Holland Dominates Mariners As Texas Gets Back On Winning Track

Perhaps some fans had began to wonder exactly why Derek Holland has been the Texas Rangers' top pitching prospect the last few years, as he's struggled to find his footing for a fair portion of his rookie year. But last night, against the Seattle Mariners, Holland gave everyone a glimpse into what Rangers fans hope is the not-so-distant future. The young rookie pitched 8 2/3 scoreless innings (his relief would allow a run to score which was credited to Holland), allowing just two hits the entire night. In the process, he struck out ten batters, walking just one and completely shut down a Mariners that had taken it to Texas just before the All-Star break.

"I think we got a real good look at Derek Holland, as his future gets better," manager Ron Washington said. "He used all his pitches. When you have his fastball and secondary pitches like that, it's hard to sit on pitches."

For the first time all season, Jarrod Saltalamacchia sat with Holland in the dugout between innings, going over hitter tendencies and keeping him focused.

"We had talked about going out there and not going with fastballs," Saltalamacchia said. "We went with off-speed early. He did a great job tonight. I don't think anyone was comfortable tonight in the box."



Upon his exit in the 9th, just one out away from a complete game, Holland was given a standing ovation.

"Hearing the crowd was an awesome feeling," Holland said. "I had chills down my spine."

Holland's offense took a lot of pressure off his back early getting him an early lead, thanks to a big 3-run inning in the bottom of the 2nd courtesy of homeruns by Hank Blalock and Saltalamacchia.

"We had great offense with Hank [Blalock] getting us started," Holland said. "They started it off for me in the second."

Texas struck again the 3rd and then again in the 5th with solo homeruns by Michael Young who had 3 hits on the night and is now hitting .326 on the season.

Marlon Byrd capped the scoring in the 7th, blasting a 2-run homer, his 10th of the year.

The win not only kept Texas 3 back of the Angels in the West but also pulled them to 1 1/2 games back of the Boston Red Sox in the AL Wild Card Race.

Tigers Run It Up Against Feldman, Rangers

Every team is gonna have nights like the one the Rangers had Wednesday night against the Detroit Tigers. Scott Feldman who, up until this start, has been one of the better pitchers in the American League was shelled for 6 runs on 10 hits, lasting just 2 1/3 innings.

"It was just an all-around awful job," Feldman said. "Bad command cost me the most. I was not executing my pitches. It was just a frustrating night."

Feldman never did seem to find the 'feel' of his cutter, a pitch that has netted him so many soft outs throughout most of this season. The lack of touch resulted in several pitches outside of the strike zone, forcing Feldman to pull back and throw his fastball down the middle which is fine so long as his other pitches are working. When they aren't, a 90 mph fastball is little more than batting practice for MLB-caliber hitters.

"It wasn't our night tonight," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "They came out swinging the bats and never stopped. If you play enough games, you're going to have one like this. Tonight their bats were on. They got hits, all kinds of hits: doubles, chinks, broken bats. There was nothing we could do."



Despite 2 homeruns by Andruw Jones, the offense never really got on track, managing just 8 hits on the night while striking out a season high 18 times. Tigers starter Justin Verlander was dominant for most of the game, putting in seven innings of work en route to his 12th win of the season. Even when Verlander struggled, he was always able to work his way out of the jams.

"That's what he does," Byrd said. "He comes out throwing 90-92 [mph], then he gets into trouble and he's throwing 96-100. There is a reason why he leads the world in strikeouts. When he has guys out there with runners in scoring position, he steps up his game. You have to do that as well."

Despite scoring 3 in the bottom of the 5th, Texas never got close, allowing the Tigers to score at least one run in the first 7 innings of the game, ultimately dropping the final game of the series, 13-5.

"You gotta tip your cap to their whole team," Rangers third baseman Michael Young said. "Verlander threw a great game, they had, what, 19 hits. You just gotta file it away and move on."

Rangers Hammer Tigers, Take Control Of Series

Two nights ago, Vicente Padilla, still recovering from swine flu, informed the team he still didn't have his legs under him and should make other arrangements in case he was unable to go. The Rangers did just that, sending Doug Mathis to the mound for the spot start. Mathis, who has yet to allow a run in 20 innings of relief this season, managed four innings of work, allowing three runs (all in the top of the 2nd).

"Obviously I wanted to go a little longer," Mathis said. "I thought I threw the ball very well but that one inning got away from me. When I came out of the game, I wanted us to either be in good shape or having the lead. That's what happened."

In the bottom of the 2nd, Mathis' offense responded for him, scoring four runs off RBI doubles by both Elvis Andrus and Michael, and a 2-run triple by Ian Kinsler.



Josh Hamilton added an RBI on a bloop single and, with the way he's been struggling, you've gotta hope seeing something like like that drop in for him might mean the beginning of the end of his run of bad luck.

Doug Mathis was replaced by Jason Grilli, who entered the game in the 5th, retiring all six batters he faced over two innings of work. Grilli was not only pumped up having his father there in the stands watching him pitch but also because he pitched for the Tigers from '05-'08.

"I've spent some time over there," Grilli said after the Rangers' 7-3 victory. "It's bragging rights, playing against your friends. It's friendly competition. I've had great experiences over there."

Grilli was followed by Eddie Guardado and Darren O'Day, both of whom pitched an inning of hitless baseball. Guillermo Moscoso closed the game out with a scoreless 9th inning.

Overall, Texas' relievers were able to retire 15 of the final 16 batters they faced.

"The bullpen did a great job tonight," manager Ron Washington said. "We came back after we spotted them three runs. We were able to put together some runs."

The win moved Texas to 14 games over .500 and have now won six straight home games. They are 2 1/2 games behind the Angels in the West.

Hamilton's Struggles Reach Critical Level

As the year goes on it is starting to look more and more like it may well turn into a lost season for Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton.

Texas' 2-time All-Star is now 2 for his last 32 and is mired in what has been, for the most part, a season-long slump.

Hamilton has responded to the slump by watching more video and taking more batting practice but, for whatever reason, just cannot seem to regain neither the timing nor confidence he showed last season when he led the league in RBI.

"I think I've almost overanalyzed it all to a point," Hamilton said. "I was thinking too much and thinking I needed to get a hit because I hadn't gotten a hit in a while. When you do that, it just makes things worse. It's hard not to do, too, because it's only human. I just need to shut all the head games down by myself."

In last nights game with Detroit, manager Ron Washington dropped Hamilton from his customary 3rd spot in the order to 7th, trying to help take some of the self-inflicted pressure off Josh's shoulders. Hamilton wasn't able to respond, going 0-for-4 on the night.

