*ALERT* Vicente Padilla Designated For Assignment

Two days after hitting Oakland catcher Kurt Suzuki, followed by being shown on camera laughing after teammate Michael Young was hit the following inning in retaliation, Vicente Padilla has been designated for assignment.

"We're putting together a club and an organization that's pulling on the same end of the rope," Rangers General Manager Jon Daniels said. "It wasn't a fit for us anymore."

Texas now has 10 days to trade, release or send down the veteran starter. If a trade takes place, the Rangers would almost surely be forced to absorb a portion of his contract in exchange for some sort of prospect. More likely, Texas will have to release Padilla and eat the remainder of his contract.



This is just latest in what has seemingly been an ongoing series of unresolved issues between the pitcher and the Rangers. Things came to a head back in June when Padilla was pushed through waivers a day after hitting Yankees first baseman and former Ranger player Mark Teixeira twice in the same game. It was widely assumed that Padilla had pitched his last game with Texas then, but an apparent reconciliation bought the embattled starter some time.

After this latest flare up, it is apparent that Padilla's time is now up, at least with the Texas Rangers.

"When we have a disciplinary issue with a player, we talk to him," Daniels said. "It had gotten to the point where the club was better off without him."

Dustin Nippert will take Padilla's place in the rotation.

Oakland Drops Final Game But Take Series With Rangers

Texas got a nice effort out of Tommy Hunter today as he bared down and willed a win out of the suddenly luckless Rangers.

Hunter gave Texas seven innings of 2-run ball, allowing just five hitters to reach base.

"It's what I'm supposed to do," Hunter said. "The bullpen had been used up quite a bit and needed to be refreshed going into the Anaheim series. It was nice to give them a break. The big thing was getting a win before a big series. I was glad I could do my job."

"We needed that from Tommy," third baseman Michael Young said. "That was a big performance. They scored two right away, but Tommy locked it up after that. For a young guy, Tommy is poised. He stayed after it and kept competing."

Despite a throwing error by Jarrod Saltalamacchia which assisted in giving Oakland the early 2-0 lead, Hunter was able to work through the early struggles and retire 13 of the next 14 hitters he faced.

"He limited us to those few hits," Oakland manager Bob Geren said. "I thought we got a couple good swings on him early. We had those early chances, but after that he started settling in pretty well."

Hank Blalock provided some early offense, hitting his 21st homerun of the season. In the 3rd inning, Michael Young added another homerun, his 18th, as well as an RBI single, extending his hitting streak to 13 games. RBI base hits by David Murphy, Andruw Jones and Marlon Byrd capped the scoring for Texas.

After a scoreless inning by Frank Francisco, C.J. Wilson came in and made things interesting, walking one and allowing a couple of base hits before closing the A's out for the win.



While the victory sends Texas to Anaheim on a positive, it's a far cry from where they had to believe they'd be before the 4-game set in Oakland began. But poor pitching and lackluster hitting cost the Rangers a chance to cut into the Angels lead in the West, as well as Boston's lead in Wild Card race.

Texas is going to have to get better outing out of guys like Derek Holland and Vicente Padilla if they are to stay close in either race. The offense is what it is, inconsistent. The Rangers simply cannot afford to rely of them for steady run support because it hasn't been there all season and it's not just going to magically appear. The pitching has carried this thing all season long and if they are to make a push in August and September, it will be on the shoulders of the pitching staff, not the offense. This makes it all the more important that players like Vicente Padilla not go out and allow six runs in 5 2/3 innings. It also means that guys like Derek Holland, despite his age, have to step up and give the Rangers more than 4 1/3 innings of work.

Make no mistake about it, Texas gave Oakland three wins. The A's ran up the white flag a few weeks ago when they traded away Matt Holiday and Orlando Cabrera. True blue playoff caliber teams don't drop three in a row to teams like Oakland.

Rangers Hold Off Mariners To Pick Up Rain Delayed Victory

Texas didn't manage any blockbuster trade deadline deals, despite some last day rumblings that a trade with Toronto for Roy Halladay remained a possibility. The Rangers opted (or were forced, depending on whether or not you believe the team is brooke) to stand pat, rolling with the players whom have kept this season alive with excitement.

