Texas Pounds Oakland, Takes Game 3 In Rout

Texas may find themselves wishing the month of May would never end.

Playing before a crowd in excess of 42,000 fans, Texas put on show, drilling Oakland for the third time in two days.

"A refreshing victory," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "We're having fun and it's easy to have fun when you're doing the things we're doing. We're pitching pretty good, catching the ball pretty good and doing enough to put runs on the board. Tonight we broke out a little bit."

With the win, Texas now moves to 20-8 for the month of May, besting last years mark of 19-10. They have won 14 of 19 games and find themselves atop the American League West.

"It all starts with pitching and defense," said third baseman Michael Young. "I know that sounds like a broken record around here, but that's why we're having so much fun."

Brandon McCarthy provided much of the quality pitching tonight, going six innings, allowing only one run, picking up his team-leading 5th victory of the season.

But the real stars of the night were on the offensive side of the ball, hammering Oakland pitching for fourteen runs on seventeen hits. Ian Kinsler led the charge with a four-RBI night but was backed up by nice offensive outings by several other Rangers, most notably Michael Young and Elvis Andrus, each of whom turned in 3-for-5, 2 RBI performances.



Nelson Cruz added a 445-foot blast in the bottom of the 5th inning, his 7th homerun in eleven games.

"Our approach has been a little off, so we've made it a point to have better at bats," said Michael Young.

Ian Kinsler echoed Young's thoughts adding, "If you're generating walks, you're having good at-bats and not swinging at bad pitches. That's what we need all up and down the lineup, just tough at-bats. Swing at strikes and take balls. If we can be consistent in that, our offense will be much better."

The Rangers are 13-2 against the AL West this season.

"I've always said that you want to play well within your division," Washington said. "If you win a lot within your division, the opportunity to be successful is much greater. We're winning in our division and we hope it continues."

It appears as though the fans are starting to believe in the success as well as Texas has enjoyed eight straight home crowds of 30,000 or more, the longest streak since 2005.

Rangers Sweep Doubleheader Against A's, 10 Games Over .500 For First Time Since 2005

Coming off a disappointing series loss against the New York Yankees, the Rangers looked to get back on track against the last-place Oakland A's.

In game 1 of the doubleheader, Texas sent Tommy Hunter to the mound. Hunter was a last minute call-up from Oklahoma City, needed to make a spot start. Hunter did the job, going 5 1/3 innings and holding the A's down long enough for his offense to come through.

"Tommy got us through five, gave us a chance to win," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "He looked more under control. For the most part, he got it done."

With Texas down 3-2 in the bottom of the 7th, Marlon Byrd came through with a game-tying solo homerun. Andruw Jones and Nelson Cruz put the Rangers ahead for good with 2-run and solo blasts respectively. The lead proved to be more than enough for Frank Francisco, who has been absolutely dominant all season, giving Texas a 6-3 win in the opener.

In the second game of the doubleheader, Texas sent Scott Feldman to the mound. Feldman has been very consistent since stepping into the starting five, giving the back end of the rotation some real stability. Despite some control issues on Friday, Feldman got the job done once again, going six innings while allowing only two earned runs.



"There wasn't a single inning he worked that was easy," Washington said. "He worked pretty hard to get to the sixth."

Texas scored four runs in the 1st inning thanks to RBI doubles by Josh Hamilton and Hank Blalock, and a 2-out, 2-run single by backup catcher Taylor Teagarden.

Oakland was never able to put together any offense, managing only five base hits over the course of nine innings.

Jason Jennings picked up his fourth hold of the season, pitching two innings of shutout ball. C.J. Wilson closed the game out with a 1-2-3 9th inning, picking up hiw fourth save of the year.

Ron Washington was thrilled with the effort.

"Two very efficient ballgames," said Washington. "We had great defense, clutch hitting. That's a lot of fun.

Tom Hicks Has A Change Of Wallet

Before yesterday's game against the Yankees, Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks admitted that he is interested in selling off a piece of the franchise stating, "I am selling part of the Rangers. I don't know how big of a part. Yes, I'd be open to selling more than a minority share, but it depends on who the partners are."

Hicks went on to say, "My family and I want very much to stay involved with the club, but we understand that we have to be open to solutions that may include partners who own a controlling interest in the Rangers. There are some potential buyers who won't consider having only a minority interest."



Hicks has long said he wants the Rangers franchise to be something that could be passed down through the generations of his family. Why the change?

Speculation is that Hicks' recent troubles with creditors may only be the tip of the iceberg to his finacial troubles.

Rumors abound that if Hicks does finally decide to sell off a majority share in the franchise, current Rangers President and Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan, along with his longtime business partner, Don Sanders of Houston, could be potential buyers.



When asked for comment Ryan hedged his bet saying, "Knowing nothing about what the details are, there's no way I can comment on any of this."

For many Rangers fans, Tom Hicks selling off the Rangers would be a dream come true. A good percentage of fans have long accused Hicks of being more interested in lining his pockets rather than putting a top flight team on the field year in and year out. Fan indifference has shown in recent years as turnout for the games has been less than stellar.

Tom Hicks has been the Rangers principal owner for 11 years.

Yankees Drill Rangers, Take Series Win

Well, you certainly can't say Derek Holland showed any fear on the mound.

Holland worked quickly, threw 94 mph fastballs and challenged the vaunted New York Yankees lineup. Unfortunately, that resulted in 10 hits and 6 runs (5 earned) over 5+ innings pitched.

"It's definitely different against the Yankees," Holland said. "They have a solid lineup, every one of those guys is a tough out. I was okay with it. I was satisfied with it. There were some things I could have done better. I could have had better location."

