Thoughts from the Rangers-A’s feud, in which the instigators don’t look very good
A fireworks show will bring in people for all around, even if the show is at Oakland Coliseum.
In fairness to the worst ballpark in baseball, the playing surface is in great shape most of the season. Once the Oakland Raiders’ season starts, though, things go bad.
But various smells that have been floating around the past few days. That’s always troubling at this place considering its plumbing history.
The visiting clubhouse smelled a like a plumbing issue Thursday, and the men’s restroom in the press box Saturday smelled like an animal carcass has been in there few days.
Things on the field stunk, too.
Here’s some Rangers Reaction from a 5-4 loss to the Oakland A’s.
What was that?
Adrian Sampson didn’t make many friends last month during the best start of his career, a complete-game win in which he allowed only one run to the A’s.
That run was a homer by Mark Canha, and afterward Sampson thought Canha had been “disrespectful” as he watched the homer leave.
That left Canha in a huff the next day, and A’s center fielder Ramon Laureano alleged that Sampson stepped on his bat after retiring him to end an inning.
Flash to Saturday night. The A’s, whose mascot is an elephant, hadn’t forgotten.
Canha took Sampson deep in the second inning and ran around the bases like he’d just won the World Series. He delivered a series of enthusiastic forearm bashes with his teammates.
Sampson hit Canha in the fourth, on a 2-2 pitch.
Everything seemed to have simmered down until Laureano batted in the sixth. He crushed a Sampson fastball for a home run, and then put on a show. He walked slowly out of the box, waited for Sampson to turn around, then asked if Sampson wanted to step on his bat now.
Sampson moved toward him, and the dugouts got antsy. No one charged the field, but no one was particularly happy.
The dugouts emptied in the eighth inning after Laureano was hit by a Rafael Montero pitch. A whole lot of people weren’t happy.
A few thoughts:
▪ When did Sampson, Canha and Laureano become such established MLB stars that they can start to enforce the game’s unwritten rules? Sampson is hanging onto his spot in Rangers’ rotation, Canha is a part-time player, and Laureano, a good everyday player, hasn’t even played a full season in the majors.
▪ Canha and Laureano didn’t need to act out to send a message to Sampson. Their home runs did the trick. Sampson knew what was going on. Now, Sampson didn’t need to hit Canha. Because it came on a 2-2 pitch, it might not have been intentional. It just doesn’t look good.
▪ The A’s hit four runs off Sampson, so it’s not like Canha and Laureano did anything special. Laureano’s shot gave the A’s a 5-0 lead before the Rangers scored four times in the seventh and had the potential tying run thrown out at home.
▪ The Rangers insisted they didn’t have Montero throw at Laureano in the eighth inning. Their story is feasible. They Rangers told Montero to speed up his delivery so that Canha didn’t steal second base in a one-run game. When that happens, pitchers are more likely to leave a pitch arm side. Montero is a right-hander. Laureano is a righty hitter. It was a one-run game. That’s not the time to hit a guy.
▪ A few Rangers veterans remarked that the dust-up showed how much the game is changing. Jeff Mathis, a 15-year veteran, said that he isn’t sure what’s supposed to be fun these days and what crosses the line. Young players get their dander up at the slightest of slights, as Canha and Laureano did. Sampson did, too, in June with Canha’s reaction. Young players don’t know how to police themselves, and the result what happened Saturday.
▪ However, the Rangers have taken note that the A’s will pimp a home run more than other clubs. While Canha said that Sampson should have expected what happened, the A’s need to brace themselves for more reactions like Sampson’s if they continue ticking off opposing teams. “They’re pimping every homer,” shortstop Elvis Andrus said.
▪ One more: The Rangers weren’t sure (or weren’t saying) what had Jurickson Profar, their former teammate, so fired up. He and Asdrubal Cabrera started jawing, and Cabrera tried to make his way to Profar. Andrus was seen talking to Profar. What was he saying? To paraphrase, it was to shut the heck up.
Major Minor move
How should we know that the Rangers’ front office, in its usual stealth mode at this time of year, is planning to trade Mike Minor?
They moved his next start from Tuesday to Wednesday.
Wednesday is the trade deadline. As manager Chris Woodward explained, the Rangers don’t want to have to scramble on Tuesday in case they trade Minor or if teams working on a deal don’t want him to pitch.
They might have to scramble Wednesday, but not like they would have to scramble Tuesday.
Minor, for his part, hasn’t heard much, though he wouldn’t be surprised if he was traded Sunday or Monday so that he could start for his new team as early as Tuesday or Wednesday.
He last pitched Wednesday at Seattle.
All that came from the Rangers on Saturday is that things have been really quiet on the trade front, to not put much stock in the latest Minor-to-Twins rumor, and they have dispatched scouts across the country to look at potential trade targets.
Tuesday and Wednesday should be really busy days.
Payano to pitch
A bit of news here to close out Rangers Reaction: The Rangers will let right-hander Pedro Payano make his first career start Sunday rather than use an opener.
Payano pitched well Tuesday at Seattle in earning his first big-league win in his longest outing, five innings of one-run ball. Brett Martin worked the first inning.
Woodward said that Payano is a good matchup for the A’s, whose hottest hitters (Laureano and Marcus Semien) bat from the right side.
His main pitch is a sinker, which is designed to keep the ball on the ground.
If it’s an effective pitch, he won’t have to worry about the A’s pimping any home runs.