While Texas may not have made any big trade deals, they did get a pitcher back as starter Vicente Padilla returned for the first time since coming down with swine flu while home visiting in Nicaragua. Padilla gave the team a definite boost, pitching tough for six innings, allowing 3 earned runs. While he didn't have his best stuff, and his legs were still not quite all the way under him, Padilla gutted it out and gave the bullpen a needed rest.

"His velocity was down a notch, but he was able to keep the ball down and compete," catcher Taylor Teagarden said. "I was happy with what I saw."



Teagarden got the scoring going for his pitcher in the bottom of the 2nd, hitting a long fly ball that scored the first run of the night for Texas. Teagarden struck again in the bottom of the 5th, drilling a solo homerun to tie the game at 2-2. After Omar Vizquel and Michael Young reached base, Marlon Byrd stepped to the plate and hit a 3-run blast, giving Texas all the runs they would need on the night.

After a 2 hour and 18 minute rain delay, Texas closed the Mariners out, with C.J. Wilson getting the final four outs while picking up his 12th save of the year.

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."

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.

Padilla Comes Up Clutch In Win Over Arizona

He may not be the most popular guy in the clubhouse but there's no telling just how far out of 1st place the Rangers would were it not for the guts and toughness of Vicente Padilla.

Last night, Padilla played the role of the stopper, pitching a seven inning gem, ending Texas' 5-game losing streak. Allowing only one run on six hits, Padilla outdueled D-backs ace and NL ERA leader, Dan Haren.

"That's exactly what we needed," outfielder Marlon Byrd said. "When you have a team that's slipping a little, you need one of your top pitchers to go out and do what he did tonight. If we get that one through five in our rotation, we'll be in great shape."



"When your team has five straight losses, it's good getting a win like this," Padilla said.

Texas again struggled at the plate. They managed to scrape together two runs early thanks to RBI base hits by Taylor Teagarden and David Murphy, but still left two men stranded at 3rd base with less than 2 outs. Luckily for the Rangers, Arizona was never able to get anything going against Padilla.

"We could just never get the big hit at the right time," D-backs manager A.J. Hinch said. "We did get runners on base, and we were in a position to score runs but we just didn't hit them in. Give credit to [Padilla] for competing at that time and getting a lot of off-barrel contact at the right time. It's unfortunate for us."

Padilla is 3-0 in his last four starts.

"He [Padilla] certainly had a challenge on his hands, and he was up for the challenge," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "Every time he has been going out there, he has been getting better. We needed him to match up tonight, and he did."

"Contrary to popular belief, the sky wasn't falling," said third Baseman Michael Young. "We're a confident group. There are stretches when we aren't playing well, but the biggest thing is how you come out of it. We feel we can play well on any night. It was a nice win, we just have to continue to play well."

Texas is now 2-14 this season when scoring two runs or fewer in a game.

Houston Bullpen Stops Rangers Offense From Claiming Series Sweep

Michael Young gave Texas an early lead, teeing off for a solo homerun, his 9th of the season.

The contact-adverse Chris Davis dialed up his 13th homer of the year in the 2nd, another solo shot.

After adding one more in the bottom of the 4th thanks to a throwing error which scored Nelson Cruz from third, Texas' offense went cold. They never regained their stroke.

"That's what baseball is about -- momentum," Ian Kinsler said. "We tried to come back, tried to put some runs on the board, but we didn't."



Houston's bullpen combo of Wesley Wright, Alberto Arias, LaTroy Hawkins and Jose Valverde went a combined five innings, allowing no runs on only three hits, while striking out five.

Vicente Padilla got himself into a couple of jams, finishing his day after going six innings and allowing three earned runs. While Vicente looked good for stretches, he threw 62 total pitches in the 1st and 6th innings, forcing him from the game earlier than he would've liked.

"They came out and worked Padilla hard," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "He still came out with a tie ballgame, but it felt like the momentum changed. We still came out of the sixth with a tie."

Reliever Jason Jennings was unable to hold the lead, surrendering a go-ahead homer to Hunter Pence in the top of the 8th, then allowed another run to score via an RBI triple by Michael Bourne.

The Rangers finished their homestand 4-5, losing 3 games in the process to the charging L.A. Angels. Texas has a 1 1/2 games in the AL West.