The rookie did strike out five and pitched effectively against the Yanks left-handed hitters but it wasn't enough, especially with Texas' lineup giving him no offensive support.

A.J. Burnett managed to pitch six shutout innings, striking out seven and allowing only three hits.

"Burnett was just too tough," said manager Ron Washington. "It might have been different if we put up some runs and put some pressure on Burnett, but we didn't do that."

Much like they've done in other games where they've struggled, Texas couldn't make enough contact at the plate to ever get any sort of momentum.

Chris Davis' struggles continued as he struck out three more times, putting him on pace to whiff a ridiculous 220 times. The Rangers have tried to be patient with the young hitter but that patience seems to be wearing thin.

"We've said all along that when you go with young players who you've committed to and have had some level of success, there will be growing pains," Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said. "But at some point, you have to look at each individual and decide what's in the best interests of the individual and the team. We're not there yet. It's obvious Chris is making a contribution with his defense, but he's nowhere near where he needs to be or can be offensively. He hasn't made the adjustments he needs to make. We're going to be patient, but he understands what he needs to do."

Chris Davis is currently mired in a 3-for-37 slump during whcih time he has struck out 18 times.

The lone bright spot of the night came in the 7th when Ian Kinsler hit a two-run homer, his 13th shot of the year.

For the Yankees, Mark Teixeira continued his recent surge, hitting another homerun against his former team, a 2-run blast that got New York out to an early lead.



Hideki Matsui added two homeruns for the Yanks and is looking to put an end to the struggles/injuries that have plagued him the past few seasons.

Yankees hitting coach, Kevin Long, likes what he's starting to see from the offense.

"We're starting to see our offense click on all cylinders," Long said. "You can never be too content. You hate to be over-happy about something. ... We've got to keep moving forward, because we're in May and we've got a long way to go."

Texas Evens Series With Yankees, Survive Long Rain Delay

The night started off with a 2 hour & 24 minute delay, forcing most of the sellout crowd to sit around waiting for a storm that never came. The delay came from a particularly nast storm cell that was hit all around the ballpark. Only thing is, it never actually stared rainging until around 8pm, roughly an hour after the game was set to start.

"That was a long one," said second baseman Ian Kinsler. "A long one, but it was worth it to get the win."

And win they did, jumping out on the Yankees in the bottom of the first inning, scoring two runs thanks to a bases loaded single by Marlon Byrd.

Yankees starter Joba Chamberlain struggled with his control all night, walking four in as many innings of work. In the bottom of the fouth inning, Chris Davis hit a big homerun to dead cetner off Chamberlain, running the score to 3-0, but the Yankees came right back to tie the game up, getting a solo homerun by former Rangers All-Star Mark Teixeira in the fifth and two more runs in the top of the sixth.

But in the bottom of the sixth, Marlon Bryd hit a two-out double, then came around to score on a base hit by Jarrod Saltalamacchia. The Rangers added two more in the bottom of the seventh thanks to a sacrifice ground ball by Josh Hamilton and a sac fly by David Murphy. Both scoreing chances were set up by both Ian Kinsler and Michael Young reaching base at the beggining of their half of the inning.



Chris Davis then added another homerun in the bottom of the eight, the first multi-homer game game of his career.

"I definitely think it picked me up," Davis said. "I've said over and over the last few weeks have been tough. It's good to have a game that might help me turn the corner. I'm not anywhere where I need to be but I am getting closer."

Kevin Millwood battled for Texas, giving them 5 2/5 innings, allowing 3 earned runs and leaving the game tied.

"I definitely was ready to go get started, and then there was the rain delay," Millwood said. "Once the game started, I felt normal. They didn't really chase anything. I didn't feel I was that sharp tonight."

Texas' bullpen did the job though, shutting the Yankees down to the tune of 3 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball.

"We did a great job of executing," manager Ron Washington said. "We played baseball the way it was presented to us, and that's what it's all about."

A-Rod Looks Great In Return To Texas, Rangers Look Lost.

In view of a sold out crowd on Memorial Day, Texas came home after sweeping the Astros to take on the New York Yankees.

Nelson Cruz's hot hitting continued for Texas as he went 2 for 4 with a solo homerun in the first game of a 3-game set against the New York Yankees. Unfortunately, he was the only member of the offense to bother showing up Monday afternoon.

Yankees starter Phil Hughes dominated Texas to the tune of six strikeouts over eight scoreless innings. He allowed only three hits.

The Yankees offense was also running high, led by Alex Rodriguez, who went 5 for 5 with two douobles and four RBI.

Another former Ranger, Mark Teixeira went 2 for 4 with a double, two RBI, and three runs scored.



"When you get beat like this, you let it go," Rangers outfielder Marlon Byrd said. "They came in here and kicked our tails. Phil Hughes made great pitches. It was one of those games. They played a great game, we didn't and it showed on the scoreboard."

The Rangers have now lost 24 of the last 32 games played against the Yankees going back to 2005. They have also lost 17 of the last 21 games played against New York at home dating back to '04.

Matt Harrison was knocked around from the very beginning, allowing seven earned runs in only five innings pitched.

"It's very disappointing," Harrison said. "I felt good coming into the game, but I wasn't able to get the job done. My stuff was there, but I didn't put it where I wanted it. I left fastballs over the plate, and I couldn't throw my breaking ball for a strike. They make you pay when all you can do is throw fastballs for strikes and they're sitting on it."

Ian Kinsler, Michael Young & Josh Hamilton set the tone for the poor offensive performance, going a combined 1 for 10 with one walk. Michael Young thinks Texas will get right back after it.

