Several things from Tuesday night's game:

1. In the second inning, he walked.

In the fourth inning, he singled.

In the sixth inning, his sacrifice fly gave Texas a 3-2 lead it wouldn't relinquish.

Partly because, in the seventh inning, he did this:

 

In the eighth inning, he singled in a run to push the lead to 4-2.

He's long had a reputation for doing the little things that help teams win.  Lately he's getting in the habit of doing big things, too.

He's a fundamentally reliable defender who is hitting .344/.419/.516.

Ramon Vazquez is a Professional Ballplayer.

2. The last time Texas won six series in a row was in 1999, when the club took seven straight sets between July 15 and August 4.  It was the Rangers' last playoff season.

3. December 22, 2007 Newberg Report:

"I love the idea, as I've dreamed repeatedly in this space for years, of having three center fielders patrolling the Rangers Ballpark outfield together.  Add the fact that the starting outfield could boast three plus arms -- Hamilton is possibly a top 10 thrower in the game -- and all of a sudden Texas has a chance to change the way opposing runners behave.  That's a really good thing."

 

Take a sheet of paper out and write down all the center fielders this franchise has had who would have made the catch Hamilton gave us in the eighth - taking into account not only the breathtaking snag but the fact that he beat the ball to the wall in the first place - and for extra credit, jot down all of the ones who even think about throwing to first to try and double up the runner, which Hamilton nearly did. 

Underneath that, list all the Rangers right fielders who would have made the grab that David Murphy pulled off in the seventh. 

Then figure out another way to use your blank sheet of paper.

4. Kason Gabbard deserved better, but the pitch count got him.  Since his brilliant season debut in Anaheim, the lefthander has made five starts, all no-decisions, posting a 2.78 ERA.

5. Through five innings, the Rangers had forced Felix Hernandez to throw nearly 50 percent more pitches than Seattle had coaxed out of Gabbard.  There are so many good things about that. 

Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News notes that the Rangers are second in the league in on-base percentage and in pitches seen per plate appearance.  Whether we consciously appreciate that or not, it makes watching this team play baseball a better experience.

6. Eddie Guardado: nine pitches, nine strikes, first save.  Vintage stuff.  Eddie Money.

7. C.J. Wilson has a 2.25 ERA (three hits in eight innings) in nine save opportunities.  It's 8.31 (11 hits in 8.2 innings) in non-save situations.  He'll be fine.

8. Seattle looks really beaten down.

9. Pay attention to this.

According to Grant, precocious Frisco catcher Max Ramirez (.379/.455/.677) is starting to take ground balls at first base.

10. At the quarter point of the season, Texas is in third place in the AL West but is closer to first (four games) than fourth (five games).

This has turned into a team that, after finding ways to lose to start the season, is now regularly finding ways to win.  Amazingly, if we are able to hold serve this afternoon, we'll have gotten back to .500.  Despite limping out of the gate this year much as this club did in 2007, the Rangers have reached 20 wins 19 days earlier this season than last.

These last four games of the homestand could be pretty cool.

You can read more from Jamey Newberg at www.NewbergReport.com.

I finally decided, a few weeks ago, that I needed to make time for "Lost."  As big a fan as I was of "Carnivale," I knew that "Lost" would grab me, but I'd just never gotten aboard the train. 

I started a week or two ago with Season One, and I'm eight episodes in now.  I'm hooked.  Love the concept, love the psychology, and -- for the most part -- love the storytelling.

But there are two characters that bug me, and it has nothing to do with their stories.  It has to do with how they are written. 

Aside from my expectation any time now to see Sawyer break into "Bawitdaba-da-bang-da-dang-diggy-diggy-diggy," he gets on my nerves because everything that comes out of his mouth is a bad punch line. 

I like Sayid's story but can't get past how badly he is written, either.  He'd have been a perfect Dan Brown character in "The Da Vinci Code," overexplaining everything, unnaturally and implausibly.  (The show "Numb3rs," same issue.)  Sayid is "Lost's" Robert Langdon.

I'm going somewhere with this.