"We're giving him a chance to gather himself," Washington said. "You'd be frustrated, too, if you had a vision of what you're capable of doing and you can't seem to put it together. We haven't given up on him, and we're not going to allow him to give up on himself."



Since returning from the DL on July 6th, Hamilton is hitting just .198 with one home run, two doubles and four RBI. For the season, he is hitting .223 with seven home runs and 28 RBIs.

Hamilton continues to work hard but seems unable to pinpoint the reasons behind the slump.

"If I knew what was wrong, I wouldn't be struggling," said Hamilton. "I think I went 0-for-22 in the minors one time, but then I proceeded to hit .468 in the playoffs."

The Rangers are hoping that with some time and patience a similar turnaround will take place.

"We need to give [Hamilton] a break," Washington said. "He's trying too hard. His timing isn't there and the only person that can fix that is him."

Easier said than done as, at least from his body language, Hamilton appears to have lost a good deal of confidence.

"He needs to be aggressive," Washington said. "Once he steps in that batter's box, he's all by himself."

Texas' Big Game Hunter Nets A Tiger

Forgive the title...I couldn't resist.

Tommy Hunter's second pitch of the game sailed off the bat of Tigers All-Star Curtis Granderson into the right field seats, giving Detroit the early 1-0 lead. From there, Hunter pitched seven innings of shutout baseball, striking out six.

"Good job by Tommy Hunter," manager Ron Washington said. "We knew he could handle the baseball and manipulate it. He's got four pitches."

The biggest moment of the night came in the top of the 5th when, with the bases loaded, Hunter threw a high fastball by Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera, ending the top half of the inning in dramatic fashion.

"I think it was a combination of he pitched very well and we didn't swing too well," said Tigers manager Jim Leyland. "We've done this for months, to be honest with you. We've swung at balls and taken strikes."

"I was trying to throw strikes," Hunter said. "I gotta minimize the damage. It was fun. That was fun, puts a smile on your face. It changed the game."

Hunter's assessment was right on the money as in the bottom of the 5th, Nelson Cruz pulled Texas even with a monster 542-foot solo homerun, the 5th longest homerun ever hit at the Ballpark in Arlington.



The Rangers continued their march to victory in the bottom of the 6th, getting a lead-off double by Elvis Andrus who scored on a single by Michael Young. After a David Murphy walk, Hank Blalock drove both men home with a double down the rightfield line, putitng Texas up 4-1.

Detroit pushed another run across in the top of the 8th but was answered in the bottom of the inning via Michael Young's 14th homerun of the year. For the night, Young had three base hits, the 3rd consecutive game he's accomplished that feat.

In the 9th, C.J. Wilson came on to strike out the side, picking up his 11th save of the season.

Tommy Hunter is now 3-1 with an ERA of 2.00. Offenses are hitting just over .200 against him.

The 5-2 win broke a string of seven straight loses to the Tigers.

"We had many opportunities to win against them in Detroit," Washington said. "Those guys don't quit. I remember four or five games in Detroit we would have won. They snatched them from us. Baseball does that."

The win give Texas a 33-19 record at home, 2nd best in team history and also moves them to 2 games behind the Angels in the AL West.

Rangers Win Series In Kansas City

Game two in Kansas City featured a pitcher still finding his way in his first big league season. Game three featured one who may have finally found himself.

On Saturday, Texas sent rookie Derek Holland to the mound and, much like he's done since coming up from AAA earlier in the year, mixed moments of greatness with a little too much inconsistency.

After going just 4 2/3 innings, allowing 4 earned runs on 7 hits, Holland is now 1-5 with an ERA of 6.42 in nine starts.

"I saw fight," manager Ron Washington said. "But he still has to work on his commanding the baseball better. Derek had trouble trying to hit his spots from the beginning. He got through the first three [innings] but he still had trouble controlling the baseball."

The offense wasn't much better, scoring just 3 runs on 11 hits. Texas' 3 & 4 hitters, Josh Hamilton and Andruw Jones, went a combined 0-for-7 with 6 strikeouts. For the game, Texas struck out 13 times.

"When you strike out that many times, you're not putting much pressure on the defense," Washington said.

In the final game of the series, Dustin Nippert again showed that he may be finally reaching the level long expected of a player with his potential. Nippert, forced into the game after Kevin Millwood had to exit at the end of the 2nd inning with a strained left gluteus muscle, came up big for Texas, pitching 4 2/3 innings of one hit, one run relief, giving the stagnant offense just enough time to put a few runs on the board.



"I just go out there to throw strikes and keep us in the game," Nippert said. "Keep it close and help us win the game. Today I was able to keep the ball down and use all my pitches. I was throwing my changeup a lot and mixing speeds."

With the performance, Nippert picked up his 2nd win in 5 days, despite his offense doing everything in their power to prevent that. Luckily for him, the Royals defense proved slightly more inept that the Rangers hitting.

After being shut out for six innings by Kansas City starter and former Rangers reject Sidney Ponson, Texas finally got a bit of a rally started in the 7th inning as Andruw Jones banged a double of the wall in left field. A single by Nelson Cruz put runners on the corners with nobody out. Royals reliever Ron Mahay was replaced by Jamey Wright who promptly induced a groud ball by Jarrod Saltalamacchia to first baseman Billy Butler who threw out Jones trying to score at home. With runners at first and second, Cruz then stole third, but Wright got a big strike out of Elvis Andrus for the second out of the inning.

That brought Ian Kinsler to the plate, who quickly swung at the first pitch he saw, popping the ball up high into the air on the right side of the infield. Luckily for Texas, Royals second baseman Alberto Callaspo had trouble locating the ball, making a last ditch running stab at it, dropping it on the right field grass. The error allowed Nelson Cruz to score and seemed to suck the life out of the Kansas City players. Michael Young and Marlon Byrd both singled home runs making it 3-0.

"It always takes the emotion out of you when you give up three unearned runs in one inning," Royals manager Trey Hillman said. "That happens regardless of how you're going. But it happens even more so when you've only got a couple hits on the board and you're having a miserable time offensively."

Kansas City put a run on the board in the bottom of the 7th but it was quickly given back as Andruw Jones came up in the top of the 8th and hammered a homerun into the left field seats. Texas would add three more runs in the 8th, closing the Royals out with a 2-1 series win.

"It was a strange game," Young said. "The story of the game was Nip and the sun. We got the sun ball and after that we came alive. Give Ponson credit. He threw a really good game. He had a lot of life on his sinker down in the zone. We caught a big break in the seventh and took it over."

Greinke Tough But Feldman Comes Up Big As Rangers Shutout Royals

Scott Feldman has been saying all year that staff ace Kevin Millwood has set the bar pretty high for staying in games and chewing up innings. Feldman has been very effective this year for six innings but high pitch count and/or fatigue has prevented him from getting through the 7th. On Friday night, Feldman finally broke through that wall, deliving a masterful performance over eight innings in route to his 9th win of the season.

