Oakland Steals One, Texas Finishes Under .500 For 3rd Straight April

Ian Kinsler was robbed. Robbed. Robbed.

In the bottom of the 8th, Texas down 3 to 1 with two men on, Ian Kinsler hit a shot to straight away center and looked like he had put Texas ahead. Frank Francisco was warming in the bullpen. The 13,000 fans in attendance were on their feet. Then Oakland centerfielder Ryan Sweeney took off and, timing his jump perfectly, extended his glove over the centerfield wall and hauled the sure homerun back, ending both the inning and any momentum Texas had built.



"It was pretty much timing," Sweeney said. "I just jumped, got lucky and caught it. ... He hit it dead center. I think if he would have pulled it a little bit, it might have gone."

Oakland got a great outing from Dallas Braden as he went five innings, allowing no earned runs and striking out six.

Texas starter Vicente Padilla also pitched well, going six innings, allowing three earned runs and striking out four.

Michael Young went 2 for 5 but was thrown out trying to stretch a double into a triple. Two hitters later, Hank Blalock hit a solo homerun. This is yet another in a long line of fundamental baserunning errors that have been costing Texas runs early in the season.

Playoff teams don't give runs away. Playoff teams make other teams pay for doing the very things Texas is doing by constantly shooting themselves in the foot.

Millwood Gives Gutsy Performance, Leads Texas To 5-4 Victory

You gotta hand it to Kevin Millwood: He's doing his part.

Millwood took the mound last night and, despite not having his best stuff, battled for 8 innings, giving the offense and chance to get back into the game.

And get back into it they did, scoring three in the 6th, finally pulling ahead in the bottom of the 8th inning thanks to an RBI single by Nelson Cruz.

Truth be told, Texas was lucky to even be in a position to take the lead.

Oakland's starting pitcher Brett Anderson was pitching well before developing a blister on his left index finger. He was pulled from the game in the 6th inning. Reliever Santiago Casilla, third baseman Nomar Garciaparra and second baseman Mark Ellis were all forced out of the game with calf injuries.

"We definitely caught some breaks tonight," Michael Young said.



Frank Francisco pitched the 9th, continuing his dominance and picking up his 6th save of the year. He has still yet to allow an earned run this season.

"That was big-time right there by Frankie," manager Ron Washington said. "That was really big-time."

"It was great," Millwood said. "He was doing what he has been doing all year, coming in there and throwing quality strikes. He's enjoying his job, and everybody is confident when he comes in."

Since Aug. 22, Francisco is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA with five walks and 30 strikeouts in 23 1/3 innings over 23 appearances. He is 11-for-11 in save opportunities, and opponents are hitting .113 off him.

"I don't know of any team that doesn't have a shut-down guy like that and gets to the playoffs," Byrd said. "You need a guy that when he comes in, you feel the game is over. When Frankie comes into the game for us, it's a sigh of relief."

Hamilton's Ribs No Better, May Find His Way To The DL

It's looking very likely that All-Star slugger Josh Hamilton will be making a trip onto the disabled list with a bruised left rib cage.

Hamilton was out of the starting the lineup again on Tuesday and will be examined this evening by Dr. Keith Meister, the Rangers team physician.

"I'm in extreme pain, no matter what I do," Hamilton said.

Hamilton initially hurt his ribs running into a wall last Tuesday in Toronto. He then reagravated the injury three games back in Baltimore and has started just three of the Rangers last six games, missing the last two.



"I probably need to rest it and let it heal," Hamilton said. "I've been battling through it the last four or five days. I tried it yesterday in batting practice and it didn't feel right."

The Rangers have yet to make a final decision regarding Hamilton but the DL is looking inevitable. Hamilton is still having trouble breathing.

"I can't do much of anything," Hamilton said. "I can't work out, I can't run, I can't swing, I can't throw. We'll see. All I know is I prayed about it and have peace about it. I'm going to do what I need to do to get it right."

Harrison Pulls Things Together, Rangers Take Series

Texas finally got some consistent pitching out of Matt Harrison as he went seven innings, surrendering four earned runs, walking only one hitter. Struggling early in the season with his control, Harrison stepped up, giving the bullpen some extra rest, and, in the process, picking up his first win of the year.

Darren O'Day and C.J. Wilson combined to pitch a scoreless 8th with Frankie Francisco coming on to pitch the 9th, picking up his fifth save of the year.

The game started off rough for Texas, with Harrison allowing all four of the runs he surrendered in the first two inning. But after the 2nd, Harrison and Co. combined to pitch seven scoreless innings.



"I just tried to change the tempo of my delivery and attack hitters," Harrison said. "The first couple of innings I was up in the zone and wasn't finding my release point. I slowed it down just a little and started getting the ball down in the strike zone. I just got into a groove and kept going with it."

Michael Young added a 2-run homerun in the 5th pulling Texas to within one run. In the 6th, they added three more, highlighted by a 2-run single buy the suddenly scorching David Murphy. Before hitting a homerun two game ago, Murphy had started the season 0 for 22. He's since gone 3 for 8 with 3 RBI. Before his recent hot streak, many speculated Murphy might be on his way to the Minors.