There have been sportswriters in this market whom I won't read any more, but when it comes to coverage of the Rangers, even the ones I don't enjoy as much -- less because of their opinions than because of their style -- are basically Sawyer and Sayid.  I'll fight through it because it's Rangers talk.  Just as I'm not about to stop watching "Lost."

The players in the newspaper/Web business are as competitive as the athletes they cover, and that's a good thing for all of us who depend on what they produce.  But when a writer's agenda starts to look more like setting up a couple segments on the next day's talk radio show than reporting the truth, that's not so good a thing.

On the subject of manager Ron Washington's job security, one writer wrote this on Thursday (and I suspect was actually standing next to Jon Daniels when working up the story):

"Daniels made it clear that no changes are being considered right now.  Daniels felt the need to speak on the record about the subject because there still is Internet-blog and talk-show chatter going on back in the Metroplex even as the Rangers haven been on a decent roll.  'I'm prepared to put this to bed,' Daniels said.  'The team is playing better, and we're starting to get healthy.  I'm very tired of all of this.'  If there comes a time to review the Rangers' field leadership, Daniels said it will not happen before the All-Star break.  'Hopefully it won't happen then, either,' the GM said."

And this:

"'The bottom line is nobody should alone shoulder the responsibility for us getting off to a bad start,' Daniels said.  'We did, though, and we owed it to the organization and our fan base to review the situation.  There's no secret we met.  We did.  Now we're getting healthy and playing better baseball.  You have to give credit to Ron and the staff and the players for responding.  They're playing hard, executing and playing the game better.  We need to let the team get out there and play baseball and get rolling.  If at some point we need to re-evaluate, that's part of the game.  But it won't happen before the All-Star break.'"

Another writer (who I'm sure also spoke directly with Daniels) offered this:

"'Nobody was pleased with our play in the first month, but we've said all along that we do not want to have a knee-jerk reaction,' Daniels said from Arlington.  'We are playing better now.  I hope this goes away permanently, but if there is a need to revisit it, we'll address it at the All-Star break and not before.'"

And: "Daniels said the topic is not an 'active conversation.'"

But then, two days later, another writer gave us this (and I'm guessing was never on the phone with or in the same room as Daniels, if even in the same building):

"Ron Washington, we were told, might or might not have his job security addressed 'at the All-Star break [mid-July].'"

That writer went on to characterize the situation as Daniels "hanging [Washington] out there" and referring to the All-Star break as "a possible execution date." 

The way I read the first two stories, Daniels was standing behind his manager and perhaps trying to preempt the same questions after every two-game losing streak.  Basically, I think, the general manager was saying the club won't reevaluate the manager for the next two months, so don't bother asking -- and hopefully, by that time there won't be any need to reevaluate him at all, or to ask the question.

Somehow, another writer turns that into Daniels "hanging his manager out there," as if Daniels has pronounced that the Rangers will decide Washington's fate at the All-Star break.

Well, that ought to fire up the talk show lines today.

"I'm very tired of all of this," Daniels said.

Me, too.

Look, I don't know whether Washington is the right manager for this team.  But do know that there's only one real Rangers story at the moment, at least at the big league level, and that's the five straight series wins and phenomenal pitching this club is getting despite a crazy number of days lost to the disabled list, not the manipulated creation of an hourglass that apparently doesn't really exist.

But of course it's the latter that makes us talk about newspaper writers as opposed to the stories they write (and I'm guilty of doing that with this report), and that feeds talk show energy, which, I suppose by design, makes the writer himself more of a talking point today than Josh Hamilton or Milton Bradley or Brandon Boggs or Doug Mathis.  Irritating.

Mathis wasn't given a non-roster invite to big league spring training this year but midway through camp he earned one, and right then it became apparent that the Rangers had him squarely on the radar.  His solid 5-0, 3.55 start with Oklahoma (after a poor 0-3, 10.66 showing at the AAA level in 2007) was the reason that he (and not Eric Hurley, for instance) got the call yesterday when a potential emergency long man was needed. 

There's no question that Mathis was headed for a winter addition to the 40-man roster anyway, but now his options timetable will start one year early, once he is presumably sent back to the RedHawks upon Kevin Millwood's return from the disabled list, where his strained groin muscle should only cost him the minimum 15 days.