"I hope I can build on this and make it more of a regular thing getting us deeper in the game," Feldman said.



As good as Feldman was, allowing no runs while scattering just four hits over his eight innings, Royals ace Zack Greinke pitched quite a game as well. Greinke went seven innings, striking out ten while allowing just three hits. Unfortunately for the Royals, one of those hits was a solo homerun off the bat of Marlon Byrd.

"I know he wished that pitch was in a better spot," Byrd said. "That was something we needed, and Feldman took it from there."

Texas added an insurance run in the top of the 8th when Hank Blalock hit a long double to center field, scoring Marlon Byrd.

C.J. Wilson took over for Feldman in the 9th, closing Kansas City out, nabbing his 10th save of the year. But despite Wilson's dominant 9th, everyone was talking about Feldman's big night.

"He used his changeup more and had a nice little breaking ball going," catcher Taylor Teagarden said. "I figured Greinke was going to do his usual seven or eight innings and allow zero or one run. At the same time, I was expecting Feldman to do the same."

"For you to outpitch Zack [Greinke], you gotta throw pretty good," Royals catcher Brayan Pena said. "[Feldman] did a great job."

Ron Washington was also quick to praise his starter saying, "Feldman matched the best pitcher in baseball and threw an excellent ballgame."

The shutout was the 6th of the season for Rangers pitchers.

Texas Breaks Out The Brooms, Sweeps Boston Out Of Arlington

Don't look now but your Texas Rangers are starting to play some pretty good baseball.

After struggling against Seattle just prior to the All-Star break, then looking terrible against the Minnesota Twins after the All-Star break, many 'experts' began expounding on the demise of the Rangers.

Then the Boston Red Sox rolled into town.

Playing in front of huge crowds for the last three home games, Texas swept the Sox out of town, taking all three games in a variety of ways.

For game 1, Texas sent their ace, Kevin Millwood to the mound and he didn't disappoint, setting the tone for the entire series. Millwood battled for six innings against the high-powered Boston lineup, allowing just two run. The offense paid him back for his effort, exploding in the bottom of the 6th inning for five runs against former Cy Young Award winner John Smoltz, highlighted by three homeruns off the bats of Michael Young, David Murphy & Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

"Smoltz was throwing a great game," Michael Young said. "For a lot of us, it was the first time seeing him. He still has good life on his fastball and good bite on his breaking ball. He was throwing a great game. We were fortunate we had some guys string together some good at-bats and get a big inning going."



C.J. Wilson also had a big night for Texas, shutting Boston down for the final four outs of the game, striking out two on his way to his 8th save of the season. Wilson's stuff was just flat nasty as he overpowered the vaunted Red Sox lineup.

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In game 2 Texas took on one of the best big game pitchers in baseball, Josh Beckett. And Boston's ace lived up to his press clipping, pitching a complete game and, at one point, retired 14 hitters in a row. Unfortunately for Beckett, Texas may have found themselves a gem in young starter Tommy Hunter.

Hunter was clutch for the Rangers and, after being given an early lead thanks to a 2-run single by Hank Blalock in the bottom of the 1st inning, pitched six innings of one run ball. He also allowed just four hits, keeping Boston off balance the entire night.



"That was great," outfielder Marlon Byrd said. "Beckett was Beckett -- just like he always is. To beat him, you have to have your pitcher go out there and match him, and that's what Tommy did."

Jason Jennings and Darren O'Dat followed Hunter with scoreless innings of their own before giving way to C.J. Wilson who came in and shut the door on Boston, nabbing his 9th save of the year.

"It's a huge win, because they're a great team," Rangers outfielder David Murphy said. "We've played great the last three days, but definitely this series. It just makes a statement that we're here and we're for real. People want to count us out, but we're still playing well. We hit a little skid [losing four straight] and the Angels are playing good. We're not in first place, but we're for real."

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In the final game of the series, Boston sent top prospect Clay Buchholz to the hill while Texas countered with Dustin Nippert. Both starters were late additions as Boston scratched Tim Wakefield due to back issues, while the Rangers were forced to go with Nippert as a replacement for Vicente Padilla. Vicente, along with several other members of the pitching staff have come down with the flu.

Nippert, who has struggled in each of his previous starts, gave the Rangers a gutsy performance, holding Boston to just one run over 5 2/3 innings.

"This shows what character this team has," outfielder Marlon Byrd said. "We went out and played. We didn't care who we were playing -- we just went out and played. The way our pitchers are pitching, if we can play good defense and score a few runs, we're going to win a lot of games."

Not to be outdone, Nippert gave way to Doug Mathis who went the rest of the way, pitching 3 1/3 innings of shutout baseball.

"I just wanted to execute my pitches, make them swing the bats and put the ball in play," Mathis said. "I wasn't worried about going 3 1/3 innings. I was just trying to get guys out, win the ballgame and finish the game."

With Eddie Guardado and Frank Francisco sick and Darrne O'Day and C.J. Wilson unavailable for the game, Mathis' effort was a huge boost to a suddenly short bullpen.

On offense, Texas got a big blast from Ian Kinsler in the 3rd, his 23rd homerun of the season. In the 4th, Texas would find a way to manufacture a few more runs. Nelson Cruz led the inning off with a single followed by another base hit by David Murphy. With both men in socring position, Cruz was able to score on a ground out by catcher Taylor Teagarden. Elvis Andrus then brough Murphy home with a perfectly executed suicide squeeze.



Texas kept constant pressure on Boston's pitchers and defense, stealing six bases, staying very aggressive on the basepaths.

With a 3-1 lead, Texas broke out the gloves, playing great defense behind both Nippert and Mathis. The biggest defensive play of the night was also the funniest as Nelson Cruz and Josh Hamilton both tried to chase down a deep fly ball off the bat of Dustin Pedroia. Cruz got their first and made the catch but ran straight into Josh Hamilton who wrapped him up into a bear hug.

"We're two big boys," Hamilton said. "We were running after the ball, both calling it, and we both couldn't hear each other because of the crowd. At the last second, I looked at him out of the corner of my eye and backed off."

"That was a big play," Washington said. "If that falls, we don't know how it would've ended."

With the sweep, Texas has now taken 5 of 6 against Boston this season and currently sit three games out of first place in the AL West.

Kinsler, Bullpen Come Up Big Against Minnesota

Hopefully, last nights game for Ian Kinsler was a microcosm of how his entire season will go.

Mired in a huge slump, Kinsler led the game off with a solo homerun, giving Texas the early 1-0 advantage.