Rangers Struggle Against NL's Best

With the Los Angeles Dodgers coming to town for a 2-game set, Texas looked to measure themselves against the National League's best.

In game one of the series, Vicente Padilla worked out of a few jams, pitching five innings of shutout ball, setting the tone for the night.

"Padilla attacked the zone and kept guys off balance with off-speed stuff," Dodgers centre fielder Matt Kemp said.

The trio of Padilla, Jason Jennings, and the newly acquired Jason Grilli controlled the Dodgers, blanking them 6-0, Texas' 2nd consecutive shutout.

Texas also showed a little offense for the first time in several games, getting an RBI single from Michael Young and a 2-run blast from Hank Blalock, both of whom had been struggling at the plate.

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In game two of the series, both Scott Feldman and Dodgers starter Randy Wolf were mowing hitters down, both of them pitching five shutout innings. But an issues with the stadium lights forced a 1 hour and 41 minute delay, forcing both pitchers from the game.

L.A. manufactured a run in the top of the 6th which was match by a big, opposite field homerun by Andruw Jones. But in the 7th, with Jason Grilli on the mound, Matt Kemp hit a big 2-run blast, giving the Dodgers the lead and, ultimately, the victory.

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In the rubber match of the series, Derek Holland looked very much like a rookie pitcher, walking four and allowing four earned runs over five innings pitched, including a 3-run homerun by Casey Blake. 72% of Holland's pitches were fastballs and Los Angeles took advantage, making solid contact.



Holland is 0-3 with a 7.08 ERA after four starts for the Rangers.

The Rangers offense again appeared disjointed and out of sync, scattering just six basehits over nine innings. The group of Kinsler, Murphy, Byrd, & Andrus went a combined 0-for-13 with two strikeouts.

Texas has now lost 8 of their last 13 games and are averaging 3.3 runs per game during that stretch.

Michael Young says there's nothing to worry about.

"There's nothing in here that says anybody is going to panic with our offense," said Young. "We're a confident group we can make adjustments."

Texas has a day off tomorrow to regroup before hosting the Houston Astros for a 3-game set.

Padilla Placed On Waivers

In a shocking move, the Texas Rangers have placed their no. 2 starter, Vicente Padilla, on outright waivers. Apparently, much of this stems from the Rangers growing frustration with Padilla and their inabilty to rely on him to make correct decisions both on and off the mound.

Padilla's short fuse is well documented and most around baseball view him as a headhunter. He lived up to that charge last night, hitting Mark Teixeira twice in first four innings of the game. The second time, Teixeira went on a profanity-laced tirade before being ushered to first base by manager, Joe Girardi.

"That is not the right way to play the game," said Teixeira after last nights 12-3 victory. "That guy [Padilla] has been doing that [throwing at batters] his entire career."

Teixeira went on to point out that when he was in Texas he would often be hit by pitches as retaliation from other teams after Padilla had hit one of their hitters.

"Anyone who knows Vicente knows that is the way he does it," Teixeira said.



With Padilla on waivers, Texas can outright him to the minor leagues (assuming he's not claimed) but because of his service time Padilla does retain the right to refuse the assignment which would then make him a free agent.

The Rangers, however, cannot rescind the waiver if Padilla is claimed (in an effort to then try and arrange a trade), and don't need Padilla to clear waivers to trade him. That's what makes me think this may simply be more about trying to clear Padilla's remaining $8 million off the books in an effort to both save money and also clear a spot in the starting rotation for rookie Derek Holland.

It should also be noted that teams aren't required to clear players through waivers for trade purposes until after the July 31 trade deadline.

Regardless of how this story plays out, a very clear message has been sent by Rangers management. Nolan Ryan, John Daniels, et al are trying to build an organization based on quality play and players with a high level of class. Padilla has long been known as a bit of a maverick and has typically kept to himself in the clubhouse. A message has been sent that no one is above the team and, regardless of whether this is the end of Padilla's time with Texas or not, any sort of behavior which has a negative effect on the chemistry of the clubhouse will not be tolerated.

Padilla Struggles In First Start Back From DL, Rangers Drop Game 1 To The Yanks

It has been said by many a baseball 'insider' that Texas' current roadtrip through New York and Boston is their first true test to determine if they're truly a playoff contender. If that's true, Texas may still be a year away.