"We're not going to sit here and pout about it," Young said. "They swung it well and pitched well. You want to play well in front of a great crowd, but that's not something we're focusing on when we leave here. We're focused on how we can get better."

Long Ball Gives Rangers The Sweep In Houston

Texas jumped on Houston early as Josh Hamilton hit his 6th home run of the season in the top of the 1st inning. It proved to be all Brandon McCarthy would need.



McCarthy pitched a complete game shutout Sunday afternoon, both firsts in his career. Scattering nine hits and striking out six, McCarthy controlled Houston's lineup, walking only one hitter and working out of a couple of jams in both the 5th and 6th innings.

"They talk about his stamina," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "I think that question's finally answered."

"It's a confidence thing more than anything else," McCarthy said. "It's just knowing I can get through that deep in a game and still make quality pitches."

Ian Kinsler and Jarrod Saltalamacchia added solo home runs, giving McCarthy all the breathing room he would need to settle in and shut the Astros down.

"It gets a little discouraging when you are down three or four to nothing pretty early, from an offensive standpoint," Astros manager Cecil Cooper said. "We have to do a better job of holding the game close. Lately, we've been down pretty early, and it's hard to come back when you do that."

Michael Young was back in the linep after taking yesterdays game off to rest a sprained ankle. He went 1 for 4 with a double and a run scored.

"The doctor told me it (ankle) was a Grade 2, and it's pretty much up to me whatever I can handle," Young said before the game. "I went out there and it was good enough for me, so it's time to play."

Texas now only needs one win in the final series against Houston later this season to retain the Silver Boot Trophy for the 2nd consecutive year.

Nelson Cruz Homers Texas To Win In Houston

Looks like Nelson Cruz has found his stroke.

After drilling the game-winning homerun Friday night, Cruz came back and hit two more on Saturday, pacing Texas to the 6-3 victory.

"My swing is there," Cruz said. "I don't worry about home runs, they'll come. I just worry about being consistent and getting my knocks. It doesn't matter where I hit, I've got to do my job."



Hank Blalock added a solo homerun giving Scott Feldman, who went a season high 6 2/3 innings, more than enough to work with as he picked up his third win of the year.

"He was good," Astros catcher Ivan Rodriguez said. "He was pitching great. He wasn't missing his spots -- good breaking ball, good fastball, good sinker. I was having a good at-bat in the second at-bat, fouled off some tough pitches and he ended up striking me out. "

"I feel like I'm going out there with more and more confidence and throwing all my pitches effectively," Feldman said. "My confidence in all my pitches is getting better and it makes it a lot easier to pitch when you're ahead in the count."

Both Michael Young (who had sprained his ankle in yesterday's game) and Ian Kinler sat out the game. Their replacements, Hank Blalock and Omar Vizquel, went a combined 5 for 9 with a run scored and one RBI.

C.J. Wilson closed the game out, picking of his 3rd save of the year.

Texas Finds Their Offense, Takes Game 1 In Houston

Well, maybe Texas just needs to avoid the Tigers?

The Rangers rolled into Houston last night, losers of three in a row, searching for an offense that had all but disappeared the last three games.

With Vicente Padilla placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained shoulder, rookie Derek Holland made his first career major league start and didn't disappoint. Holland pitched 5 2/3 innings, struck out four and didn't walk a single hitter. The final hitter he faced, Astros slugger Lance Berkman, hit a three-run homerun. Before that, Holland hadn't allowed a single run. He left the game with a two run lead.

"I saw him use all his pitches," Rangers manager Ron Washington said about Holland. "A couple times they went up there trying to get him to throw some pitches and he would throw a first-pitch strike."



Texas got homeruns from both Elvis Andrus (who went 4 for 5 w/ a stolen base) and Jarrod Saltalamacchia to pace Texas to the early lead, a lead which was given away by poor relief pitching from Jason Jennings and C.J. Wilson. After surrendering back-to-back one-out singles in the eighth, Wilson was pulled for Darren O'Day, who entered and got Tejada to hit into an inning-ending double play.

In the top of the 10th, Nelson Cruz hit an opposite field solo homerun to put Texas up 6-5.

Frank Francisco, fresh off a stint on the DL, came in to pitch the bottom of the 10, blowing the Astros hitters away with 97 mph fastballs.

"I just went out there and pounded the strike zone," Francisco said. "I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. I've got seven guys behind me and I was just trying to throw my pitch."

Francisco is now 10-for-10 in save opportunities this year. He has yet to allow a run in 15 2/3 innings over 15 games.

Lance Berkman summed up the mood in the Astros locker room after the game.

"A loss is a loss, but whenever you fight hard and come back and you're in the game again then you end up tying the game. To lose a game like that is difficult," Berkman said.

The winner of this series receives the Silver Boot.

Kiker A Mixed Bag, Frisco Gets Big Win

I made another trip out to Frisco last night to see the RoughRiders finish up a three-game set again the Midland RockHounds.

Frisco sent top prospect Kasey Kiker to the mound and looked both like a world beater and like a guy still in need to seasoning. Kiker started the game in grand fashion, striking out the first five hitters he faced, keeping them off balance with a nice change-up and a fastball that he was able to spot. He was working quickly off the mound, taking very little time in between pitches and keeping the RockHound hitters off balance.

But from out of nowhere, Kiker began to struggle, first by walking RockHounds catcher Josh Donaldson (who went 2 for 2 with 2 walks in the loss) then hitting the next hitter, designated hitter, Corey Brown.

From there Kiker would show moments of greatness but was, for the most part, a mixed bag. Despite striking out seven of the eighteen betters he faced, Kiker also walked three, surrendering three runs (two earned) in 3 2/3 innings (Kiker is on a strict pitch count).