Millwood's turn will be skipped Thursday, when the Rangers have an offday, so Mathis should be available during the Mariners series for long relief work.  He's expected to start in Minnesota a week from tomorrow, which is the next time Millwood's spot comes up. 

Just six weeks into the season, Vicente Padilla is the only member of the rotation Texas expected to start the season with who hasn't spent time on the disabled list.

The addition of Mathis to the roster momentarily brought it to a full 40, but Texas had quietly gotten Kazuo Fukumori through waivers over the weekend (at least one source reports that he was released) and outrighted him to Oklahoma, where he's been pitching for more than two weeks.  Accordingly, the roster is back down to 39 players. 

I hate when a pitcher like C.C. Sabathia or Dontrelle Willis gets compared to Vida Blue, because it's lazy, so understand that when I say this, it's strictly because of Boggs's swing mechanics from the right side, the way that he seems to choke his swing off on its upward plane, finishing with the bat pointed toward the field rather than following all the way through, and not because of anything else: Boggs reminds me of Ellis Burks.

(Here -- this is what I'm talking about: http://www.alexsautographs.com/ellisburks1.jpg)

You just can't take your eyes off of Boggs, the way he plays the game.

Marlon Byrd struck out four times in four trips in his first rehab appearance for Oklahoma on Saturday, but he went 3 for 4 with a double and a walk yesterday.

Remember our discussion in December about how unfortunate it was that Akinori Otsuka's ominous medicals reportedly killed a deal with the White Sox for Class A first baseman Chris Carter -- whom Chicago instead traded to Arizona for outfielder Carlos Quentin?  Quentin leads the American League with nine home runs and with a 1.001 OPS.

As good as the Rangers' outfield has been this season, imagine what it would be like if Texas had been able to move Otsuka for Carter and to flip Carter for Quentin.

Milwaukee has removed Eric Gagné from the closer's role.

St. Louis outfielder Ryan Ludwick is hitting .347/.407/.733 with 11 doubles and eight home runs in 101 at-bats.  If he wasn't 20 at-bats short of qualifying, his 1.140 OPS would rank third in baseball, behind Lance Berkman and Chipper Jones.

The Joliet Jackhammers of the independent Northern League traded infielder Johnny Washington (and righthander Mike Colacchio) to the Florence Freedom of the independent Frontier League for two players to be named.

Seattle is in town, and we have encores tonight (Padilla vs. Erik Bedard) and tomorrow (Kason Gabbard vs. Felix Hernandez).  And no Richie Sexson.  His appeal has already been heard, and the league reduced his suspension from six games to five.  He began serving it on Saturday, meaning he'll miss the entire three-game set in Arlington.

But I won't.  I'll be there for all three Mariners games (the finale pits Carlos Silva against Scott Feldman, who has three straight quality starts), and I can't wait to see what unfolds.  The way the Rangers are playing right now, the big club's story is, or at least should be, what's happening on the field.  Unlike "Lost," one writer's creative interpretation of what the flash-forwards might look like for this team doesn't really add to the story, and as far as I'm concerned it detracts from it, presumably in the name of the almighty ratings book.

You can read more from Jamey Newberg at www.NewbergReport.com.

According to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, Oklahoma righthander Doug Mathis is with the team this morning, likely to be added to the 25-man roster for either Kevin Millwood or Travis Metcalf (and filling the open spot on the 40 in the process).  Mathis's arrival was prompted by last night's 8.2 innings turned in by the bullpen.  If a long man is needed for Sidney Ponson during today's game, Mathis is the man.  He threw eight innings for the RedHawks on Tuesday, so today is his day to pitch anyway.

The 24-year-old is having an outstanding spring for Oklahoma, sitting at 5-0, 3.55 in seven starts, scattering 43 hits (.253 opponents' average) and just 10 walks in 45.2 innings while fanning 30, and he's coaxed twice as many groundouts as flyouts.

A Happy Mother's Day for Jan Mathis, and a big congrats to her son, one of the real good guys in this system.

