I ‘effin hate Josh Hamilton

I believe I yelled that three times while watching the game last night.

Seriously, he made two great catches in the outfield, robbing the M’s of extra-base hits. And of course, he hit that dramatic ninth-inning home run off J.J. Putz to put the Rangers over the top of the M’s in their 5-4 victory. An inauspicious beginning to the 2008 season for Putz, who saved 40 out of 42 save opportunities last year, and is currently 1-for-2 in save opps this season. Let’s hope Hamilton isn’t as demoralizing to Putz as Albert Pujols’ moonshot was to Brad Lidge a few years ago. For Putz to follow Lidge’s decline = not good.

I’m sure Putz has the tenacity to bounce back from Hamilton’s blast. In these match-ups of power against power, the outcome could go either way. Sure, Putz got the best of Barry Bonds a couple years back, but who can forget that dramatic shot he gave up against Jason Varitek in the ninth inning two years ago?

Still, although Hamilton’s shot off Putz gave the Rangers their final lead, was it actually the moment when the M’s lost the game? The fangraph shows a series of peaks and valleys between the two teams throughout most of the game, with the Rangers continually teetering on the edge of pulling out the win. Hamilton’s two-run shot puts that third-inning throwing error by Felix Hernandez, allowing n unearned run, in a harsh light. Along with Richie Sexson flailing away (of course) at a pitch well low and outside of the strike zone with the bases loaded in the eighth inning. And no amount of four-hit games by Yuniesky Betancourt can help the team win if he’s going to be continually stranded on the base paths while the M’s leave a total of 15 runners on base.

Despite Hernandez doing an impressive job pitching (and fielding) his way out of a number of bases-loaded jams, and the M’s rallying to take a late eighth-inning lead, by every intent and purpose the team did not play good enough to win, and as such they ended up on the losing side of the ledger when it was all said and done. Coming into this season, we worried about the M’s offense being able to post the number of runs necessary to be competitive, and games like yesterday’s may be all too common for the rest of the season. In my pre-game write-up, I said the game would be ugly. And it was, but for all the wrong reasons.

So it’s easy to pin the loss on the All-Star shoulder of J.J. Putz, but yesterday’s debacle was a team effort. The fact the Vincente Padilla has now morphed into some sort of “Mariner killer”- the Rangers’ version of John Lackey- is inexcusable, as Padilla has limited the M’s to two runs in his past twelve innings tossed against Seattle. Disgusting. If Padilla can keep this form, which is doubtful, and Hamilton can keep his, which is likely, then the Rangers may be a better team then we’ve thought. Not good enough to challenge for the division title, but better.

Anyways, it’s begrudging to say that I don’t really effin’ hate Josh Hamilton. It’s good to see him succeed. And prove that he is quite the exceptional athlete.

All though the Rangers haven’t won a season-opening series since 2001, they might have their best chance to shake off that streak today when they face the M’s free-agent signee Carlos Silva in the rubber game. Silva has a 3-4 record against the Rangers in nine starts, allowing 67 hits (but just nine walks) in 52 innings. Silva’s command and control is well known (he did allow just nine walks in 188 innings three years ago) but that also means his pitches are continually around the strike zone. Silva better hope that park effects of Safeco Field help him more than they helped J.J. last night, as the Rangers are an aggressive team, and Ben Broussard in particular has enjoyed success off Carlos, enjoying a .313 average and three home runs for a 1.021 OPS in 32 at-bats. Ian Kinsler, however, has struggled against Carlos’ offerings, being held to one hit in twelve at-bats. The last time Silva faced the Rangers, he limited Texas’ powerhouse of a line-up to two runs in six innings.

The M’s will be facing Rangers right hander Jason Jennings, a former Rockie and Astro castoff who is making his debut with Texas. In two starts against Seattle, Jennings has dropped his only decision, allowing 21 base runners in 12.2 innings. Its been a couple of years since Jennings has faced the M’s, allowing just two runs in seven innings starting at Safeco in a game that the Rockies eventually pulled out an extra-innings win back in July 2006. The M’s do have a number of batters who have enjoyed success off Jennings. Richie Sexson might be able to find his power stroke , having hit two home runs and a 1.302 OPS in 14 at-bats against Jennings; Jose Vidro has four hits in 13 at-bats, with all of them going for extra-bases; and Adrian Beltre has nine hits in 20 at-bats, with three doubles.

Still, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Rangers are able to capitalize on Silva’s offerings than Jennings’. It’s hard to believe that this would be the outcome after the M’s win on Opening Day, but I think the Rangers will pull out the series victory, winning by a final score of 6-4.