Derek Holland gave the lead away in the top of the 3rd, allowing a solo homerun to Nick Punto, his first homerun of the entire season. Holland's struggles continued in the 4th inning, as he allowed two more run to cross the plate, thanks in part to a fielding error he committed. He went just 4+ innings and seemingly never regained his composure post-error.

"In the first two innings, he was mixing his pitches very well," manager Ron Washington said. "Then he didn't catch the ground ball. He was erratic after that. When he left, we were in the ballgame."

Down 3-1, the Rangers bullpen stepped up big time, shutting the Twins out the rest of the way, giving the offense a change to scratch and claw their way back. to a 3-3 tie.

"The bullpen came in and they continued to grind tonight," Washington said. "[Doug]Mathis saved us. [Dustin]Nippert saved us. Nippert was on fumes. He was the last guy standing."

The game went extra innings with both teams getting quality pitching from their bullpens. In the bottom of the 12th, Jarrod Saltalamacchia singled and was sacrificed to 2nd base by Elvins Andrus, setting up Ian Kinsler's heroics.



With former Ranger pitcher R.A. Dickey on the mound for Minnesota, Kinsler took a fastball out to left field for a 2-run, walk-off homerun.

"Ultimately the pitch rests in my hand, and I threw the wrong pitch," Dickey said. "That's all there really is to say about this one. I cost us this one, no doubt about it."

"It was a fastball that he tried to get by me," Kinsler said. "He had a good fastball before. He's tough with that knuckleball floating in there. If I was surprised, I wouldn't have hit it over."

With the late-inning win, Texas managed to prevent the Twins from leaving town with a sweep. However, despite the feel good moment, the Rangers continue to struggle at the plate and are now just 1 for their last 20 with runners in scoring position.

Regardless, Ron Washington and Co. are just happy to get themselves a win.

"What a win," said Washington. "They never quit, and tonight was an example of it. It was great. We needed it."

Offensive Struggles Continue As Texas Drops Another Game To Minnesota

Texas is off to a sluggish start here in the 2nd half of the season and is on the verge of finding themselves in 3rd place in the AL West.

The Rangers dropped another game to the Minnesota Twins, going 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and striking out a ridiculous 10 times.

"I hope this is not the case, but this might be how our offense is this year, and pitching will have to take us to the promised land," outfielder Marlon Byrd said. "Hopefully, our offense will come around, but if not, we'll have to win it with pitching and defense. That's what good teams do in September anyway."

Nelson Cruz accounted for the lone Texas run, hammering his 23rd homer of the season. Cruz added a double and a single but recieved little help from the rest of the offense.



The Rangers have now lost 6 of 7 games, hitting just .192 during that stretch.

"We haven't done as well hitting as we did last year," outfielder Josh Hamilton said. "This would be a good time to pick it up and hit the way we did last year. We'll just see what happens. We just have to keep working hard and hope it comes around soon."

Scott Feldman did what he could to keep the offense close, giving Texas 6 innings, allowing 3 earned runs while striking out five. Feldman continues to give his team quality start after quality start. It's a shame many of his efforts are being wasted due to inconsistency on the part of his offense.

Regardless of the struggles, Texas' manager remains confident.

"We're not going any place," manager Ron Washington said. "We're still in it. We'll come back tomorrow. We know we're better than that. We're not going to drop our heads or make excuses. The name of the game is scoring runs and we're not doing it."

Hamilton Gets Hot, Padilla Implodes

Vicente Padilla likes to come at hitters. It's an admirable quality when his location is on. However, when his off-speed stuff isn't up to par, Padilla has a tendency to rely too heavily on his fastball. Friday night against the Twins, Padilla was rocked for 5 earned runs on 11 hits in 7 innings of work.

"Everything was fine, I only threw two bad pitches," Padilla said.

The two pitches Padilla is referring to resulted in a 2-run triple by Twins centerfielder Carlos Gomez in the 2nd and a 3-run homerun by Jason Kubel in the 3rd.

All five runs were allowed after Josh Hamilton blasted a 2-run homer into the right field seats in the bottom of the 1st. Hamilton added 2 more base hits and another RBI, delivering all the offense Texas would manage for the night.



"The day before the All-Star Game, I had a good batting practice," Hamilton said. "I just had that, 'I belong here' kind of a feeling."

"It is nice to see Ham swinging the bat," manager Ron Washington said.

Despite the offensive display, Hamilton wasn't able to dig Texas out of the hole by himself as the Rangers dropped the first game of the series 5-3.

"That's baseball," Hamilton said. "Sometimes you get it done, sometimes you don't. You keep working and when the situation arises, hopefully you will get the job done."

Rangers Leave Their Mark At All-Star Game

The MLB All-Star is far and away the best of all the All-Star games as it is the only game which most closely represents how the game is truly played. With the NFL, NHL and NBA, defense is done away with in the name of ridiculously high levels of scoring. It's very 3-ring circus and comes off as a waste of the viewers time. But with the MLB game, there remains a sense of intrigue. I think this has everything to do with the fact that the players care more about winning as it now now directly affects home field advantage for the World Series.

The American League won yet again and are now 12-0-1 in the last 13 Midseason Classics.

Tampa Bay Rays star outfielder Carl Crawford was voted the games Most Valuable Player thanks in large part to his leaping catch to pull a potentially game-tying homerun back from going over the left field wall.

A couple of Texas Rangers players had good showings as well, with Michael Young and Josh Hamilton each going 1-for-3. Hamilton added a RBI in the first inning of the game.

"It was a good night," Hamilton said. "It was a little more relaxing than last year. I was able to take it in a little more. But you still can't get on a schedule or in a routine. You're still flying by the seat of your pants. But I was glad we got a win."



Texas' third All-Star, Nelson Cruz did not get in the game but made a big impression the previous night, finishing second to Prince Fielder in the Home Run Derby. Cruz hit several tape measure shots, including one that made it to the 4th tier of the left field seats, measuring over 470 feet. Cruz's shot was the first time a player has reached that part of Busch Stadium.

"Everybody was happy in the Dominican," Cruz said. "The media called me the first thing in the morning. The whole country was paying attention to what was going on. They were all proud and happy with the way that I performed."

Texas will now have a few days of rest before starting the 2nd half of the season Friday night against Minnesota.

Tap The Brakes On Dealing For Halladay

Last week, Toronto Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi admitted to putting some feelers out regarding the possibility of dealing ace starting pitcher Roy Halladay.

Halladay is a career 141-69 and is a bonafied #1 starter. The Blue Jays have let it be known that it will take a massive package of young prospects to pry Halladay away and have sent scouts throughout the majors and minors to gauge exactly what sort of talent is out there for the taking.