You can read more from Jamey Newberg at www.NewbergReport.com.

No team had a worse ERA than the Rangers' 5.68 in April.

No team has a better ERA than the Rangers' 1.84 in May.

No team allowed a higher opponents' average in April than the Rangers' .302.

No team has allowed a lower opponents' average in May than the Rangers' .197.

While Doc Medich, Fergie Jenkins, Steve Comer, Bob Babcock, Danny Darwin, Rick Honeycutt, Charlie Hough, and Dave Schmidt are probably hanging out somewhere tonight with Mercury Morris, Paul Warfield, and Don Shula, this nonetheless has to be the most pumped up 18-20 team in the history of the game.  Even on a night on which our ace was done 12 pitches into the game, this was one that felt good the entire way, even though it was against the team with the second-best record in the American League.

Five straight series wins.

Just two games under .500.  Seems almost impossible.

I'm heading out to the yard for four of the next five games.  And I can't wait.

Good baseball is so rewarding.

You can read more from Jamey Newberg at www.NewbergReport.com.

 

4-0.

31-13-0-0-12-20.

27-10-0-0-7-22.

.385/.419/.641.

17-20, despite 239.

You can read more from Jamey Newberg at www.NewbergReport.com.

Three stars:

1. David Murphy has been named American League Rookie of the Month for April.  He outpolled Boston outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury (who helped make Murphy expendable in the first place), Detroit righthander Armando Galarraga, and Oakland lefthander Greg Smith.

2. Frisco catcher Max Ramirez is number two on Baseball America's Hot Sheet for the week, recognizing the scorchiest minor leaguers in baseball, with stats from the past week getting the most weight in the determination.  Ramirez hit .579/.636/1.158 last week, raising his season line to a healthy .398/.480/.722.

3. You can't make some of this stuff up.  Former Rangers farmhand Chris Bradshaw, a right-handed pitcher out of TCU who was drafted in the 14^th round in 2001 but pitched only one season in the system before a career-ending arm injury, is a contestant on the new season of "The Bachelorette."  I know this only because he told me to check this out.  I have never watched any reality TV and don't have a whole lot of interest in starting now, but I'm rooting for Chris, a really good dude, to win whatever it is that you win on "Dancing with America's Top Survivorette of the Big Brother Swap," or whatever the show is called.

 

You can read more from Jamey Newberg at www.NewbergReport.com.

Regarding last night's melee: Bravo, Milton Bradley, Eddie Guardado, and Ian "Brenden Morrow" Kinsler. 

If it were up to me, this isn't over.  There's still a debt to pay.  Vicente Padilla hits Ichiro near the knee in the first inning on Wednesday, and so Seattle retaliates Thursday.  I get that.  But drilling both Gerald Laird and Ian Kinsler above the waist was overkill, and when Kason Gabbard throws a pitch high but no closer to the right-handed-hitting Richie Sexson than it was to the left-handed batter's box, Sexson -- who has 40 pounds on Gabbard -- not only charges the mound but throws his hat at the ducking pitcher before mauling him and injuring Gabbard's leg.  Gutless. 

The Mariners show up here Monday.  Padilla gets the ball that day.

But it's not up to me.

(Yeah, that's me knee-jerking.  I want Seattle to pay, and not just with that series loss -- Texas's fourth straight series win.)

Sexson will probably get suspended, and I hope he appeals.  And gets written into the lineup Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  And I hope if we do retaliate, we choose someone else.  Better to just go ahead and let Sexson contribute a dozen outs.

There was speculation in November that Texas and Seattle might have discussed a Sexson-Padilla trade, before the Rangers dealt minor leaguer Tug Hulett to the Mariners for Ben Broussard.  Whew.

I loved a lot of things about Jimmy Johnson, one of which was his lack of pride.  Fullback Alonzo Highsmith starred for him at the University of Miami, and three years after the Oilers made him the third pick in the draft, Johnson (a year into his job with Dallas) traded a second-round pick and a fifth-rounder to make Highsmith a Cowboy.  He'd appear in nine games and touch the ball 22 times before Johnson released him.  Johnson didn't care what he'd invested in Highsmith, didn't care about their history together.  He didn't think Highsmith could help him win games, and he was gone.