When pitching from the wind-up, Kiker looked like a Major League Pitcher. He worked quickly, had good command of all his pitches, and gave off and air of confidence. But with runners on base and pitching out of the stretch, he didn't retain the same pitch command, began working very slowly and seemed to be overthinking things on the mound.

Texas' top hitting prospect, Justin Smoak was also a bit Jekyll and Hyde, going 1 for 3 with a walk and two run scored but also commited a throwing error which led to a run for the RockHounds.

Second baseman Guilder Rodriguez supplied some fireworks, going 2 for 3 with a walk and an RBI sacrifice fly. He also had the two most exciting plays of the night: one, a triple that he legged out in the 4th and the other, a single that the RockHounds centerfielder misplayed, allowing Rodriguez to hustle to third in the 6th. He scored both times.

Relievers Andrew Laughter, Pedro Strop and Jose Diaz pitched a combined 5 1/3 innings, allowing no runs on three hits while striking out five. Strop and Diaz both hit the upper 90's with their fastballs with Diaz topping out at 98 more than once.

Swept In Detroit

The next time Texas sees a trip to Detroit on the schedule, they might wanna seriously consider just staying home.

After dropping the final game of the three-game series, the Rangers have now lost 11 games in a row in Detroit.

The Tigers' Miguel Cabrera had an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning, putting Detroit up 4-3. Texas wasn't able to overcome the deficit, dropping their third game in a row after having previously won seven straight.

Kevin Millwood pitched a complete game but walked four and allowed four earned runs, three via homeruns in both the 1st and 3rd innings.

"It's not like we're getting blown out every game," Texas starter Kevin Millwood said. "We're playing good baseball. We're just coming out on the short end. It's a good thing we don't have to come back here."



David Murphy and Nelson Cruz supplied all the offense for Texas getting little help from any other member of the lineup.

Rangers Shut Out In Detroit

It was bound to happen eventually.

Texas rolled into Detroit winners of seven in a row and met a buzzsaw in Tigers starter Dontrelle Willis.

Dontrelle looked like the Willis of three seasons ago, shutting the Texas offense down, keeping them off balance. After throwing 6 1/3 innings of shutout baseball (at one point retiring 17 betters in a row), Willis left the mound to a standing ovation from the Detroit fans. Willis was visibly pleased with the reaction, acknowledging the crowd and pounding his hand into his glove.

"This is a great city, a great sports town," Willis said. "I was excited when I got traded here. Through all the adversity I've gone through, I was excited to go out there and play and showcase my stuff."



"You got to give them credit tonight," manager Ron Washington said. "That don't happen to the Texas Rangers very often. ... I know [Willis] has been having some problems harnessing his control, but tonight, he made pitches when he had to make pitches."

Willis' replacements kept the dominance going, led by hard-throwing Joel Zumaya, who pitched a shutout 8th inning, striking out two.

The lone hit the Rangers managed all night was a double by Michael Young. Texas now has a nine game losing streak at Detroit's Comerica Park.

"I don't know what it is," Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler said. "Hopefully we can figure it out."

Frisco Rallies Late, Downs Midland In Extra Innings

I made a last minute trip out to the Frisco RoughRiders game last night and was treated to quite an entertaining game.

The RockHounds got it going early, getting a solo homerun out of first baseman Chris Carter. Carter is an imposing figure but post homer, did nothing as he looks to have real trouble with a quality curveball.

Frisco tied it up in the bottom of the third when Marcus Lemon, the son of former Detroit Tiger Chet Lemon, scored on a single by Chad Tracy.

Midland answered in the fifth inning, scoring Michael Affronti via sacrifice fly and Matthew Sulentic thanks to a throwing error by Frisco third baseman John Whittleman. Frisco cut the lead to one in the bottom of the inning on a line drive RBI double in the gap by top prospect Justin Smoak. It's worth nothing that Smoak looks larger than life on the field. The guy just looks like an All-Star in waiting.

Frisco pitcher Michael Ballard was pitching well enough until the sixth inning, when he walked the first two hitters before loading the bases by giving up a single to Corey Brown. Former top prospect Thomas Diamond was brought in from the bullpen, giving up a sacrifice fly. Diamond then uncorked a wild pitch, moving everyone up a base. Matthew Sulentic then singled home the 2nd run of the inning, before being thrown out trying to steal second to end their half of the inning.

Midland added one more in the top of the seventh, thanks in part to another wild pitch by Diamond and a throwing error by catcher Manny Pina. Diamond had good velocity on his pitches, keeping his fastball around 92-94, but had no control and really struggled to get outs.



In the bottom of the seventh, down 6-2, Frisco exploded for four runs, thanks largely to a 2-run double by Chad Tracy.

Reliever Pedro Strop replaced Thomas Diamond in the top of the 8th and looked very good, striking out the side, showing great command of a fastball that topped out at 96 mph on the Riders radar gun.

The ninth and tenth innings were pitched by the very imposing looking Jose Diaz, who shut Midland down and, despite some control issues, struck out three and kept the RocHounds off the board. He too seems to have a very live arm, getting it up to 97 mph on more than one occasion.

The top notch performances by Strop and Diaz set up the offense in the bottom of the tenth when Frisco loaded the bases and Emerson Frostad hit a one-out RBI single past second base, scoring Craig Gentry from third and giving Frisco the 7-6 win.

Hamilton Saves The Day As Texas Sweeps Angels

For the past four or five seasons, the Angels have made it a habit of rolling into Arlington and laying the wood to the traditionally hapless Rangers.

But this years group of guys is looking more and more like the playoff teams of the late 90's and not the overpaid bunch of frontrunners the teams has been running out there since the A-Rod signing.