Many experts feel as though the Texas Rangers organization are in a position to offer the best package of player possible but there are several factors which prevent me from truly being able to embrace a possible trade.

I understand that the Rangers have played really well this season and find themselves in the thick of the AL West race a year sooner than they'd previously projected. But three seasons ago, Texas set out to build their organization from the ground up, dealing away expensive contracts like Mark Teixeira while stocking their minor league organizations with top-tier prospects. This modus operandi has worked extremely well, as Texas is now ranked as having the very best farm system in all of baseball, spearheaded by the previously mentioned Teixeira trade, a deal which netted them their starting shortstop (Elvis Andrus), starting catcher (Jarrod Saltalamacchia), number five starter (Matt Harrison) and top pitching prospect (Neftali Feliz).

Trading for a player like Halladay, while bold, would effectively cripple the farm system as Texas would surely be forced to deal away quality youth similar to what they added when they traded Teixeira to Atlanta in 2007.



So what would it take to get Roy Halladay? Well, Toronto has said they want young pitching (Neftali Feliz & Kasey Kiker), a power bat (Justin Smoak) and a shortstop (Marcus Lemon) in exchange for their ace.

Feliz just put on a pitching display at the All-Star game when he pitched one inning in the Futures Game, striking out two and averaging almost 97 mph with his fastball.

Kiker is currently pitching for AA Frisco, has shown good command throughout the season and was the starting pitcher in the AA All-Star game, pitching a hitless, scoreless inning.

Justin Smoak was promoted to AAA Oklahoma City last week and appears to be on the fast track to Arlington. He may well be the odds on favorite to be the Rangers starting first baseman as early as next season.

Marcus Lemon was a 4th round pick in the 2006 draft and is a slick-fielding, lightning fast infielder who's already made a successful jump to AA Frisco.

There's also the issue of Roy Halladay having an iron clad no-trade clause and, at least if the rumors are to be believed, would not okay any deal which would ship him to Texas, a place where he is a career 4-3 with a 6.14 ERA in 11 appearances. The Ballpark in Arlington is far and away Halladay's least favorite park in which to pitch, meaning even if they were able to convince him to accept a trade to Texas, it is very unlikely he would even consider signing an extention. Instead, Halladay would likely opt to test free agency after the 2010 season, with Texas getting nothing in return save for a 2010 1st round draft pick from the team that signed him away. Dealing away four (possibly more) top prospects for what would amount to less than a season and a half from Roy Halladay just doesn't add up for me.

Finally, Roy Halladay does nothing for what may well be Texas' biggest issue going into the second half of the season: the offense. The Rangers offense has been very inconsistent for the entire season, one day looking like world beaters only to look lost the next. It appears as though this is simply what they are and if that is the case, no amount of All-Star pitching will make up for all the missed opportunities and silly hitting mistakes this offense seems poised to make over the next 70+ games.

If I'm calling the shots I'm holding my water for now. Hallday is a proven All-Star and would be a welcome addition on any team but mortgaging your future for little more than a rent-a-pitcher (albeit a great one) is simply something Texas cannot afford, especially with Rangers owner Tom Hicks currently wading waist deep in a well-documented financial crisis.

Texas is not and will never be able to spend with teams like the Yankees, Mets and Red Sox, at least not as long as Hicks is the owner. Despite being the 7th largest market in baseball, Texas is currently 22nd in the league in payroll. And while a high payroll doesn't guarantee wins, a low payroll means a team can't afford to make many mistakes and hope to remain viable. The Yankees can afford to trade away their entire minor league for a single player; if things go south they'll just buy more. Texas doesn't have this luxury.

The Rangers have had a great first half of the season and with any luck will find themselves battling it out with the Angels and Mariners in the AL West for the rest of the year. It's simply not the time to be trading away young studs, even if it's for possibly the best pitcher in baseball.

Rangers Make Mistakes On Way To Series Loss To Mariners

The Texas Rangers stumbled to the All-Star break Sunday afternoon, dropping the final two games of a 4-game set in Seattle. Winning just one of four dropped Texas 1 1/2 games behind the Anaheim Angels in AL West.

On Saturday, Kevin Millwood was rolling right along against the Mariners, allowing just one earned run over six innings of work. But in the 7th, perhaps all the battling finally caught up to Millwood, as a lead-off single followed by a 2-run homer by Seattle catcher Rob Johnson proved too much to overcome for the Texas offense.

His counterpart, Jarrod Washburn, looked great against Texas, going seven innings, allowing just one run.

"[Washburn] really did a phenomenal job against a good lineup," Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said. "He kept them off-balance. He threw several pitches that were right on the black. He didn't throw many pitches in the middle of the plate tonight. He did a phenomenal job."

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Despite 6th inning homeruns from Hank Blalock and Nelson Cruz which pulled Texas into a 3-3 tie with the Mariners, Texas' bullpen couldn't hold down the Seattle offense.

Four consecutive singles (one of which should have been ruled a throwing error on Elvis Andrus) surrendered by Darren O'Day and C.J. Wilson resulted in two runs in the bottom of the 7th, giving Seattle all they would need to hold the Rangers off, taking 3 of 4 in the series.

But it wasn't the bullpen that was the subject of blame after the game. Texas kept Mariners starter Erik Bedard in trouble for much of his 5 2/3 innings, but could never get that one big hit to blow the game open.

"We had Bedard in trouble all night," Ranger manager Ron Washington said. "We just couldn't punch anything across, and finally in the sixth inning, we finally tied the ballgame up. Then it was, 'Who's going to make the mistake first?' And we made one, and they punched a couple of runs across the board."

Regardless of the tough finish, Washington is still fine with how the first half of the season went.

"We've lost games before and bounced back, and we'll bounce back," he said. "Nobody feels good about coming up here and losing three out of four. We had a chance to even the score today. We didn't get it done. The four days we have are days that are on the schedule and there for a reason. I want them to enjoy it and come back Thursday, come back and get back to business."

Rangers Power Their Way To Win

Coming off a tough loss the previous night to the Mariners, the Rangers broke out the big bats, homering their way to victory.

Down 2-0 after starter Scott Feldman got off to a rough start in the 1st, the offense responded, getting a solo shot from Hank Blalock in the 2nd, a 3-run blast from Michael Young in the 3rd and a big 2-run shot from newly named All-Star Nelson Cruz that proved to be the difference in the game.

"That was the best ball I hit this year," Cruz said. "I crushed it."



Seattle picked up two runs in the bottom of the 8th off Derek Holland but it wasn't enough to keep Feldman from picking up his 8th win of the season.