I see some of that in Jon Daniels, too.  He had plenty of reason to offer Akinori Otsuka a contract in December, given that he was the lone survivor of the ugly trade that sent Chris Young and Adrian Gonzalez to San Diego.  But Daniels didn't like the medicals on Otsuka, and he cut ties.  Simple as that.

Armando Galarraga was all that remained of the Daniels trade that sent Alfonso Soriano to Washington.  Still, he tried to get Galarraga through waivers, assuming the risk that he could lose the 26-year-old, which of course he did.

Right or wrong, Daniels doesn't hang onto players simply to protect an earlier personnel decision. 

I applaud yesterday's decision to cut ties with Broussard, even though he was only a month into a $3.85 million deal that Texas must still pay (unless someone trades for Broussard or claims him on waivers, neither of which will happen).  He wasn't hitting, he wasn't playing particularly good defense, he wasn't going to be here in 2009.  There's really nothing else to say. 

Jason Botts had an opportunity to do what Broussard wasn't doing.  Chris Shelton has a shot now.  Frank Catalanotto, too.  Maybe Nate Gold will before the year is up.  Odds are that they're all placeholders until Chris Davis is ready.  The only reason to keep Broussard around was cash -- though that cost was sunk -- and pride, and I'm glad that Daniels didn't allow the latter to stand in the way of moving forward.  This was no knee-jerk decision.

Speaking of which, Richie Whitt of the Dallas Observer posted a blog entry yesterday, reporting that "two baseball sources [he] trust[s]" said that Rangers management has had talks with Don Baylor, Mike Hargrove, Jim Tracy, and Jackie Moore as potential successors to Ron Washington.  Daniels told local beat reporters that the report was full of unspecified inaccuracies, that he has no intention of making a knee-jerk decision at manager, and that the club doesn't plan to address the managerial position (if at all) before the All-Star Break.

That's two straight shutouts (and 21 scoreless innings) for the Rangers, their first back-to-back blankings since the club beat the Angels in Anaheim, 2-0 and 1-0, with two weeks left in the storybook 2004 season.

As for the bullpen, that's 24 scoreless relief innings and counting.  Even more impressive: just eight hits and seven walks in that stretch.  And 20 strikeouts.

I chose Mark DeRosa as the utility infielder on my all-time Rangers team in this week's MLB.com column, but Ramon Vazquez is in the conversation.  That guy can play on my team any day.  He's not an everyday player, but there's not one facet of the game that he embarrasses himself in.

Consider the outfielders who are producing for this team: Josh Hamilton, Bradley, David Murphy, and Brandon Boggs.  The really exciting thing about it is that not one of them was here a year ago, when the outfield was justifiably considered a black hole, both defensively and at the plate.  Daniels's success in reconstituting the outfield as dramatically (and expeditiously) as he did is something that hasn't gotten enough attention. 

With regard to the crowded outfield/first base/designated hitter situation at Oklahoma, it appears that something's about to give.  With Botts back with the RedHawks after having cleared waivers, he joins Nelson Cruz, Gold, John Mayberry Jr., and Kevin Mench, and conceivably Boggs once Marlon Byrd is healthy, but I still just can't see Boggs losing his big league roster spot right now the way he's playing.  In any event, Daniels said, "It's crowded, but hopefully we'll be able to clear that up soon."

The likely interpretation is that Mench, who can be a free agent on June 1 if not in the big leagues -- and not presently on the radar to join the big club -- could be moved soon, whether by trade or straight release.

And Cruz might be on the verge of a return to Texas.  The Broussard move created an open spot on the 40-man roster, and Cruz was lifted before the third inning in Game Two of Oklahoma's doubleheader last night, with no apparent injury, at least based on a reading of the game recap.

Botts homered in his final Rangers game, a week and a half ago.  He proceeded to homer on his first Oklahoma swing of the year, last night in the nightcap of the RedHawks doubleheader.  The bomb off big league veteran Kirk Saarloos provided the RedHawks' only run of the game.