In the finale of the three-game set with Anaheim, Texas swept the Angels out of Arlington, getting yet another great start out of Scott Feldman, who threw six innings of shutout baseball.

Anaheim's Jared Weaver was equal to the task until David Murphy hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 7th, scoring Hank Blalock. Texas added two more in the bottom of the 8th thanks to a triple by Omar Vizquel and doubles from Kinsler and Marlon Byrd.



Quality pitching from the Rangers bullpen, coupled with an amazing catch by Josh Hamilton in centerfield put the game away for Texas.

Darren O'Day closed out the final 1 1/3 innings, picking up his first save of the season. O'Day said the crowd of more than 37,000 definitely brought out a little extra in him.

"When they started to chant 'Sweep!,' I had to step off the mound and take a deep breath," reliever Darren O'Day said. "It was pretty awesome."

104,859 fans showed up for the Angels series, making it the largest crowd total the Rangers have had for a three-game series in two years. This fact was not lost on the Rangers players, many of whom seemed blown away by the support.

"It was a great homestand, and the crowd was unbelievable today," second baseman Ian Kinsler said. "They were just incredible. It was really loud out there. If we can get crowds like that and as loud as they were for the rest of the year, we're going to win a lot of games at home."

Texas sold an impressive 10,682 tickets on Sunday, idicating that Rangers fans are starting to believe this team might just be for real.

"We had an absolute blast playing behind this crowd," third baseman Michael Young said. "They packed it in today, and we had fun."

The Gold Glove moment of the game came in the top of the 7th, with the score tied at 0-0, when the Angels' Howie Kendrick hit a shot to right centerfield that Josh Hamilton made an amazing play on, divin into the wall and pulling it in, saving at least one run on the play.

"[That was] one of the most unbelievable catches I've ever seen," left fielder David Murphy said.

Hamilton pulled a groin muscle on the catch but doesn't expect to miss any time. He's almost certain to play Tuesday in the first game of the Detroit series.

"You get so wrapped up in the game and wanting to do well as far as the team winning," Hamilton said. "That's the most important thing. If I have to run into a wall once in a while and tweak parts of my body ... that's OK."

"Another solid game -- pitching, great defense, timely hitting," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "Just awesome."

After going undefeated (6-0) on the homestand, the Rangers now hit the road, starting a three-game series in Detroit. Texas now has a 4 1/2 game lead in their division.

Padilla Battles, Texas Wins 6th Straight

While Kevin Millwood has really raised his level of pitching so far this season, not enough has been said about just how good Vicente Padilla has been over his last five starts.

Padilla went to the mound today and was admittedly without his best stuff. But something is different about Padilla this year. In previous years when he would get into trouble, he would just pull back and throw harder. Now, Padilla seems to understand that he has to maintain focus and pitch, not throw his way out of jams. Despite getting himself into trouble in both the 1st and 4th innings, Padilla kept his focus and, despite giving up 10 hits, gave Texas 8 innings.

"I think it was a good game anyway," said Padilla. "In the first innings, I was a little bit lost with my control. In the last innings, I was getting more control, throwing more strikes, and they were swinging more."



Padilla's pitching counterpart, John Lackey, making his first start of the season since returning from the disabled list, didn't fare quite as well. His first pitch of the season sailed behind the back of Ian Kinsler. His second pitch hit Kinsler in the side. Home plate umpire Bob Davidson immediately tossed Lackey from the game, prompting a heated exchange between the umpire and Angels Manager Mike Scioscia.

"I haven't pitched in six weeks, man," Lackey said. "I was obviously trying to come in on him. There was no intention whatsoever to throw behind him or hit him."

Ian Kinsler didn't see things the same way.

"I don’t know what that was all about, and I don’t know what he was trying to prove," Kinsler said. "I go to first base, steal a base and score a run. That’s what I do. The umpire, I thought he handled it very well."

Jarrod Saltalamacchia put Texas ahead 3-2 when he drove in a couple of runs in the second with a single.

Josh Hamilton drove in a couple as well with two sacrifice flies, both in the 1st and 4th innings. Hamilton has been showing more patience at the plate since returning from the disabled list. Michael Young like that Texas has been doing the job pushing runs across the plate.

"Those are the things we need to do to win ballgames," said Young. "We're not going to hit four home runs every night, so we have to manufacture runs. We take pride in being a versatile offense."

Defensively, Texas didn't commit an error for the seventh time in eight games, including a great play from both Ian Kinsler and Chris Davis to get the last out of the game. Despite the play, Kinsler wanted to turn the spotlight back onto the quality of pitching the Rangers are getting from their starters.

"We're getting pitching -- that's the biggest thing," Kinsler said. "Padilla pitched an unbelievable game. We're getting to the point where we expect it every day."

Michael Young echoed Kinsler's praise of Padilla.

"He [Padilla] has a good breaking ball and a good split working, and he’s throwing strikes with his fastball," Young said. "Combine that with the fact that he’s been throwing well and working late in the game, that’s a good recipe for success."

Rangers Walk Off For Two Straight Games

Attention all Rangers fans...enjoy it while it last.

The final two games against the Seattle Mariners have been nothing short of amazing.

After a back and forth game which saw both teams matching the other run for run, Seattle looked to have sealed up the win in the top of the 11th as they got to C.J. Wilson for one.

But in the bottom of the 11th, both Michael Young and Josh Hamilton reached base and Texas looked to have a rally on.

"After you see Michael Young get on base and Josh Hamilton walk, you start feeling it in your body," Andrus said. "You start feeling it that you can get the win, you feel that we can come back right there."

