Thoughts on Last Night's 3-2 win.

1. Alexi Ogando
Ogando pitched 6 shutout innings last night in 90 pitches. Granted, this was against probably the worst offense in baseball, but Ogando showed that he has what it takes to be a starter. His offspeed pitches were a devastating change of his pace from his slowed down 95 mph past ball, and he used them in just the right count, thanks in part to Yorvit Torrealba. It may be a little presumptuous, but I don't see Ogando getting bumped from the rotation for Tommy Hunter or Brandon Webb once either of them are healthy. After Harrison and Holland's first starts, I can't see them getting bumped from the rotation either, but somehow or another, one or two of these guys are going to the bullpen, and 2 guys are going to AAA.

2. I severely underestimated Michael Pineda.
Pineda was the perfect counterpart for Alexi Ogando. Both are big right handers with electric fastballs and good breaking pitches. Pineda went 6 full innings, allowing only 3 earned runs in his debut as the Mariner's 5th starter, and he did it against what I would call the most potent offense in the league at this point.

3. It might be possible that Julio Borbon is a decent centerfielder.
With the bases loaded and two outs last night, Julio made a game-saving, diving catch to end the inning, essentially saving the game. Broadcaster, Tom Grieve, made the observation that Julio's catch was the equivalent of a 2 run home run, but I think it's even better. With a 2 run homerun the Rangers would have only increased their lead, but Julio's catch saved the lead the Rangers already had with his catch. Had that ball dropped, the Rangers would have needed more runs in the late innings that certainly were not guaranteed, (and in fact never showed up.)

Props to Julio, and Alexi Ogando. The Rangers send CJ Wilson to the mound this afternoon to face Cy Young winner, Felix Henandez. This should be a good game. We know Felix can go 8 or 9 innings, and I'd like to see CJ do the same. The thing I liked about Cliff Lee was his efficiency, which was why you get at least 7, sometimes 8 or 9, innings out of Cliff every time he starts. An ace needs to be relied upon to save innings from the bullpen, and take control of the game every time out. This pitching staff has a lot of solid pitchers who can go late into games, so CJ's going to have to earn that reputation. He has a chance to show how he stacks up against the league's best pitcher this afternoon.