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.