Come back, they did as Hank Blalock stepped to the plate and drilled a double to right center field, scoring both men and giving Texas the dramatic 6-5 win.

"Wow ... what a ballgame," Rangers manager Ron Washington said.

What followed was a home plate dog pile celebration that left at least one player a little light-headed.

"I don't remember what I was doing," Kinsler confessed. "I get so excited that I black out."

"My first beer shower," Blalock said. "It feels great. We were frustrated as a ballclub early in the game. We kept leaving guys on base. But we did a good job of grinding it out, putting it behind us and focusing on our next at-bat."

Another positive that caem out of the game was the way starter Brandon McCarthy battled, going seven innings, his longest outing as a Ranger.

"We did a great job fighting tonight," Blalock said. "We got down early and did a great job of grinding it out. It was a nice win."

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In the final game of the series, Texas again needed some last second heroics. Down 2-0 in the bottom of the 9th, last nights hero, Hank Blalock hit a solo shot to put Texas down one.

After Nelson Cruz flied out, David Murphy kept things going with a double setting up Chris Davis to hit the biggest homerun of his young career.



"It's just an unbelievable feeling," Davis said. "I've been a part of so many moments with this team. We feel we can come through at any time. We're always coming through for each other and picking each other up. It just feels great to be the guy who comes through and picks them up."

The homer was Davis' 4th in nine games. It was also the 1st walk-off homerun of his career.

"It's awesome," Davis said afterward in a beer-soaked T-shirt. "It's awesome to be in the middle of that. It's fun when you're on the outside. But it's awesome to be in the middle and everybody jumping up on top of you."

Matt Harrison continued to pitch well, thorwing his second straight complete game, picking up the victory. He also ran his scorelss innings streak to 22 innings before allowinf 2 runs in the 4th inning.

"Our psyche is already high but that just continues to reinforce what we're trying to do," manager Ron Washington said. "Play nine innings, keep it close and see what happens. We never think we're out of a ballgame. You keep going out there and getting people out, making plays and getting guys on the bags and you never know what will happen."

Rangers Without Their Closer

Rangers ace closer Frank Francisco, who has been virtually unhitable so far this season, underwent an MRI on Monday for what is being described as biceps tendonitis and shoulder soreness.

Francisco was given an anti-inflammatory injection and will miss the entire series with Seattle. Instead, he will play catch on Wednesday and have a throwing session on Thursday to determine whether a trip to the disabled list is in order.



"We can't rule it out," said Rangers general manager Jon Daniels. "But right now, we're going day-to-day and see how Frankie progresses."

Frankie has nine saves so far this season, tied for 1st in the Major League. Opponents are hitting a paltry .137 against him, 6th lowest in the league. He has yet to allow an earned run in 14 appearances this season.

"Obviously, he's a big part of what we're doing," Daniels said. "If he ends up missing a few days, we'll try to get by. We have confidence in a lot of guys in our bullpen. If it's longer than that, it's something we'll have to deal with."

Feldman Turns In Another Quality Start, Hamilton Returns From DL With A Bang.

Despite the news of a returning Josh Hamilton from the disabled list, the real story of the night was pitcher Scott Feldman. For the 4th time this season, Feldman turned in a quality start for Texas. Matter of fact, Feldman was cruising for 6 1/3 innings until the home plate umpire decided to get involved.

Having not allowed a run, Feldman had strike 3 on Franklin Gutierrez but home plate unpire Marty Foster didn't see it that way. One pitch later, Gutierrez stroked a single into center, then stole 2nd base. The next hitter, catcher Kenji Johjima hit a soft liner into right field, tying the game at one run a piece.



Feldman was visibly upset while being from the game but, having thrown 110 pitches, needed to sit. Rookie Derek Holland came in to retire the final two hitters of the inning, preserving the tie.

In the bottom of the 7th, Mike Young drilled a hard shot into right field (his 3rd hit of the game) setting up some heroics from the returning Josh Hamilton, who hit an opposite field homerun, giving Texas the lead.

Andruw Jones then legged out an infield single, followed by a Marlon Byrd double, whihc set up a deep sacrifice fly by Nelson Cruz, giving Texas a 4-1 lead. Chris Davis (who had given Texas a 1-0 lead earlier in the game via a solo homerun) drilled a hard shot off the glove of Seattle first baseman Russell Branyan. An error but it scored Texas' 5th run of the game. Jarrod Saltalamacchia then hit a hard shot into right field, picking up an RBI triple. Salty scored on an infield single by Elvis Andrus. After an Ian Kinsler base hit, Mike Young walked, loading the bases for Josh Hamilton, who ended Seattle's misery by striking out.

Leading 7-1, Derek Holland went 1 2/3 innings, throwing strikes, forcing Seattle's hitters to put the ball in play. He was rewarded with several weakly hit groundballs. Holland continues to progress and could find himself in the starting lineup before the end of the season.

Eddie Guardado came in to pitch the 9th for Texas, closing out the game and giving Texas a 2 1/2 game lead in the AL West.

The win was the 1st of Derek Holland's big league career.

Millwood Good, But Not Good Enough. Padilla Makes Historic Start.

Kevin Millwood can't seem to catch a break. Despite playing with one of the top scoring offenses in baseball, they don't seem to show up when Millwood is on the mound.

Despite giving Texas 7+ innings and allowing only three earned runs, Millwood took the loss as the offense was only able to muster a couple of runs thanks to RBI basehits by Ian Kinsler and Elvis Andrus.

"I didn't think I had the best stuff in the world, but it was good enough to compete," said Millwood, who was charged with three earned runs on seven hits."It just wasn't good enough to win. I just didn't make the key pitches when I needed to."