"You never want to give up two, but I just tried to tell myself if I can keep it there, I know, more times than not, we're going to put up some runs," Feldman said. "I just really focused on keeping them right there, forgetting about that first inning and just pitching my game."

The bottom of the 9th was closed out by Rangers closer Frank Francisco, who was on his game and looked as good as he has since returning from the disabled list.

The win keeps Texas alone in 1st place in the AL West and also moved the team 4 1/2 games ahead of Seattle in the division.

Rangers Drop A Heartbreaker Late In Seattle

When you make your way from one side of a 162-game schedule to the other, it's guranteed you're going to have your ups and downs. The very best teams in baseball this season will still manage to lose roughly 35% of their games. With that said, some loses sting a little more than others.

In a game with plenty of quality pitching, it was a pitching mistake that ended up costing the Rangers a win Thursday night in Seattle.

Seattle starter Felix Hernandez was electric, throwing 8 innings, allowing only one earned run (which scored on a wild pitch) and striking out seven. Hernandez allowed just five baserunners the entire game.

"[Hernandez] showed why he's an All-Star," Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said. "His sinker was absolutely unhittable at times. The one miscue, where he got two quick outs and then a walk and hit ... we'll take that any day of the week."

Rangers starter Tommy Hunter was also very effective, pitching six innings of shutout baseball before giving way to Darren O'Day, who also manage a scoreless inning.

Then the wheels came off.

In the bottom of the 8th and with C.J. Wilson on the mound, Ichiro worked a 2-strike double to lead off the inning. From there, C.J. recorded 2 quick outs, setting up a confrontation with Ken Griffey Jr., Wilson's boyhood hero. But after an 8-pitch battle which saw the count run full, Griffey worked a walk out of Wilson, putting the go-ahead run on base.

"I thought I had him on the last pitch, but it just was a little bit outside," Wilson said. "I thought maybe he was going to swing at it. I threw the ball where I wanted to throw it, within a couple inches, it just wasn't right where I wanted to throw it. It's pretty simple."



Unfortunately for both C.J. and the Rangers, Griffey was the out they needed as the next hitter, Franklin Gutierrez stepped to the plate and drilled a Wilson sinker over the left-center-field wall, giving the Mariners a 3-1 lead they would not give back.

"One hundred and ninety nine times out of 200, that's a ground-ball out," Wilson said. "First time I've made a mistake with that pitch all season. I've thrown 500 of those things, and it's the first time I've made a mistake."

"My hat is off to those guys," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "They won that game tonight. We didn't give it to them."

The loss was the first in five meetings this season against the Mariners.

Andruw Jones Homers Texas Back Into First Place

Last season with the Dodger, Andruw Jones had the most frustrating season of his career, hitting an anemic .158 with just three homeruns.

Against the Angels on Wednesday night, Jones needed just 3 at-bats to equal his previous seasons output, clubbing three homeruns and driving in four, leading Texas to an 8-1 victory over the division rival Anaheim Angels.

"Andruw put us on his back, and everybody just followed," manager Ron Washington said after his team finished taking two of three from the Angels.

"That's what Andruw is capable of," third baseman Michael Young said. "That's not the first time he's shown power; he's been doing it his whole career. There aren't many guys in the game who have as much natural power as Andruw."



Taylor Teagarden and Marlon Byrd also added homeruns for the Rangers, giving starter Vicente Padilla all the room he'd need to hold the Angels down, picking up his 7th win of the year.

"It was just good to go out and perform well and get a win," Jones said. "Everybody produced tonight. It's about team, not just one individual person. It's about team and beating a team that you're competing against."

Jones has now hit nine homeruns and 19 RBI in his last 16 games.

"You're talking about a guy who was on his way to being a first-ballot Hall of Famer," Young said. "Andruw has a lot left in the tank. He works hard, has a good idea of what he's doing at the plate and has got monster power."

Texas is 7-2 head-to-head with Anaheim on the season and now head to Seattle with a 1 game lead on the AL West.

Hamilton Stays Hot, Rangers Outlast Angels

Sometimes all you need is a little hustle.

Down 3-0, with 2 outs in the 5th, Michael Young legged out an infield single, just beating out a throw from Angels shortstop Erick Aybar, keeping the inning alive. It proved to be the key base hit of the game.

"I just think it's the right way to play," Young said. "You hit the ball on the ground, and you run as fast as you can. I hit it off the plate, so I knew there was a chance, but they have a great infield, so I knew it was going to be bang-bang. We definitely caught a break there on a hit that's not the way you draw it up."

Said Angels starter John Lackey, "He's a guy I've faced probably 100 times. It's always a tough at-bat. He's a professional hitter. He gives you a tough at-bat, plays the game the right way. He's a guy I'd pay to see. Erick did everything he could on that play. Young just beat it."

"Michael Young, this guy's a baseball player in every aspect," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "That's how he plays the game. You expect that from him. We just didn't close it out."

Josh Hamilton followed Young with a hard single (one of three hits on the nights) into center field setting up a huge, cluth homerun by Andruw Jones, tying the game.



"I was looking for something over the plate, and he threw one down but over the middle," Jones said. "Everybody came through for us tonight. After I got that big hit, everybody seemed to relax, and we got things rolling."

Hank Blalock followed with a base hit. A visibly uncomfortable Lackey then walked Marlon Byrd and David Murphy before uncorking a wild pitch, scoring Blalock from third. A Jarrod Saltalamacchia single scored Byrd and Murphy, capping the scoring and giving Texas a margin the Angels could never make up.

Spot starter Dustin Nippert went just 3 2/3 innings but was back up by a very impressive 2 inning performance by Derek Holland.

Jason Jennings came in with one on and two outs in the bottom of the 6th hit Mike Napoli and walked Erick Aybar, loading the bases for Chone Figgins. After walking Figgins, allowing a run to score, Jennings pulled things together and got a big strikeout of Bobby Abreu.

"I'm not going to be at my best every night, but at least I was able to make a pitch when I had to," Jennings said. "Right there, if he hits a ball in the gap, they take the lead, so I had to keep the ball out of the middle of the plate. But I got a couple of fastballs inside on him to take it to two strikes and then got him on a slider."

Darren O'Day also struggled but was picked up by C.J., who pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball.

Frank Francisco came in to putch the 9th, allowing a homerun to Juan Rivera before shutting the door on the Angels offense, pulling Texas back into a tie with Anaheim for the AL West.

"The wolf-pack mentality was really awesome tonight," Wilson said. "We knew that Dustin had a limited pitch count, so everybody was on high alert. But we came up big because everybody did their job. It was great to get out of those jams."