Vicente Padilla, returning from a stint on the DL for a sore shoulder struggled with his command from the beginning, allowing seven earned runs in only 3 2/3 innings.

Padilla also set off some fireworks by drilling former Ranger Mark Teixeira twice, the second eliciting a tirade of vulgarities from Teixeira, who needed manager Joe Girardi to come from the dugout to calm him down.



Derek Holland did no better, surrendering a homerun to the resurgent Hideki Matsui, surrendering two earned runs in 1 1/3 innings.

Tack on a three-run blast by Jorge Posada off Warner Madrigal in the sixth inning and you've got yourself a route to the tune of 12-3.

Texas' lone offensive output came off the bat of Nelson Cruz, who hit his 15th homer of the season, a 3-run shot in the top of the third.

Yankees starter A.J. Burnett pitched seven strong innings, picking up his second win of the year against Texas, his fourth overall.

- Just hours before the game, Josh Hamilton was placed on the 15-day disabled list for a sore groin. This is his second trip to the DL this season and it's looking more and more likely like this could end up being a lost year for Hamilton.

- Yankees short stop Derek Jeter went 3-for-4 and scored the 1,500th run of his career.

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."

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.

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."

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.

More Last Inning Heroics For Michael Young, Texas Get Big Win

It looked just another uninspired effort for 7 innings. Vicente Padilla was again struggling with his coomand, walking 3 and giving up another 4 earned runs. Texas' offense had nothing, seemingly unable to figure out Orioles starter Koji Uehara.

But in the 7th, Hank Blalock went yard for the 4th time this season, cutting the lead to 2. Marlon Bryd then singled in another run in the 8th. But after Orioles closer George Sherrill sat down the first two hitters of the 9th, things were not looking good for Texas. That is, until Ian Kinsler laced a single over the head of shortstop Cesar Izturis.

"I'm just doing what I can to get on base," Kinsler said. "Once it got to two strikes, it became a defensive at-bat. Get the barrel on something and give Mike (Young) a shot."

Michael Young delivered, crushing an opposite field home run, giving Texas a 5-4 lead.



"I got pretty lucky," Young said. "I was hoping it would stay left. A couple feet to the right and it would have hit the scoreboard."

Rangers closer Frank Francisco would make the lead stand up, setting Baltimore down in the bottom of the 9th, picking up his 3rd save of the season. He has yet to allow an earned run.

But the day belonged to Michael Young who, for the 3rd time in 5 games, hit a 9th inning homerun.

"It's a lot different on the road," Young said. "Against Kansas City, the game was over, you've got your teammates waiting for you at the plate and you can celebrate for a few minutes. This game, they still have [the middle of the order] coming up and you still have to get three outs. Fortunately, Frankie did a great job."

Ron Washington is impressed with more than Young's flare for the dramatic: "Mike is becoming a team leader big-time. Every team has a superstar that steps up, and Mike has been stepping up big-time for us."

Young Walks Off, Texas Hits The Road

After another dissapointing loss to the Kansas City Royals, a game which saw Kevin Millwood continue his hot pitching with a complete game, 2 run effort, Texas was desperate for a win in the final game of the series before heading out on a seven game roadtrip.

Kansas City pitched well the entire series and today was no different, as Kyle Davies battled back from a 4-walk, 2-run first inning to shut down the Rangers offense, striking out eight and limiting them to 3 runs on 3 hits in six innings of work.



Vicente Padilla struggled again, allowing five earned runs in as many innings, giving up two more homeruns in the process. But the bullpen bailed Padilla out, pitching 4 scoreless innings, giving the offense a chance to chip away at Kansas City's 5-3 lead.

The offense didn't let them down, picking up two runs in the bottom of the 8th thanks to rbi's by both Nelson Cruz and Chris Davis, tying the game 5-5.

In the bottom of 9th, Michael Young, historically one of Texas' better clutch players, hit it a walk-off, game-winning homerun off a 96 mph fastball from Kyle Farnsworth, sending Texas on the road with a 6-5 victory.

- David Murphy now has more runs batted in (1) this season than he does hits (0).

- Frank Francisco hasn't allowed an earned run in 5 appearances this season.

- Ian Kinsler has now reached base in his last 12 games.

