Starting Five: Rangers Boot Astros Again

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
The "Silver Boot" will stay in Arlington, Texas.

It ain't the Axe, or the Old Oaken Bucket, but the Silver Boot is an attempt to add college football flavor to interleague play, as it goes to the winner of the Texas-Houston six-game series.

By winning 6-1 on Tuesday, the Rangers went up 4-0 in the series and clinched the boot for the third straight year.

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"It's good to win it," outfielder David Murphy said. "If it signifies wins, I'm all for it."

Ian Kinsler homered twice Tuesday for Texas, which has outscored Houston 23-9 in the four games.

And how's the Silver Boot stoke the fans? Paid attendance was 21,676, lowest ever for an Astros visit to Arlington.

From the Trainer's Room ...
Boston's Jed Lowrie is scheduled to report to extended spring training for games Thursday and Friday as he recovers from left-wrist surgery. If there are no problems, he could play for Triple-A Pawtucket this weekend.

The Red Sox say they can wait to see how Lowrie does before trading for a shortstop, but other teams wonder if that's a negotiating ploy, and whether Boston would sacrifice offense at the position (Lowrie has a career .245 average) all season.

Numbers Game ...
With a four-hit, 132-pitch shutout of Arizona, Kansas City's Gil Meche ran his streak to six straight starts of not allowing more than two earned runs. Over that span, Meche is 2-1 with a 1.69 ERA, lowering his season mark from 4.60 to 3.31.

In Their Own Words ...
"Boy, that was a fun win right there. Our pitching pitched well and kept the distance there once we got ahead early and the bats just kept pouring on." – Tampa Bay's Ben Zobrist, who homered as the Rays pounded out a team-record 11 extra-base hits and stopped the Rockies' 11-game winning streak, 12-4.

Advance Scouting ...
The prescription for a 14.34 ERA? How about a visit from the Nationals? That's what Chien-Ming Wang gets tonight at Yankee Stadium (7:05 PM ET), but the woeful Nats can be dangerous with the bats. In fact, Washington is third in the NL in team OPS against right-handed pitching. Wang's only previous outing against the Nationals was a complete game – and a loss, on June 18, 2006, when he allowed a game-ending homer to Ryan Zimmerman. Washington is scheduled to start John Lannan, who grew up outside New York; the Yankees are 12-6 when facing a lefty starter.