"I obviously know I have to perform," Murphy said. "As far as getting sent to the Minors, I wasn't worried about that. I know they have confidence in me, but you can only struggle for so long."

The series win has Texas feeling good heading back home for a 3 game series with Oakland.

"A good road trip," outfielder Marlon Byrd said. "A real good road trip, especially winning three here. We've got a good team; we should expect to win every series. I know that's not possible but this is the way you have to play to get into the playoffs. I'd love to be Boston and win 11 in a row, but I'll take about six series in a row."

Thomas Diamond Looking To Finally Live Up To His Promise

Another arm could be close to getting a shot in the Rangers bullpen.

Five years ago, Diamond was the Rangers' No. 1 draft choice, the 10th player selected overall in the 2004 baseball draft. He was the Rangers' No. 1 prospect in 2005.

But after compiling a 26-11 record in '05 and '06, Diamond missed all of 2007 after having to undergo Tommy John surgery and struggled to regain his form last year, posting a 3-3 record with a 6.20 ERA for AA Frisco.

But Diamond had looked more like his old self this season, his first in AAA. In four appearances, Diamond is 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA and has regained much of the velocity that was missing from his pitches last season.



"I'm pretty close to the way I was before," said Diamond, who turned 26 on April 6. "Everything seems to be coming back nicely, so I'd say I'm pretty close to how I was before. But not quite the same.

"My velocity isn't all the way back yet, but you just pitch with what you've got. I know that I'm not where I was before, not quite at my best yet."

After spending his entire career as a starting pitcher, Diamond is now learning a new role as a relief pitcher.

They told me I was going to be a relief pitcher late this spring," Diamond said. "It doesn't really matter, as long as I'm pitching. Either way. It's really fairly easy to switch from one to the other.

"I get a chance to play a little more, pitch in more ballgames. Pitching every fifth day, it's more of a set routine. Out of the bullpen, you just never know."

With the Rangers inability to get consistent pitching out of it's bullpen, Diamond may find this new role is also the fastest way to get to Arlington.

Rangers Pitching Lets Another One Slip Away

In the top of the 5th inning on Sunday, both Hank Blalock and David Murphy hit homeruns, driving in three runs and giving Texas a 5-1 lead. In the bottom of the same inning, starter Brandon McCarthy gave all three runs back to Baltimore, letting them right back into the game.

"To me, that's the game right there," McCarthy said. "I couldn't be more disappointed with what happened in the fifth. They gave me three runs, and it's time to get a shutdown inning. Giving up those runs, that's unacceptable. That's the tipping point that could have pushed us in the right direction or the wrong direction."

Manager Ron Washington couldn't disagree.

"The fifth inning killed us," Washington said. "Once you get that lead, you want to shut them off and keep that momentum."

"I just wasn't comfortable throwing strikes," McCarthy said. "I just didn't feel comfortable mechanically. I don't have an explanation. It's something I have to figure out immediately.

"I was fighting myself. I was putting myself in bad counts, and it got to the point where they were excited to face me. You can't let that happen. You can't let a good hitting team like that be hungry and excited to face you."

Regardless of the poor outing, McCarthy did leave with a one-run lead. Reliever Jason Jennings made sure they didn't stand up, allowing a 3-run homer in the bottom of the 6th inning to Adam Jones. In six games this season against Texas, Jones is now 11 for 28 with 3 homeruns and 12 RBI.



"We didn't want to lose three games to these guys," said Jones. "We know we are a good team. We have to go out there and do it."

The homerun by Jones gave Baltimore a 7-5 lead and their bullpen made the lead stand up, throwing 5 scoreless innings and not allowing a baserunner until Andruw Jones got on in the 9th.

"It's a great win for us," said relief pitcher Danys Baez. "We went through a lot of things in the past couple days."

Kinsler Continues His Hot Streak, Texas Wins Another Close One

Starter Scott Feldman finally managed to get some outs, turning in a nice, five inning, allowing only one run.

Rookie Derek Holland replaced Feldman and, while he had a few hiccups out there, still went three inings, allowing only one run. Holland will hit a tough stretch at some point (young pitchers always do) but if he continues to pitch anywhere close to how he has thus far, he'll be in the regular rotation before the All-Star break.

Ian Kinsler hit two more homeruns and continues to pace this team. When he hits, this offense just rolls. Kinsler is now 30-for-59 (.508) against the Baltimore Orioles since the beginning of 2008.



Josh Hamilton went 2 for 3, but aggravated a rib injury in his final at-bat and was obviously laboring on the basepaths. In the dugout, cameras caught Hamilton trying to catch his breath, telling manager Ron Washington, "I can't breathe." One has to worry that this might become a season-long issue. Surely Texas will be very cautious with this injury.

Texas hit four more homeruns (Kinsler w/ 2, Chris Davis and Andruw Jones with solo homeruns) and are leading the league in this category.

However, Texas is also the worst in the league in bullpen ERA and C.J. Wilson did nothing to help that stat last night, allowing 3 more runs in only 1/3 of an inning before being bailed out by Frank Francisco. After allowing a 2-run double, Frankie reached down for a little something extra and throwing 96 mph heat past Nick Markakis, saving the game and picking up his 4th save of the year.