Poor Pitching, Fundamentals Cost Texas Another One

Last night simply was not Vicente Padilla's night. The Baltimore Orioles came to town with an offense that looks to be one of the more potent in the American League and proceeded to hit virtually everything Padilla threw in their general direction. In his first start of the season, Vicente had location issues, battling for 5 2/3 and picking up the victory again Detroit. But last night, location was the least of his worries. Padilla just didn't have the same type of velocity on his fastball that he usually has, barely hitting 90 on the radar gun when we're used to seeing 93 and 94 out of him. The Orioles jumped all over him, to the tune of seven runs on eleven hits (including five in a row that ran him out of the game) in 3 1/3 innings.

"There are no excuses for that. I threw all my pitches today, and they hit everything. I threw a split finger. I threw fastballs. I threw curveballs. I threw changeups. They hit everything," said Padilla after the 10-9 loss.



In a trend which is appearing more ominous with each game, the bullpen offered zero relief as Scott Feldman looked no better, surrending three runs in 2 2/3 innings.

The Rangers offense was again the lone bright spot, pounding Baltimore pitching for nine runs on eleven hits and five walks, with several player showing a great deal of patience at the plate. Included in this list onf players is Chris Davis, who was set to have the day off until Hank Blalock woke up with a stiff neck. Davis took advantage of the change, going 2 for 3 and clubbing his first homerun of the year into the right field upper deck. The homerun came after Davis had worked a full count against pitcher Koji Uehara, showing patience he hadn't shown in the first six games of the year.

Andruw Jones continued his hot hitting as well, going 2 for 3 with a homerun and 3 rbi. He appears to have found his stroke, hopefully leading to a return to the all-star form he's shown for most of his career.

Mike Young added a 2-run homer and almost tied the game with another big hit until Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis made a great catch up against the wall to rob him of an rbi in the bottom of the ninth. This play proved to be very controversial as Ian Kinsler, who had been standing on 2nd base, chose to take off running (rather than tag up) assuming the ball wouldn't be caught. When it was, Kinsler was forced to hurry back to 2nd, costing Texas a base. After Josh Hamilton flew out to left center, Andruw Jones walked and was pitch run for by David Murphy. Murphy and Kinsler then got away with a double steal (Murphy appeared to out by a foot), before Marlon Byrd struck out to end the game.

Despite all the poor pitching, Texas went into the bottom of the ninth with a chance to win. But once again poor fundamentals (something Ron Washinton has suppossedly been preaching since becoming manager 3 seasons ago) play a role in costing the Rangers another win.

This is a young team but the question has to be asked: when will these guys start playing and thinking like Major League players?

Texas Sticks With Red, Wins Again

Proving they never should've made the switch in the first place, the Texas Rangers once again donned the red hats and, after completing a sweep of the Indians, now find themselves 3-0 for the first time since 1996.



Last night, Vicente Padilla struggled with his control but made clutch pitches at clutch times, picking up his first win of the year. Nelson Cruz clubbed two monster homeruns, rookie sensation Elvis Andrus added the first of his career, pacing Texas to an 8-5 victory.

This afternoon, Texas (for the 3rd straight game) got the scoring going early, taking to Cleveland starter Carl Pavano, who lasted only 1+ innings, surrendering nine earned runs on six hits, while walking three batters. Andruw Jones, making his first appearance for the Rangers, went 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored hitting in the cleanup spot and Marlon Byrd hit a three-run homer and had five RBI. Omar Vizquel made his first appearance of the season as well, adding a pair of hits, an RBI and a run scored for Texas. Ian Kinsler added a homerun and three RBI in the victory.



Brandon McCarthy, who's spent more time on the disabled list than on the mound the past 2 seasons, went 5 innings, giving up three runs and striking out seven. Though the bullpen gave up five earned runs in 4 innings, the offense put up enough of a lead to ensure another big win for the Rangers.

The red hats are 3-0 and seem to have several of the players believing in their magic.

"It's the red hats," said C.J. Wilson. "I love the red hats. It makes us more aggressive and more manly. Red is the power color."

Added Jason Jennings, "We like it. I'm a big believer in if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Ride her until she bucks us off."

Initially, the red hats were only going to be worn for special occasions but seem to be gaining in popularity with each passing day.