"If Adam starts hitting the way we all know he can, I might change things up again," Russell said. "Right now, though, I feel our best chance to score runs is with Doumit hitting cleanup."
Rangers' Washington keeping his focus
Rangers top management officials gathered Friday at Tom Hicks' uptown office for a most unpleasant lunch.
The barbecue was fine. It was the aftertaste that made it so difficult to swallow.Hicks, general manager Jon Daniels and club president Nolan Ryan met for more than two hours over a hastily arranged meal to discuss the club's awful start and, more specifically, the future of manager Ron Washington.
With the Rangers mired in a seven-game losing streak and tied with the Washington Nationals for the worst record in the majors, the trio gathered to try and figure out if the club in its current state could be saved. They emerged unsure.
"When a team struggles, you have to look to leadership to turn it around," Daniels said late Friday afternoon. "The expectation of ownership is that we get things turned around. That's on Ron. That's on me. It's on everybody that wears a 'T.' I'm not going to put the blame on any one man."
The Rangers began Friday ranked last in the AL in ERA (5.54) and fielding percentage (.975) and 12th in runs scored per game (4.0). Their start had already set the club record for most losses by the end of April and they were threatening to become the sixth team in history to rack up 20 losses before May Day.
The Rangers got a spirit-lifting 6-5 10-inning win Friday night. What's uncertain is if it's too late to rescue Washington.
Washington had planned to meet with his coaching staff Friday, but that meeting was postponed. Washington and Daniels met briefly after the GM returned from the long lunch meeting, but only to discuss roster decisions. Daniels said he expected to meet with Washington about the state of the club after the game.
Said Washington: "My focus is on the field. I'm the manager of the Texas Rangers and we're not playing well. I understand the situation."
Pads having trouble up the middle
A team's strength is often measured by what they have up the middle — catcher, second base, shortstop, and center field.
That is how the Padres are measuring their weakness these days.
On Friday night, the Padres dropped a 5-1 decision to Arizona — their ninth loss in 10 games — to fall 8 1/2 games behind the Diamondbacks in the National League West. That is the farthest the Padres have been off the pace since Sept. 11, 2004.
And many of the problems facing the Padres can be seen in the heart of the diamond.
Padres center fielders Jim Edmonds (1-for-27) and Scott Hairston (1-for-14) are a combined 2-for-41 going back to April 16 and 5-for-52 — Edmonds 3-for-36 and Hairston 2-for-16 — dating back to April 12.
Catcher Josh Bard, who has made all but one start since Michael Barrett was injured on April 7, has gone 6-for-39 in the last nine games.
And the Padres' middle-infield combination of shortstop Khalil Greene (.220) and second baseman Tadahito Iguchi (.213) are hitting a combined .217 with nine doubles, one triple, no homers and 11 RBIs in 180 at-bats.
