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."