Carlos Quentin, Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko all gave Chicago RBI singles, putting just enough on the board to pick up the win, 3-2.

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In the rubber match of the 3 game set again Chicago, Texas' Vicente Padilla turned in a historic start, going 7 innings and allowing only 1 hit. With his performance, he became the first player in Rangers history to throw 2 consecutive one-hit starts.

"I was keeping [my pitches] low, and they were swinging at it," Padilla said through an interpreter. "My fastball was moving a lot."



"[Maybe] three starts ago there were questions about his velocity -- and the thing about Padilla, you don't know if that's by design or if that's him," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "He can pitch. He can manipulate the baseball. He can do some good things. It just took him a while to get going."

The offense was led by Hank Blalock, who went yard for the 8th and 9th times on the year. It was the 7th time in his career Blalock has had a multi-homer game.

Chris Davis added his 8th homerun of the season.

"Those guys grind it out, man, especially those at-bats in the fifth inning against Colon," Washington said. "[We] had a couple walks there, and then we chopped some balls and we made some things happen, which is what you have to do."

Texas leaves Chicago winners of 5 of their last 7 games.

Harrison Throws A Gem, Shuts Out Chi Sox

It looks as though Matt Harrison has figured it out. Crediting a decision to waste less time in between pitches, Harrison has been ace-like ever since with Friday's game in Chicago being the best of the bunch.

Harrison threw a complete game shutout against an offense stacked with All-Star caliber talent, striking out five and walking only one batter. Harrison has now thrown 19 consecutive scoreless innings.

"I just kept pounding the fastballs in and out and using my changeup," Harrison said. "If they made an adjustment, I would make one, but they didn't, so I just kept doing the same thing I did last start."



Harrison's offense helped him out early, spotting him a run in the first and two more in the second. Ian Kinsler and Omar Vizquel both had 2 RBI nights, pacing Texas for 6 runs on 11 hits.

If Harrison can keep pounding the strike zone the way he has his last three starts, Ron Washington thinks his best may still be yet to come.

"Harry's got good stuff. He's always had good stuff. He'll tell you [that] he played on the edges. [He's] stopped playing on the edges and [started] making them swing the bat and put the ball in play."

Rangers Rocked In Finale, Leave Oakland With A Split

Brandon McCarthy was cruising right along for three innings. He had spoken openly about his desire to give Texas at least seven strong innings the way Millwood and Padilla had done the last two games.

Jack Cust had other plans for McCarthy's day.

After loading the bases in the 4th, McCarthy served up a grand slam homerun to Cust, Oakland's biggest power threat.

"It feels good," Cust said. "In that situation, bases loaded, nobody out, there's not a lot of pressure on the hitter. You've just got to basically hit a ball in the air. That's what I was trying to do. I wasn't trying to hit a home run."



After a solo homerun by Chris Davis made the score 4-1, Oakland came back in the bottom of the 5th and hit another homerun, this time a 3- run shot off the bat of the struggling Matt Holiday. Brandon McCarthy did not retire a batter in the 5th inning.

"I feel like it's coming along pretty good," Holliday said of his swing. "The last couple days I felt pretty good. I definitely think that confidence is an important part of this game, and when ... five or six guys have good at-bats, confidence is high for all those guys, and it carries over."

Ron Washington wrapped the game up into a nice, neat package.

"They beat us today," Washington said. "A grand slam home run ... a three-run home run. They swung the bats today."

Oakland starting pitcher Trevor Cahill pitched well, stringing out Texas' hits, keeping them from striking with men on base. Today's win was the first of his Major League career.

"I just went after them today. When I did got behind, I didn't give in," said Cahill.

Despite a late charge which saw Texas plate three runs in the top of the 9th off reliever Brad Ziegler, the Rangers offense looked confused and out of sorts.

"We let him slip away," said Marlon Byrd, who went 2 for 3 with 2 doubles. "First time facing a young guy ... he had different stuff, a knuckleball, a little slider, pretty good changeup. We need to make adjustments the next time we face him. If we give Brandon some runs early, things might have been different. He could have pitched more aggressively. Pitching has been keeping us in there, it's time for the offense to pick things up."

Feldman Solid As Rangers Take Over 1st Place In The AL West

Kris Benson may well have come off the disabled list but Scott Feldman is doing everything in his power to keep Benson's spot in the starting rotation.

Yesterday in Oakland, Feldman pitched a gem of a game, throwing six solid innings, allowing only two earned runs on 89 pitches. Since some struggles early in the season, Feldman is keeping the ball down, working quickly, and getting ground balls. He is now 2-0 with a 3.24 ERA in three starts and opponents are hitting .186 off him as a starter. They hit .355 off him as a reliever.

"He was really pounding the ball inside, especially to lefties," Athletics outfielder Travis Buck said. "He threw a lot of cutters, and when it's 91-93 and he's throwing it for strikes, that's a tough pitch to hit. And he did a nice job by showing his curveball and change early in the game, so it wasn't like you could just sit on one pitch. It was just tough to square balls up."

Feldman then gave way to rookie Derek Holland who pitched two scoreless innings, getting the first hold of his young career.

The 9th inning belonged to Frank Francisco who picked up his ninth save of the season, yops in the American League.



Texas got it's offense going thanks to a solo homerun in the 1st by rookie short stop Elvis Andrus. In the top of the 4th, Marlon Byrd singled into right field, followed by a line drive double by the scorching Nelson Cruz. David Murphy pushed Byrd across with a sacrifice fly. Chris Davis then plated Cruz with an RBI single to center.

Despite surrending two runs in the bottom of the inning, Feldman and Co. made the three runs stand up. Manager Ron Washington seems pleased with the progress the pitching staff has made since the beginning of the season.

