done.' The ninth inning is when you're done."
So after making 457 pitching changes in 2008, Washington this year has made the fewest in the league, on a pace for 393.
"You're only as good as your bullpen," Maddux said. "And the starting pitching have to protect the bullpen.
Most impressive of all are the results. Texas' 3.57 ERA for May led the American League.
Hard to believe that a team known for a lineup of thumpers might turn into a pitching-and-defense outfit.
"That's a manager's dream," Washington said, "to see balls put in play and constantly being caught."
Overheard and Understood
• Final total on the draft: 1,521 players selected. The Angels' 40th-round draft pick, catcher/outfielder Assad Ali from Niles, Mich., is a son of Muhammad Ali. Patrick Schuster, the Florida high-schooler who threw four straight no-hitters this year, went to Arizona in the 13th round. And Texas' sixth-round pick was Ruben Sierra Jr., son of the former Rangers outfielder.
| Chart of the Week | ||
|---|---|---|
| Gary Sheffield on Friday homered in his 42nd different ballpark – new Yankee Stadium – giving him the fourth-highest total in history: | ||
| Player | Parks | Most |
| Sammy Sosa |
45 |
Wrigley, 293 |
| Ken Griffey Jr. |
43 |
Kingdome, 198 |
| Fred McGriff |
43 |
Atl.-Fulton, 58 |
| Gary Sheffield |
42 |
Land Shark, 68 |
• Random draft factoid: The Yankees drafted Fred Lynn in the third round in 1970. He didn't sign, went to Southern Cal and got drafted three years later by the Red Sox.
• Houston's Ivan Rodriguez on Saturday caught in his 2,224th game, leaving him two short of Carlton Fisk's major-league record.
• The Marlins faced five former Cy Young Award winners in an eight-day span and went 3-2 in those games. Florida lost to Barry Zito on June 5 and Tim Lincecum on June 7 but beat Randy Johnson last Monday, won against Chris Carpenter on Tuesday and won a game started by Roy Halladay on Friday.
• In the Giants' effort to add a hitter, "All they're doing is dangling [Jonathan] Sanchez out there," said an official from another team. "Nobody wants Sanchez, and if Sanchez was pitching the way he could, [San Francisco] wouldn't be talking about him either." Sanchez has 43 walks in 57 2/3 innings.
• Could St. Louis and Arizona be a fit for a trade? The Cardinals seek a bat, the Diamondbacks have Chad Tracy and Mark Reynolds capable of playing third, and Arizona is known to be enamored of St. Louis prospect Brett Wallace.
• The small-market Indians are burdened with some rather bad contracts (of their own doing); Travis Hafner has $40.25 million and three years remaining after 2009, Jake Westbrook (Tommy John surgery) is on the hook for $11 million next year; Jhonny Peralta (now playing a lot of third base but with a .335 slugging percentage) makes $4.6 million next year, and Fausto Carmona, now in the minors, is signed for $11 million the next two years.
• San Diego's Adrian Gonzalez walked at least once in 10 straight games (20 total) before not drawing one Friday, and it's about time. Why does he ever see a strike in that lineup? "They're starting not to [pitch to him]," one scout said. "I don't know why it took two months to figure that out." And an advance scout gave his report on how to pitch Gonzalez by drawing four fingers on a piece of paper – i.e., intentionally walk him every time.
• The Astros have four walkoff wins this year. Three have come against the Cubs.
• Seattle went 4-1 with a split in its first six series. Then the Mariners went 2-8 in the next 10 series. And they went into this weekend's set with Colorado having won four straight series.