Botts's first big league home run (in May 2006) also came off of Saarloos.

Righthander Luis Mendoza threw approximately 50 pitches in the bullpen on Wednesday without discomfort in his right shoulder, but he apparently tired toward the end of the session and isn't close to being activated.  He'll pitch a simulated game Saturday and will be sent out on at least two rehab starts after that.

Righthander Jason Jennings hasn't thrown since going on the disabled list with a right elbow strain a week ago.

Righthander John Patterson, who has been beset by nerve damage in his right forearm the past two seasons, felt pain near the nerve over the weekend at extended spring training in Surprise.  He's been shut down.

Righthanders Dustin Nippert and Robinson Tejeda are pitching in the AAA rotation, but only in an effort to increase their workload.  Both are still being evaluated as relievers.

Colorado is showing interest in righthander Kevin Millwood, according to Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post.

The Rangers named Clinton first baseman Ian Gac (.395/.485/.802, nine home runs and 24 RBI in 23 games) and Oklahoma's Cruz (.380/.537/.785, nine home runs and 27 RBI in 23 games, plus 25 walks, 14 strikeouts, and nine stolen bases in 10 attempts) Co-Minor League Players of the Month for April and Clinton righthander Kennil Gomez (4-0, 1.55 in five starts, 23 strikeouts and two walks in 29 innings, .183 opponents' average, 2.05 G/F) the Pitcher of the Month.  The organization has also implemented a new honor, handing out Defensive Player of the Month recognition for the first time.  Frisco outfielder Craig Gentry (who I put on the system's all-defensive team after his rookie season in 2006) is the inaugural recipient.  The speed merchant committed no errors for the month and cut five runners down on the bases.

Frisco catcher Max Ramirez's was the Texas League Offensive Player of the Week last week.  Clinton outfielder Engel Beltre and infielder Renny Osuna were Co-Midwest League Offensive Players of the Week.  Bakersfield righthander Tommy Hunter was the California League Pitcher of the Week.

Nine games into the season, Bakersfield center fielder Julio Borbon was hitting .211/.225/.237.  Sixteen games later, he's lifted his season line to .321/.370/.404, going 27 for 71 (.380) with eight doubles, seven walks, and five strikeouts in that span.  He's riding a 13-game hit streak.

But that's nothing.  Blaze catcher Manuel Pina went 2 for his first 26 this year.  Since then, he has gone 22 for 56 (.393) and now sits at .282/.333/.333 for the season.  True to form, the defensive star has struck out only three times in 78 at-bats all season.

Get this: in Clinton's series opener hosting Peoria last night, Chiefs manager Ryne Sandberg was ejected with his team down, 7-0, after he reportedly (according to T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com) charged LumberKings manager Mike Micucci after the sixth inning and had to be wrestled to the ground.  Sandberg apparently took exception to a Clinton hitter bunting at some point, though by looking at the game recap the only two bunts I find are one in the second innings with Clinton up, 2-0, and another in the third with the same score.  I'd like to hear more about this story.

It's early, but Atlanta is just 18-15 and sits in third place in the NL East (and fourth in the Wild Card race).  Won't be pretty if the Braves fail to get to the playoffs in either of the two Mark Teixeira seasons that cost them Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Elvis Andrus, Neftali Feliz, Matt Harrison, and Beau Jones.

C.J. Wilson's next Guitar Hero Challenge charity event is next Thursday, May 15, at Southwest Airlines Headquarters at Love Field, benefiting the Scottish Rite Children's Hospital of Dallas.  Doors open at 6 p.m., with the tournament beginning at 6:30.  There's a $20 donation to attend, and for another $10 the first 10 to sign up can tee it up with C.J. in Guitar Hero.  Email Robert Champagne at Robert.Champagne@wnco.com for more details.

Doctors pronounced Doug Davis cancer-free yesterday.  A CT scan revealed no spread of the disease from his thyroid, which was removed surgically a month ago.  Spectacular news.