"I hope it continues," Washington said. "We're getting better. We're progressing. Those guys are taking the ball and they're taking a lot of pride in what they're doing. The tone is set with starting pitching. We're playing great defense and we're getting timely hitting. The guys in the clubhouse deserve a lot of credit, especially the pitchers."

Texas now has a season high five game winning streak and, save for the first few games of this season, find themselves in first place of the AL West for the first time since June 14th, 2006. Veteran Michael Young wants everyone to keep things in perspective.

"First place is nice, but it means more to me that we're playing good baseball," said Young, who extended his current hitting streak to 10 games on Wednesday. "We're pitching extremely well and we're playing good defense. Those are two things we were really bearing down on in Spring Training. We knew our offense could score runs in bunches."

Texas Goes To Seattle, Gets Sweep

Texas rode into Seattle with a modest 2 game winning streak and left out with their third straight winning series and their first sweep since the opening series of the season.

In game one, Texas got 2-run homers from both Chris Davis and Michael Young off Seattle ace Felix Hernandez, while Kevin Millwood hung in there for the Rangers, giving them 7 1/3 innings of work, leaving the game with a one run lead.



Frank Francisco made the run stand up, thanks in large part to an acrobatic defensive play by Elvis Andrus, pulling to one game over .500.

"It was just a good team win," Young said. "Obviously, it was a big game for both teams. Hernandez had great stuff, off-the-chart stuff. But Milly battled through it and gave us a huge effort as he always does. The bullpen did a good job and we got some timely hits off Felix."

In game two of the short series, Vicente Padilla pitched a gem, throwing 8 innings of one-hit baseball, surrendering only one unearned run. Padilla had struggled early in the season but has shown signs of breaking out of his funk, compiling an ERA of 3.05 in his last 3 starts.

"He was outstanding," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "He really was. That was what we needed. He made all his pitches, moved the ball around in the strike zone, changed speeds at the right time and worked fast. The key was throwing strikes in all parts of the strike zone."



But Erik Bedard was almost as effective for the Mariners and the game was forced into extra innings where, in the top of the 10th, Texas exploded for six runs, capped by a grand slam by catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

"Marlon and Cruz got the two-out RBI hits," Saltalamacchia said. "That took the pressure off me, and all I had to do was look for a good pitch to hit. This was huge. It was that we came into Seattle and swept. Now we've got to go on to Oakland and keep it going."

Texas Fights Off The Rain, Wins Another Series

After dropping a tough one 4-3 to Chicago in the first game of Texas' 3-game set, the Rangers got after in strange game 2.

With thunderstorms covering up the night skies, the Rangers and White Sox were forced to sit through three seperate rain delays.

Down 1-0 in the bottom of the third, Hank Blalock (perhaps taking a cue from Rangers play-by-play announcer Tom Grieve who correctly predicted the outcome) clubbed his 7th homer of the season, a 3-run shot into the bullpen that gave Texas a 3-1 lead.



Texas then came back in the bottom of the fourth and put another six run on the board, thanks to key doubles by David Murphy (who continues to hit his way out of a slump), Nelson Cruz and Chris Davis. Ian Kinsler, Omar Vizquel, Hank Blalock and Marlon Byrd all added RBI hits in the inning as the Rangers built a 9-1 lead.

"It was a situation that we wanted to go out there and score as many runs as we can," Blalock said.

Play was halted once again as the rain began to fall, forcing everyone back into the dugouts.

When play resumed, so too did Brandon McCarthy's dominance of his former White Sox team. After all was said and done, McCarthy went five innings, allowing only one run, striking out three and retiring the final 12 batters he faced.

"I think I finally settled in and attacked the zone," McCarthy said. "I just let the ball go. I was just pitching for contact and attacking the zone."

Texas reliever Luis Mendoza allowed a grand slam homerun in the 6th to Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski but they were albel to get no closer, falling to Texas 9-6.

"That was a long one," third baseman Michael Young said. "It's good to get out of there with a win. When the game got tough with the rain delays, we had some relievers who had never been in that situation before."

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In the rubber match between the Rangers and Sox, Matt Harrison turned in his 2nd consecutive quality start, giving Texas five innings of shutout baseball and picking up his 2nd win of the season.

"He made pitches when he had to make pitches," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "Give them credit. They made him work. He only gave us five innings, but they were five pretty good innings."

Harrison was spotted a lead early as Ian Kinsler lead the game off with his 9th homerun of the season.

"I'm not trying to hit a home run in my first at-bat," Kinsler said. "I'm trying to drive the ball every single at-bat. I like doing that, though. Hitting one out of the ballpark in the first at-bat takes some air out of the other team and helps your starting pitcher relax, knowing he already has a 1-0 lead."

Kinsler added a RBI single later in the game and is now hitting .337 on the season.

Michael Young broke out of a mini-slump, adding an RBI single of his own. Nelson Cruz had a three hit night and Elvis Andrus added 2 base hits and sacrifice. This was the fisrt night Andrus hit in the no. 2 spot in the batting order.

"I like it," Andrus said. "All my career I have been hitting second. I feel comfortable there and we got the win."

The win over Chicago had to be particularly sweet considering the pitcher they defeated: former Rangers top prospect John Danks. He he is now 1-2 with a 5.30 ERA in three career starts against the Rangers.



"It's always been just another start," said Danks, traded to the White Sox after the 2006 season. "I have more at stake than worrying about what these guys are doing or thinking or trying to impress someone. I have my own career to worry about. I really don't care what these guys think. I'm just going out there to try to give us a chance to win."

Texas pulls to 12-12 on the season and now heads to Seattle for a two game series with the Mariners.