Angels Spoil Return Of Josh Hamilton

Welcome back, Josh Hamilton. Texas' All-Star center fielder returned to the lineup Monday night for the first time since the end of May and didn't disappoint, going 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Unfortunately, the Angels had to go and spoil all the fun.

Starter Kevin Millwood turned in his worst performance of the season, allowing nine earned runs in only five innings of work, putting Texas in a hole they were never able to climb out of.

"I didn't hit my spots. When I tried to go away, it would drift over the middle of the plate. And when I didn't hit my spots, they hit those mistakes," Millwood said.

The loss was only Millwood's second in his last eight starts.

"When you look at their lineup, one through six, that's as good as it gets," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "Sometimes you get through it and sometimes you don't. Seven, eight and nine aren't easy either. That's a tough lineup to make it through, and we didn't get it done."



The offense gave Millwood an early 2-0 lead thanks to an RBI base hit by Hank Blalock and an error which allowed Josh Hamilton to score but, save for a 2-run homer by Ian Kinsler after the game was out of reach, didn't manage anything else against Angels starter Jered Weaver.

Prior to Monday nights game, Millwood had held opponents to a .189 average with runners in scoring position. Highlighted by a 3-run blast by Jeff Mathis and 2-RBI nights by both Torii Hunter and Juan Rivera, the Angels hit .750 going 6-for-8.

"You've got to give them credit; they swung the bats well," Rangers third baseman Michael Young said. "The middle of their lineup did a great job. It's just one of those times where you chalk it up to being one of those nights. When Millwood is on the mound, we feel we have a good shot of winning, but it just didn't happen."

Hamilton Back, Davis Headed To Minors

The Rangers announced on Sunday that Josh Hamilton, coming off a 2-for-7 performance in a double-header in Oklahoma City, will be returning to the Rangers. Hamilton had abdominal surgery last month and was expected to miss another two weeks.

Hamilton has hit .148 (4-for-27) in six Minor League rehab games.

"He's been down there and played [six] ballgames," Washington said. "It was time for him to come help us out."



To make room for Hamilton on the roster, the Rangers have sent their much-maligned first baseman, Chris Davis, down to Oklahoma City.

Davis has struggled at the plate this season, hitting just .202 and striking out at the record pace of just over 44% of the time.

"What I'm doing is not working," Davis said. "It was definitely not the Chris Davis that they thought they were getting. They know how productive I can be and I haven't been that guy. We all know how this year has gone. It's no secret. It's good that I can clear my head, take my time, figure out what's going on and get back here.

"I want to go out, work my tail off, get squared away and get back up there. I want to be a part of this team."

Rangers Sweep Rays, Keep Pace With Angels

The Tampa Bay Rays came to town riding a bit of a hot streak. But Texas, riding a bit of a streak of their own after having taken 2 of 3 against AL West rivals the Anahiem Angels, took it to the defending American League champs, sweeping the 3-game series to keep pace with the Angels.

"We're a confident team," third baseman Michael Young said. "[The Rays] are a very good team and whoever wants to go to the World Series from the American League has to go through the Rays. They are a talented club and we know they are going to be in the AL mix the whole way. The one thing we did well in this series is we pitched well."

In game 1 of the series, rookie Tommy Hunter gave Texas a big boost, going 5 1/3 innings while allowing only 1 earned run. The win, the first in his MLB career, came on his 23rd birthday.

"Their guy was deceptive, Hunter, and we had a hard time picking it up," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "Everybody came back in and had a different idea of what he was trying to do. We just had a hard time seeing the ball on him."



Hank Blalock continued his recent power surge, hitting a 2-run shot that proved to be the difference in the game.

"He made me pay," Rays starter Scott Kazmir said. "You don't throw that pitch to Blalock, anything that's hanging, anything that's up. I got away with it the first time and the second time he made me pay."

The trio of Jason Jennings, C.J. Wilson and Frank Francisco came in to pitch 3 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball with Frankie picking up his 15th save of the season.

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Game two of the Rays series saw two top pitching prospcets going head-to-head and at least this time, The Rangers Derek Holland came out on top.

Playoff hero David Price took the mound for Tampa Bay and continued his recent struggles, walking 5 and allowing 6 earned runs in 1 1/3 innings. He's now walked 30 batters in his last 38 innings.



Holland got a lot of early offense from the Texas offense and managed to hang on for the ride, going six innings, allowing 4 earned runs and striking out four.

Nelson Cruz and David Murphy combined for 6 hits and Andruw Jones added a big 3-run blast, leading Texas to an easy 12-4 victory.

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In the final game, Scott Feldman continued to do what he's been doing since joining the rotation, going 6 innings, allowing 2 earned runs and picking up yet another victory.

"[Feldman] kept the ball down," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "He's done good work this year against left-handed hitters. A lot of it looked like a backdoor cutter and then he'd get in on their hands, too. And we had a lot of jammed swings tonight."

Conversely, Rays starter Matt Garza struggled with his location, walking two and hitting another, allowing 5 earned runs over 5 innings of work.

"I went after them with my fastball," Garza said. "It's all it was, lack of command a lot. When you get behind the hitter gets in a more comfortable, confident position and gives them pitches to hit."

Texas scored all 5 of their runs in the first 4 innings of the game, 3 coming via sacrifice flies off the bats of David Murphy, Marlon Byrd and Elvis Andrus.



Ron Washington speaks a lot on the fundamentals of baseball and the Rangers, at least during the month of June, seemingly lost the abilty to play that form of baseball. Runs weren't being manufactured, men weren't being moved tp the next base but with the turn of the calender, they seem to have found their groove again.

"There's a lot of energy about them," said Maddon about the Rangers. "They're playing the game right. So they just outplayed us for three nights.

"It always starts with pitching. You either win because you pitch or you lose because you don't pitch well. And they've just been pitching well."

AA All-Star Game Comes To Frisco

Frisco RoughRiders Press Release:

The South and North rosters both had some powerful bats, but it was the pitching that dominated the 73rd Texas League All-Star Game at Dr Pepper Ballpark as the North edged the South, 2-1. The North was led by Corey Smith who went 2-for-3 with a run scored, earning All-Star Game MVP honors.

In the second inning, Smith, Hank Conger, and Tyler Henley each reached on three consecutive singles to load the bases and bring Mike Trumbo to the plate. Midland’s Jason Fernandez hit Trumbo to plate Smith and give the North Division a 1-0 lead. The score stayed like that until the eighth when Nate Sutton reached base for the North, stole second base, and scored on an RBI single by Kurt Mertins, giving the North Division a 2-0 advantage. The South would snap their scoreless streak with a run in the eighth frame when Midland’s Josh Horton hit an RBI double to put the South on the scoreboard.