Independent league moves: The Sioux Falls Canaries (American Association) signed outfielder Will Smith.  The Joliet Jackhammers (Northern League) signed catcher Patrick Arlis.  The Kansas City T-Bones (Northern League) signed righthander Gerry Oakes and released lefthander Marc Major.  The St. Paul Saints (American Association) released outfielder Adam Bourassa.  The Fort Worth Cats (American Association) released righthander John Maschino.

Quick: Do you realize what your team's win-loss record is?

 

You can read more from Jamey Newberg at www.NewbergReport.com.

Erik Bedard came into the game holding right-handed hitters to a .123 batting average this season.  He was 4-1, 2.42 lifetime against Texas. 

Brandon Boggs, obviously having never seen Bedard, had as many hits off the star lefthander as Seattle had off the Rangers altogether.  Boggs's two-out triple in the fourth to break a scoreless tie was absolutely tattooed.  He made Bedard throw five pitches in each of their three matchups, and then forced Arthur Rhodes to throw eight pitches in the eighth even though the veteran reliever started the rookie out 0-2.

Word is that Marlon Byrd is a couple days from heading out on a rehab assignment that, assuming no setbacks, shouldn't last more than a few days.

But the way Boggs (.313/.343/.500) is playing, can you really send him out? 

Michael Young is reportedly day-to-day with the sore left hip flexor he began to experience in batting practice and then aggravated in his first-inning at-bat.

My only disappointment as far as Vicente Padilla's night was concerned was that he wasn't given the opportunity to pitch the eighth (after just 91 pitches), but on the other hand, we've got to get Joaquin Benoit straightened out.  Padilla, who won six games in 2007, already has five victories in 2008.  His seventh inning was one of the most exhilarating performances by a Rangers pitcher in a long time.  After issuing his only two walks of the night to start the frame, he looked like an Ace.  Not the ace of the Rangers staff, but an Ace.

If Padilla's next 15 starts go anything like his first eight have, it's going to be fascinating to see whether the Rangers act on the trade offers they're sure to field for him at the trade deadline.  He's under contract for 2009 at $12 million and has a club option for $12 million in 2010 (with a $1.75 million buyout).  The way he is pitching now, the way he is in command of the game when he is on the mound, trading him may seem like a foolish thing to consider, but his history of inconsistency - maddening inconsistency at times - may make him the kind of player that you'd want to sell high on, even if that's something that as a fan you'd rather overlook when he's dealing like this.  I've been looking forward to his starts more than any Rangers starter in years.  Right now, he's worth what his contract pays.

And Boggs is worth well more than his league-minimum $390,000.

You can read more from Jamey Newberg at www.NewbergReport.com.

According to multiple local reports, Jason Botts has cleared league-wide waivers and has been outrighted to AAA Oklahoma. 

As we discussed last week, the odds that Botts remains a Ranger past 2008 are less likely now.  If he plays his way back to Arlington this season -- not impossible though it's a near certainty that Nelson Cruz (and Brandon Boggs, if in fact he returns to AAA) would get opportunities before Botts if an outfielder is needed, and if a first baseman is needed the Rangers might decide to give Nate Gold a look or make the bold move of purchasing Chris Davis's contract -- then the club can't push Botts through waivers and outright him a second time without his permission.  (He can't decline today's outright assignment but will be able to turn down any subsequent outrights.)  And if he's not on the 40-man roster as of mid-October, he'll be able to leave the organization as a six-year minor league free agent (as will Cruz and Gold).

This has to be a disappointing development for Botts, who would have been a big leaguer if claimed and instead is a RedHawk for a fourth season.  He'll presumably work in with Gold at first base, as Cruz and Kevin Mench (who can leave if not in Texas as of June 1) and John Mayberry Jr. -- and possibly Boggs at some point -- are commanding corner outfield starts.  As Joaquin Arias gets more defensive work, some DH at-bats will free up, and so Botts's immediate role isn't clear, but he'll probably get back into rhythm pretty quickly and go back to terrorizing Pacific Coast League pitching, which, like Cruz, he unfortunately hasn't shown the ability to do consistently at the big league level.

More in the next Newberg Report.

You can read more from Jamey Newberg at www.NewbergReport.com.