There it is. An extra inning game we lost in 10. Gah.
Derek Holland got screwed, as he was fantastic. Eight innings, nine hits, one walk, five strikeouts, and just one run. 113 pitches – he was great. Deserved the win. But our anemic offense lately couldn’t come through.
Then Feliz blows the save, his second of the year so far. Darren Oliver lost the game, by giving up the run, although it was Cody Eppley who allowed the inherited runner to score.
I’m just annoyed at that. Go read the box score and pro recaps I link to at the top of this story.

All told, there were nine runs scored by both teams this game. Three of them were scored just in the 11 inning. Which just goes to reinforce my theory that if we can get past the 10th inning, we can probably win. After getting to the 10th, the Rangers put up 2 in the 11th, and then the Royals countered with one of their own in the bottom, but the Rangers hung on for the win.
This was a “no power” game. Moreso than usual. It was all singles and a boatload of walks. The other night we had more walks than hits, and it happened again this game. The Rangers had eight hits (all singles), but were gifted THIRTEEN singles. If we didn’t win the game after that many free passes, man…
The hits were pretty clustered. Endy Chavez had two, as did Andres Blanco, & Adrian Beltre. The other two were by Elvis Andrus (who was actually a sub for Blanco this game) & Mitch Moreland.
However, three of the RBI’s were by Adrian Beltre, who has been hitting the ball hard all season, but still has a lot of work to do on his BA (.255 after this game).
Alexi Ogando continues to amaze this season, going seven innings AGAIN. This time he gave up just four hits and two runs with a walk, and five punchouts. His overall ERA is an amazing 2.13. One expects the league to compensate and figure him out somewhat, but they haven’t yet. Good for us.
Bad for the guys who want to get back into the rotation, as Ogando isn’t going anywhere.

Thirteen walks issued this game. Seven by White Sox pitchers, six by the Rangers staff. In both cases, there were more walks than hits. Rangers were given seven walks, and got just five hits. Sox were given six walks, and got four hits. Sloppy game, by the looks of the box score.
In a game when Endy Chavez had the biggest offensive day (2-4 with a run scored), that’s about the big summary.
Actually, the big deal of this game is that the Sox got a three run home run off of Matt Harrison in the fifth to tie up the game at that point. Rangers were up 3-0 until that moment.
Bah.
Harrison still had a quality start, as he went seven innings, and gave up just the three runs. So overall he had an OK outing. But the home run was deflating, for sure.
Bah.

This was a game I couldn’t watch on TV – the first of several like that (more on that later), and only was able to listen on the radio in bits and pieces, as it was family time with the kids when this was on. Listened to a little on the computer, and then on my iPad.
But from what I could hear, Colby Lewis was dominating. He had a no hitter going into the fourth, and ended up tossing a complete game shutout. Allowed five hits and one walk. Seven strikeouts, and NO RUNS. 110 pitches in all, which for 9 innings is a great number. I wish I could have seen it, because it looks by the recaps and the box scores as a great game to have seen. Hopefully Colby has figured it out. He’s been awesome since the birth of his kid. While I don’t think the new baby Lewis has anything directly to do with it, I know how I felt after my kids were born, so perhaps it has worked something good in Colby’s head.
Offensively, it was a balanced attack with not a ton of power. Endy Chavez & Michael Young each had doubles, and then there were ten other singles. That was it. But they were put together in enough of a right order to put up two two spots. One in the third, and one in the sixth.
Was a great game for Colby and the Rangers, that’s for sure! If the Angels lose tonight, we’ll be back in first place. However, I did take a look the standings, we’d be the team of the six division leaders with the lowest winning percentage. We need to work on that a bit more. Need winning STREAKS, not just wins. :)

CJ Wilson did not have it this game. He wasn’t sharp, but stayed out there and did fight the “meh” in his pitching. He didn’t cave in, and give up a dozen runs, so that part was good. But he wasn’t the guy he’s been the last few starts. Six hits and four walks over five innings. Four runs allowed, only two earned though. But he was sluggish and just “meh”.
Brett Tomko came in, and allowed two inherited runners to score, but Brett’s own line showed no runs allowed. Lowe & Feliz finished it out. Lowe got the win, actually.
This game was powered by the longball. The really big one was a three run shot by Adrian Beltre. Chris Davis also had one go out, and the way he was hitting it, had it been a summer windy day, he probably would have had three home runs this game.
Kinsler raked – going 4-4. That was good to see. Enjoyed scoring this game a lot. But it was bittersweet. I’ll post about why on Tuesday most likely.

This is one of those games where I was really tempted to make my entire update be “Well, crap.” I’m not taking that route this game, although I kind of want to.
Derek Holland had a better outing than the last two. Although this season after the first two, it feels like his rotation spot is on the bubble after every outing. That’s kind of the way I felt about Darren Oliver during his second stint with the Rangers when they couldn’t figure out what to do with him. But Holland did good tonight. Not dominating, but had a good line. Six innings pitched, 6H, 3BB, 4K, 2ER. Tad too many walks, but nothing really horrendous there.
Mark Lowe & Cody Eppley threw a perfect frame each.
Darren Oliver did not. Gave up the winning run in the top of the 9th, and we couldn’t come back and win. Bah.
Moreland & Kinsler each had doubles. There were five other singles, and the Angels didn’t walk anyone. Not a ton of offense there.
Well, crap.

While we won the game, we lost another player. This time, Julio Borbon to what appeared to be a hamstring issue running down a ball in center field. This unfortunately sets a record for the 2011 Rangers. They’re now the team who has managed to get all of their opening day outfield to the disabled list faster than any other in history. Ugh. While Cruz & Hamilton are on the mend, with Cruz returning possibly in Philadelphia, it’s not a good thing to have this many people on the DL at once!
That issue aside, the game went quite well for the Rangers. Alexi Ogando did well again as a starter. 6.1 innings, five hits, five punchouts, just one walk, and one run. Came out with 99 pitches in the middle of an inning. Fortunately the bullpen didn’t blow it – both Eppley & Oliver held the game, and got it to Feliz, who closed it out. In fact, of the three relievers, only one walk was allowed. No hits. The walk came from Feliz.
The really cool thing about this is that we got to Jered Weaver for the win. Weaver’s been pretty darned hot this season, although we managed to get to him just enough. It was a pretty concentrated offense. We had seven hits. Three guys (Andrus, Kinsler, Young) all had two hits each. The other was Adrian Beltre. Just seven hits in all, and more than half were extra base (2 2B, 2 HR).
Elvis Andrus going yard was a surprise. That gives him two for the year, and one off of Weaver is a good one to get.
Ogando is now 4-0. I’d say he’s in the rotation to stay at this point. Not unless he tanks, but it doesn’t seem like he’ll do that.