Eight North pitchers combined to throw nine innings of one-run baseball, despite the South out-hitting the North 7-6. Fernandez took the loss for the South while starter Trey Hearne earned the win for the North. The South combined to strike out 12, including three by San Antonio’s Mat Latos.

Frisco’s Craig Gentry and Manny Pina combined to go 0-for-4 while South starter Kasey Kiker had an excellent first frame, striking out one and not allowing a baserunner in his only inning of work.


Box Score

Hicks Rumored To Have Borrowed Money From MLB To Make Payroll

If you're curious what a sports franchise in dire economic straits looks like, you may get a chance to view one up close and personal.

It is being reported that the Texas Rangers needed to borrow $15 million from Major League Baseball to cover payroll and operating cost. When asked about the validity of the report, Rangers & Dallas Stars owner Tom Hicks referred the questions to team spokesman John Blake, who promptly had no comment. Rangers President and rumored potential buyer Nolan Ryan also had no comment on the report.



Evan Grant of D Magazine reported:

Club sources, however, said the team has paid its employees for the most recent pay period and that Hicks remains in control of the organization. According to a source familiar with the situation, the Rangers are continuing normal operating procedures and have financial resources to sign both draft picks and international free agents. The source, however, did not mention the possibility of increasing payroll at the trading deadline.

According to a source, a scenario has been in place for several weeks that would have allowed the Rangers to borrow from the MLB fund. It would not mean MLB would take control of the club, but under those circumstances, it’s likely MLB would have much more say on spending matters. The Rangers top two draft picks, LHP Matt Purke and RHP Tanner Scheppers, are both demanding bonuses well in excess of the current MLB-recommended “slotting” system.

It's well-known that Tom Hicks has been actively seeking a buyer for the Rangers since defaulting on an interest-only payment on a $525 million loan previously made to his U.S. sports operations.

While Hicks has claimed it's "business as usual" and that "both teams are able to make moves, if those moves make sense for the general managers" he also said "They have to be able to operate successfully and be profitable. That's just smart business.

"You can't continue to spend money if the team is losing money," Hicks added. "We are determined to create as much revenue as possible for each team, and that's one of the reasons we have changed things. One of our biggest challenges right now is to find ways to market and sell our teams."

Apparently, Hicks' Sports Marketing Group isn't what he meant by "business as usual."

Today, news has broken that Tom Hicks has dissolved the joint-marketing Rangers-Stars sales force, reassigning most of the employees previously working under the marketing groups umbrella.

Former Hicks Sports Marketing Group president Tom Lites' contract was not renewed but has said he would like to remain in the North Texas area and didn't rule out trying to put together a group of investors to make a push for the purchase of the Rangers.

"I've put in a lot of time here, and I like it here," he said. "I'm very proud of what we have accomplished."

Lites was hired as Stars president in 1993 by former owner Norman Green and acted in that capacity until 2007 when he was relieved of his duties in a front office shake-up.

The dissolution of the marketing group comes on the heels of layoffs that cost almost 10% of all Rangers front office personnel their jobs.

Rangers Get Big Win In Dramatic Fashion

Hank Blalock had already had himself a huge night when he stepped to the plate in the bottom of the 9th and hit a game-winning, 2-run homer to not only give the Rangers the series win but also pull to within a 1/2 game of the Angels.

For the game, Blalock hit two homers, a double and drove in three runs.

"That was a good one," second baseman Ian Kinsler said. "That was fun and it couldn't have happened to a better guy in the lineup. Two home runs and one a walkoff. Nothing bigger than that."

Blalock's walkoff moment almost never happened.

After Michael Young singled to start the 9th inning, David Murphy sacrificed him to second base. Marlon Byrd then struck out looking bringing Blalock to the plate. With rookie Julio Borbon on deck Angels pitching coach Mike Butcher went to the mound to discuss the possibility of pitching around Blalock to get to the rookie.

Mike went out to see how Justin [Speier] felt and to get a game plan," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "We had a couple of options."

Scioscia said of the potential intentional walk, "weighed a lot. Of course we thought of that. If Justin didn't feel good about where he was ... but Justin felt good going after him."

"I threw a little backdoor slider," Speier said. "That was the right pitch. I just made a mistake, and he took advantage of it. I threw the same pitch the other night [Monday] and he swung through it. Tonight, he got me."



Despite the last-inning theatrics, it was a moment that probably shouldn't have happened.

Frank Francisco came into the game in the top of the 9th, looking to close the game out for Texas. Instead, he served up a game-tying, 3-run to Juan Rivera, setting the stage for the Blalock fireworks.

Despite blowing his second save in a week, Francisco still ended up the winning pitcher.

"I don't care about that," Francisco said. "Millwood deserved to win the game. He worked his tail off. It doesn't matter how hard I throw, I need to locate my pitches, and my fastball was all over the place."

Kevin Millwood battled hard against the Angels, going 6 1/3 innings, allowing four runs while striking out four.

With the win, Texas has now claimed two series wins against the Angels this season.

"They're owning us now," Angels outfielder Torii Hunter said. "They're five out of six. The numbers say it."

Rangers Jump Out Early, Hang On For Win

Joe Saunders should just skip all future road trip through Arlington. Despite offering nothing the way of consistency for the entire month of June, the Rangers offense jumped all over Saunders last night to the tune of 8 earned runs over 3 2/3 innings. He is now 0-5 with an ERA of 11.62 in 5 career starts in the Ballpark.

Ian Kinsler got the ball rolling early, drilling a lead-off homerun in the bottom of the first, his 19th homer of the year. After a Michael Young walk, Marlon Byrd followed with a 2-run blast.

Rangers starter Scott Feldman allowed three runs in the top of the 2nd, allowing the Angels to tie the game up but Nelson Cruz hit a solo blast to give Texas the lead again in the 3rd. Texas would never trail again.

"We definitely needed to win tonight," Washington said. "Hopefully tonight is the night we can get back to playing Texas Rangers baseball. We did tonight."



Marlon Byrd put a little more distance between the two teams, hitting his 2nd homerun of the night, a 3-run blast, in the bottom of the 5th, putting Texas up 8-3.

"Obviously the way we swung the bats tonight was awesome," David Murphy said. "Hopefully it will create some momentum for us."

Despite his early struggles, Scott Feldman settled down, giving Texas six innings of work, picking up his 6th win of the year. He finished his day retiring 13 of the last 14 batter he faced.

"I didn't do anything different, I was just more aggressive," Feldman said. "It wasn't that I was trying to be too fine, but I followed through more and brought everything more toward the plate."

Despite some struggles at the end of the game from both C.J. Wilson and Frank Francisco (who's fastball was topping out at just 91 mph), Texas hung on for the big win, keeping them within striking distance of the Angels.