a blast

Jeff Francoeur, the former Mississippi Braves star, made his first postseason appearance since 2005 today. He hit an RBI double and scored a run in the second inning for Texas as the Rangers beat Tampa Bay 5-1 in the opener of their best-of-5 series. Francoeur, who has endured a lot of frustration since he broke in with such a splash with Atlanta back in ’05, had something of a resurgence with the Rangers after they acquired him from the New York Mets at the end of August. Francoeur didn’t play regularly — 15 games, 53 at-bats — but hit .340 with two homers and 11 RBIs in a Texas uniform. Good to see him with a smile on his face in the dugout; he’s a good guy and was due for some good times. He hit just .249 overall in 2010. His production was really all former Meridian Community College standout Cliff Lee needed to subdue the Rays. Lee had a rocky first inning, then sailed through the next six. He allowed just five hits, one run and struck out 10.